THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The theft of vegetables from the school garden at Thycaud Government Model HSS LP School on Monday left its young gardeners disheartened. But their disappointment soon turned into hope as support poured in. After Anagha, a Class II student, wrote a letter to Minister for General Education V Sivankutty about the incident, he responded through Facebook, promising that the authorities would look into the matter and prevent such thefts in the future. He also mentioned the possibility of installing CCTV cameras.
Also, Baselios Marthoma Mathews III Catholicos, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, stepped in to offer support. His representatives from the Palayam church transferred Rs 50,000 to the school’s staff secretary on Wednesday. “He had called us after seeing the news and offered to help. On receiving the money, we messaged him, and he said that he will visit the school and the children once he comes to Thiruvananthapuram,” said Sunitha G S, staff secretary.
For the little hands at the school, their garden is a place of joy, teamwork and the thrill of watching tiny saplings turn into something edible. After months of careful tending, watering, and waiting, their cauliflowers were finally ready to be harvested for their midday meal. But just when they were about to reap the fruits of their labour, an unexpected theft happened and left them disappointed.
“The first thing we do when we come here is to check on the plants we have cultivated. And we were surprised to see the cauliflowers missing when we came on Monday. The previous week too, five cauliflowers were missing. We didn’t think of it as a big problem, but then again, they were stolen,” sighed Swetha, a Class II student and an active member of the Thycaud Government Model HSS LP school garden.
The young gardeners like Swetha, Aadya, Anagha, Sameera, Sivanandana, and Akshay were disheartened as they had poured their time and energy into it. The whole school looks really lush with trees and plants. It is an initiative driven by students, supported by teachers, PTA members, and other staff members.
“It is a must to have one curry in our lunch from our garden. Even today, our achinga payar (yard long beans) were used in sambar,” said Sivanandana, a class III student. “We think somebody who knows our school very well has stolen them. That is the only way they could have spotted our healthy cauliflowers,” giggled Aadya, trying to make light of the situation. After the second theft, the students informed their teachers, who found that brinjals were also missing.
“At first, we didn’t take it as a big deal. But when it happened again, we had to complain. It is not about the cauliflowers, it is the effort of our children. The excitement of having something they had grown themselves was a feeling no supermarket vegetable could replace,” said Sunitha G S, the school’s staff secretary.
The school had recently been a venue for the state Kalolsavam, hosting visitors from all 14 districts. Interestingly, nothing else was stolen from the premises except for the vegetables.
“Some students even had excitedly planned their Monday meal, saying, ‘We’ll have cauliflower curry to side it with biryani.’ But when they arrived in the morning, the cauliflowers were missing,” said Laya S, a Malayalam teacher.
Despite the setback, the students are planning to grow more. If anything, the missing vegetables have only sown the seeds of greater enthusiasm in these little farmers.