The atmosphere at GD Matriculation Higher Secondary School was far from the average Sunday. Students were swarming around on campus to begin with, looking rather preoccupied and purposeful, as they shuttled between one event and the next. Teachers sat huddled in little corners, absent-mindedly following the migration of groups of uniform-clad wards, making sure they had an eye on everyone under their charge. Some parents dotted the playground too, perched atop benches, standing under trees, or the more enthusiastic ushering their children from one competition to the next. It was the scene of the Salim Ali Trophy Nature Competition 2016.
Keeping with the tradition of years, the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and National History (SACON) conducted its annual Nature Competitions for school students in and around Coimbatore. The students were engaged in a host of activities, ranging from the written word to artistic visual expression. Essay writing, story writing, and poetry writing in both English and Tamil were encouraged, as were elocution contests. On the arts stage, students were given opportunities to not only sketch (with only pencils) but also showcase their skills with the paintbrush. For the more science-oriented, the organising team had put together a quiz as well as a ‘Spot the Bird’ exercise, a perfect training ground for the diamond-in-the-rough ornithologists of the future.
The organising committee from SACON worked seamlessly, like a well-oiled machine. With the printed schedule announcing a 2.00 p.m. finish, a volunteer was overheard predicting the announcement of select results would commence by 1.00 p.m. When it actually unfolded, parents and teachers alike could be seen exchanging looks of surprise. It was barely past 12:30 p.m. The programme had finished ahead of schedule, as close to a miracle as it comes given the number of students present (around 2500 according to organising committee). The enthusiastic participants then got the uncommon, yet hugely rewarding, experience of hearing the results without going through a nerve-wracking wait. By the scheduled 2.00 p.m. end, most students would have safety gotten rid of school uniforms as they tucked in to lunch at home.
It is, however, the format of the contests that perhaps kept the experience fresh and challenging. With most contests open for a time window, it allowed students to walk in and out of venues, as they tried their hand at everything that caught their fancy. “We will draw and then go to storytelling,” they could be overheard strategising, while their peers compared notes on who had made the most of the morning. “Oh, you did only five? I went for six,” they bragged.
The SACON team did not stop here. Deciding that teachers ought to be challenged and kept busy as well, the team hosted an essay writing contest for teachers as well in both English and Tamil. While students dashed from one class to the next, teachers took a few minutes to experience the other side of the desk again, raising their hand for extra paper and excitedly exchanging notes on who wrote the longest essay as they streamed out of the room.
Birds, animals and rivers, achieving a clean and green Kovai, debating how students can contribute to conservation, discussing climate change and the world’s future — the Salim Ali Trophy Nature Competition 2016 saw it all. Essays, stories, poems, speeches and art sprung forth and the mountain of conscientious, socially responsible creative expression that the students created proved one thing. There is hope for a better tomorrow.
Results will be intimated to individual schools on December 7, after the finals of the quiz contest.
