Karnataka - Bangalore   

Sacrificing the ‘fun’ of bursting crackers

For a cause: Schoolchildren taking part in the poster-making competition organised by the Rotary Club in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: Numerous students around the city have chosen to enjoy the festival of lights without the conventional crackers.

Over 750 students from 32 schools and colleges in and around Bangalore participated in an inter-school poster-making competition organised by Rotary Club of Bangalore in collaboration with Innergy Skills and Oracle here on Saturday. The theme of the competition was “Child labour is inhuman”.

The participating students expressed their desire to sacrifice the “fun” of bursting crackers so that people took note of the dismal conditions under which child labourers worked in fireworks factories in the country. Archana, a first pre-university student at Jyothy Kendriya Vidyalaya, spent over two hours painting her poster. She said: “This is my way of telling the world that I do not agree with children working in factories at Sivakasi while others enjoy at their expense.” Rakesh of Kendriya Vidyalaya at Malleswaram, who won the competition last year, said: “Painting is the best medium through which I can express myself. I feel that the message that students are trying to convey is more important than the competition itself.” K. Vijayakumar, president of Rotary Club Bangalore, said: “People ought not enjoy at the cost of exploited children who should have been in playgrounds having a good time like every other normal child. The decision taken by these students not to burst crackers shows how they have identified the evils of society and are ready to take a stand.” The annual competition was held at the Rotary House of Friendship, Innisfree House School, and various centres of the Parikrama Humanity Foundation as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Rotary Club of Bangalore.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Seminar
Workshop
NLS debate from Wednesday
Yesudas to start music school
Media reports misguiding: Bidari
State team to meet Central leaders
Data on backward taluks to be updated
Pratibha Patil to inaugurate Buddha Vihara in Gulbarga
Women bank officers seek better deal
Bangarappa is optimistic of Congress-JD(S) alliance
Appointed
KUSMA plea
Discount offer
Two students permitted to take exam
Karnataka has only 10 bullet-proof cars
Sacrificing the ‘fun’ of bursting crackers
A slice of Navarasas in dance forms

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu