Experiences and Expressions

MS Field Trip to Siruthuli

On March 10th at 8am, the Middle Schoolers were ready to leave the school to go to Siruthuli, an NGO based in Coimbatore that works to rejuvenate the water sources in the city. Siruthuli means a ‘small drop’ in Tamil. Once they reached, they hurried up the stairs to a big conference room. Our first speaker was Mrs. Srividhya, an apex member of Siruthuli. She explained how Siruthuli started as an organization. She spoke about the water shortages she faced when she was young and how previous generations used to play in the Noyyal river. She gave clarity on many terms about water and its usage in the city.

She then passed the microphone to two young German interns who had been volunteering in the organization for over a year. Merlin anna and Yaani anna conducted a discussion cum debate session for us. They divided us into six teams. Each team was assigned to represent one of the following: a specific segment of the River Noyyal along its course or the people in the mountains, city or village.

The next speaker was Saravanan anna who was a wildlife enthusiast. He talked about the treasures of the Western Ghats, the flora and fauna endemic to this place. He also put up a presentation with exclusive photographs he had taken during his many treks on these mountain ranges. Anna spoke in length about the Amur Falcon and described how their species travelled about 22,000 nautical miles every year for migration.

Next came two speakers who shared about Refuse, Reduce & Reuse. We even learnt to make cloth bags from old t-shirts. We returned to school after a scrumptious lunch at Pizza Hut. -Overall, it was a great experience for us.
– Vedant & Aksita

Student Sharings:

I sprang up from my chair to find a blue t-shirt on the table in front of me. Whaaat?

“Now, we are going to make a bag out of a t-shirt…“

Cool! I thought. I enthusiastically picked up a pair of scissors and made it into  a sleeveless top. After that, we cut off the collar and the seam at the bottom. In the end, we tasselled the bottom and knotted them up. We turned the shirt inside out, and – voila! – a huge 100% cotton bag was in front of me. What a creation!
– Shravya

The thing that fascinated me the most was learning about the Amur Falcons. Anna explained how they migrate very long distances without resting at all. They start flying all the way from Siberia to South Africa and back. Unfortunately, hunters kill many of these magnificent species for food and, of course, money. I would like to stop the hunters from doing this.
– Arth.

Srividhya akka, our first speaker, told us that the RUNNING water that comes down the mountains is very fast and fierce. Since it is inaccessible to people, it is made to WALK by building check dams. The walking water is made to STAND in natural tanks and ponds. This water then goes underground through the soil and in turn makes the water SIT. I liked this analogy that she used.
– Alisha.

I don’t understand
Why people pollute the rivers
Why they take it for granted
Why don’t they realize their mistakes?

But most of all
Why they always want more
Why they are not happy with what they have
Why is there endless greed?

What I understand is
Why some people still care
Why they don’t give up
Why they love the earth!
– Siddarth.

 It was disheartening to know how badly the river, which gave birth to the Noyyal civilization in and around Coimbatore a few centuries ago, is polluted. At the same time, I felt grateful to Siruthuli for taking incredible efforts to do something about it. ‘Voice of Noyyal’ , an interesting and interactive activity conducted by two young German volunteers made us clearly understand the source of the river and how tons and tons of garbage is causing pollution throughout its coarse till it reaches the main river Kaveri. This trip was surely an eye opener.
–Heeya.

Class 11 Trek to the Himalayas

The class 11 students finally left for their Himalayan trip on the 7^th of February. The trip started with a bang – literally –  as the region we were to trek in had suffered an earthquake, and we were instructed that our future plans were in question.

Our stay in Rishikesh was jam packed with fun, even with the uncertainty looming over our heads. We went rafting in the waters of the Ganga.  The experience was spectacular. After spending some time shopping in the streets of Ram Jhoola, we participated in a puja where we paid our respects to our mother river.

When we found out that we were proceeding with our original plan, we headed toward the Snow View Hotel.  Packed with thermals and sleeping bags, we slept warm and sound, readying ourselves for the next day’s trek to Tungnath temple.

Trekking to the height of 12,073 feet was more fun than one would expect. We were accompanied by our very own mountain dog, who showed off his trekking skills while we panted our way up. We enjoyed the company of the sloshy snow, and very ‘creative’ jokes by our teachers. The trek down was even more fun, as it required much less effort.

The next trek we went on was to the Deoria Tal Lake. The trek was short and in front of us was a spectacular view of the Himalayas reflecting in the Devi’s lake. We spent hours there, laughing, chatting and enjoying the view, after which we ate hot rajma and chawal, freshly cooked by our very special kitchen crew. With this trek, the adventurous leg of our journey was over and we started on a more leisurely trip.

We visited the Muktinath temple, a place where all the five idols of Shiva are kept during the winter time and the Guptakashi temple. We then went to visit a cave in Swami Purushottamananda’s ashram, where sage Vashishta had meditated for many years. We spent one night in ultra-cool tents, which made us feel like we stepped into the fourth Harry Potter book.

