Ten-year-old Jyothi and her twin brother Ashok sat staring out the window of their flat in Bangalore. It was a beautiful day. Only one more minute and they were off!
“Why are you two so restless?” asked their mother.
“Amma, we are supposed to see Sanjay’s new remote control helicopter today at the empty lot behind the mall,” Ashok said brightly. “It’s the newest version his uncle got him from Mumbai. Come on, Jyothi. It’s time!” The twins whizzed past their mother out the door.
When Jyothi and Ashok approached the lot, they saw Sanjay and Alekya waving to them. Sanjay held a remote in one hand and a helicopter on the other. “Hey, Jyothi! Ashok! Something strange is going on,” Alekya said pointing to the far corner, where some people were talking and looking around the lot.
Jyothi, being naturally curious, asked the others to join her and hurried over to the lady, who seemed to be in charge. “Madam, what is happening here?” Jyothi asked.
“Did you read the papers today?” the lady asked. Jyothi always read the morning paper, but today she must have missed it because of the excitement. Jyothi truthfully replied that she hadn’t.
“All these trees are going to be cut down to build a larger portion of the mall,” the lady said and Jyothi gasped.
“You can’t do that! Trees take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen in return. If you cut down trees, there will be no clean air and oxygen. There will be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and that is one of the main causes of global warming,” Jyothi went on, remembering what her father had taught the twins about global warming. It was when pollution made holes in the ozone, causing the earth to heat up.
“My mother uses a cloth bag for groceries so we don’t use a plastic bag,” Alekya said and Sanjay nodded in agreement.
“Trees are being cut down everywhere to build malls and offices” Ashok said. “There are not many trees left.”
The woman looked thoughtful and said, “What you children are saying is true. I can’t believe that I was actually going to do this!” She motioned for the workers to drop the mission. Luckily, none of the trees had been harmed. “Thank you, young ones,” the lady said and got into her car. The workers also got into their truck and drove off.
“Wow! We are the saviour of trees!” Alekya whooped. They all clapped and cheered. They may not have seen a helicopter fly, but they did something far better.
Jyothi, Ashok, Sanjay, and Alekya successfully got the word out to a small group of people. We need to be the saviour of trees too. Help save trees by creating awareness in your city about the amount of trees being cut down and how to end it.
Sharanya Sriram, VI, California, USA
