No work and all clay for eco-friendly Ganesh Chavithi in Hyderabad

Children at a government school learn to  clay Ganeshas in five minutes
Schoolchildren with Ganesh Idol (Photo |EPS)
Schoolchildren with Ganesh Idol (Photo |EPS)

HYDERABAD: Soft, pliable clay and a few enthusiastic children are going to reduce the toxic burden on Hussainsagar Lake this Ganesh Chavithi. Like last year, drives are being conducted in the city to go for a green, clay Ganesha instead of the ones made of Plaster of Paris and other harmful chemicals. One such event, at Ram Nagar government school in Rahmath Nagar division of Yousufguda, not only taught the children a way to conserve lakes, but also gave a free reign to their creativity.

The workshop, conducted by Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd, had the chief human resource officer of the company, Sujiv Nair, teaching the children how to make an idol in five minutes. He first made four balls from the clay - big, medium and two small ones. The big one went on to make the body, the medium one the head and the two small ones made the ears. After fixing the trunk, hands and crown, an adorable Ganesha was ready. Sujiv said: “Children will imitate actions and learn to care for the environment if you show them the way.”

After the demonstration, the children were given clay to make their own idols. They sat in groups of three and went berserk with their imagination. While a few of them had beads and glitter with them to decorate their Ganeshas, a few affixed multiple hands to theirs, perhaps taking a cue from the famous Khairatabad idol.

There were prizes waiting for the three best idols which would be announced on the day of the festival. L Padmaja, the principal of the school, said: “We make sure that we celebrate all festivals with creativity and fun. They made Rakhis during Raksha Bandhan and kites during Sankranti. In this way, they also learn about our culture.”GHMC corporator from Rahmath Nagar division, MA Shafi, distributed notebooks among the children.
 

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