Jungle, Jeevan, and Disaster Mangagement
The concept of education in our country is limited to the mark sheets of the students. Children who take interest in drawing, singing or any other form of arts are generally asked to focus on the studies, stop distracting themselves with the extracurriculars and concentrate on the ‘subjects that matter’. Arts have been struggling their way into the education system of India, even if they exist as a subject in some schools, they're either forced on the students or treated in the manner of a protocol to make the mark sheet look good. These challenges have so far disabled the arts from serving their actual purposes. Let's Start Art sessions are conducted to create a holistic and inclusive approach towards education.
The first set of Let's Start Art sessions were conducted on the theme "Jungle aur Jeevan" derived from a chapter in the Environmental Studies syllabus of children from Government Primary Schools of Varanasi. Approximately 700 students from 20 schools attended these art sessions.
Nazrin, a student of class 4th at Government Primary School, Chhittupur, has caricatured the jungle scenes from comic books and children's stories. "There are bees and butterflies flying around the forest, and the other animals are sitting by the pond. There's also a race going on between the Hare and the tortoise", she told while explaining her drawing.
"When I was visiting my grandmother at Gorakhpur, I saw a huge forest on the way. There were lots of trees, squirrels, and peacocks. There were also some dogs roaming around. My grandmother's place also has a garden where butterflies live.", told Alisha, a student of class 3rd at Government Primary School, Nayi Sadak while explaining her drawing to the art instructor. Alisha wants to become a teacher when she grows up.
The second set of sessions were conducted on the theme "Disaster Management" including topics like floods, the pandemic, earthquakes, etc. Around 680 students from 20 government primary schools of Varanasi.
"There was one time when it rained so much that water was filled everywhere. People were coming on boats and bringing in food supplies for people who were stuck. A lot of things in my house got lost in the flood. My parents were very stressed out until the flood got over, but we never got our things back.", told Sonakshi, a student of class 3rd at Government Primary School, Kabirnagar, while explaining her experience of floods.
"I've seen on TV that if there's rain and thunder outside, and people stand under a tree, they get struck by lightning. I've made a drawing of two people standing near a tree in a thunderstorm and getting hurt by the lightning.", told Sonali, a student of class 4th at Government Primary School, Orderly Bazaar while explaining her drawing.