The next morning, we made a quick departure, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to arrive shortly as a part of his road show for the upcoming Uttarakhand elections, and all movement in and around the locale was to be suspended.

The last few days of our trip were spent in Rishikesh, where we stayed in the fancy Ganga View hotel, went on shopping sprees, and ended our trip with a visit to ‘The Beatles’ ashram (the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram) where John Lennon had meditated. It was decorated with amazing graffiti and we came to the obviously-biased conclusion that this was most definitely the place he wrote ‘Imagine’.

After spending ten days in the valleys and mountains of Uttarakhand, we were sure that this would not be our last tryst with the beautiful Himalayan Mountains and the River Ganga. This was just the beginning of a lifelong association.

– Mahima

Class 9 Reminisce About Rajasthan

On the 6^th of February, our 9^th standard year-end exams officially came to an end after we handed in our last exam and went home to begin packing for our 10 day trip to Agra-Jaipur-Delhi. We were as prepared as we could possibly be, since we had already interrogated our previous batches about what to look out for, what to buy and what we should definitely eat while in North India. We trudged through the Coimbatore airport parking lot under the rising heat of a mid-afternoon sun on the 7^th of February, 2017. We checked in our luggage and with boarding passes in hand, the 33 of us (and 6 teachers) – our excitement evident in the sudden rise of the airport’s average decibel level upon our arrival – boarded our initial flight to the Delhi airport.

Over the first two days we were taken on a tour of Agra’s number 1 tourist attraction, the Taj Mahal, along with the lesser known, but equally stunning, Agra Fort. We spent time exploring the structure while enjoying the breath taking view of the Taj Mahal though obscured by the city’s translucent atmosphere.  The second fort that we visited was located on the steep, mountainous terrain of Ranthambore. The Ranthambore fort is of great cultural significance to the people living there, who were proud to narrate stories of their beloved king’s triumphant reign over the city. Amer Fort at Jaipur was another eye-catcher, boasting endless flights of stairs and an impossible maze of tunnels which, to our surprise, led to a ‘hidden’ Café Coffee day outlet under the walls. Soon after the sunset, a light and sound show was played on the magnificent walls of the Amer Fort, depicting the city’s elaborate history. Our next destination, Jaisalmer, was a unique ‘living’ Fort. The whole city is made in sandstone to look like an extension of the fort, which is still inhabited by the town’s people, who make a living by selling their goods along the cobblestone streets to tourists such as ourselves.

This was one of the few trips we have been on that has had so many highlights that it would be almost impossible to list down each one. One of the major ones would have had to be Ranthambore, where we drove through a tiger reserve forest, shielded by nothing but a long, roof-less cantor. May be it was our luck or just mere coincidence that we happened to be one of the only groups to witness a tigress, called Arrowhead, devouring its prey.

Another interesting place was Jaipur, where we were guided through Jantar Mantar, an astronomical wonder. We were amazed to see how the entire site had precise structures made that could tell time based on the shadow of the Sun! Soon afterwards, we were let out to experience the traditional markets of Jaipur city. We just couldn’t resist the temptation to buy what was on offer, whether it be traditional jhumkas, colourful scarves or fresh kachoris.

The high point of the trip was when we went on a jeep safari to the sand dunes in Jaisalmer. It was our most thrilling experience, closely followed by the camel safari. The bumpy ride on camel back, led us to the perfect venue for a sand fight. Some of us raced down the ultra-steep slopes, some flipped over face first and others pretty much ate mouthfuls of sand as they were pelted in the face handful after handful.

Our teachers and trip organizers (Nirvana Nomads) enhanced the experience of travelling greatly by organising various workshops to help us experience the region’s diverse culture. In Ranthambore, we were privileged to converse with Mr Dharmendra Khandal, conservation biologist with Tiger Watch — an NGO. Mr Khandal has dedicated most of his adult life setting up of an anti-poaching information network in Rajasthan. His efforts have allowed the tiger population to flourish again in Rajasthan.

In Jaipur, we visited the Anokhi Museum to learn about traditional block printing art, and we were able to compose our own block printed piece on cloth. It was a wonderful team building exercise and we ended up producing a beautiful piece to be hung in our classrooms.

In Jaisalmer, we not only got to see a few local cultural performances but we also had the opportunity to interact with the famous Manganiar folk performers. After hearing the diverse, unusual, yet intriguing instruments made and played by the Manganiars themselves, this normally unappreciative group of 9^th graders instantly became infatuated with their music.

These 10 days were truly filled with rich experiences for us. We stayed in a variety of places, from luxury hotel to tents and even a dorm. We travelled in all possible ways – aeroplanes, buses, trains, jeeps and camel back! We explored various cuisines – for us foodies, a few favourites included street-side chaat, daal baati, tomato sev sabzi, and momos (Dilli Haat). In these packed days, we saw many historical monuments and experienced the culture of Rajasthan which has been so beautifully preserved by its people. In all, we could not have asked for a more exciting trip.