As some of you would be aware, Samrakshan, in association with Asha for Education's Silicon Valley Chapter, has been running basic schools in villages in MP's Sheopur district. These have been primarily targeted at villages that have been displaced from the Kuno wildlife sanctuary, although increasingly we are also reaching out to other villages in the area that are not serviced by the state education apparatus. Local youth have been recruited as teachers and imparted basic training.

Ten such schools have been operational since January 2002. In order to mark the completion of one year of these schools and to enrich the lives of the 500 odd students (aged between 4 and 14 years) of these Asha 'shalas', a Bal Mela was organised on 25 January 2002. Students from all the schools congregated at Samrakshan's campus in Village Agraa and brought with them various models made of clay, wood and other local material. An exhibition of these models was put up along with a sports competition and a cultural presentation by each school. The children also made delightful sketches of birds and animals that they have seen around them, or have otherwise learnt about.

A report by Samrakshan's education coordinator Nimesh Ved is placed below. We have reproduced Nimesh's narrative in its original form in order to give you a sense of the occasion and the atmosphere.

Bal - Mela
25 January 2003

The pure joy of seeing the children arrive in tractor driven trolleys was enough to countermand whatever apprehension we had about the mela. It was truly a memorable sight seeing the otherwise semi-clad children in school uniforms, which had been distributed to them a day prior to the Mela; some waving the tricolour, some shouting slogans, others singing songs but all emoting that cheer and bliss unique to over-joyous children.

The children came with models and toys prepared by them, individually or in groups, made of mud or wood or waste items like broken bangles etc. These were arranged school-wise for display. There were huts, tractors, cows, peacocks and other such models bringing forth the myriad talents of the children.

The children then seated themselves in groups according to their schools with their respective teachers and a placard of their school in front, while the loudspeaker played children's songs. When tea was served, the sight of little children trying to cope with tea in one hand and a biscuit packet in the other was the most enduring sight of the day.

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The "cultural program" that followed, saw representatives of the schools take the stage to present their items. There were patriotic songs, folk songs, poems, and short skits that kept the gathering spellbound for almost three hours. Besides the 500 odd children present, the villagers too had gathered in and around the campus, some to see their children perform, others simply out of curiosity. After all, such an event was being held for the first time in their village. The children, true to their promise and justifying the efforts invested by their teachers, performed enthusiastically, belying all our scepticism about them having stage-fear.

It was then time for lunch and the teachers handed out lunch packets (poori and aloo-ki-sabzi) to the children. The warning that littering would attract negative marking in the final tally in the competition for best school ensured that the campus remained scrupulously clean despite great scope for littering, particularly after tea / biscuits/ lunch. It appears that if children can be shown the right direction, they can go really far.

Next were the sporting events that were held at a nearby dry pond bed, which had been converted to a playing field. The events began with a "Lemon and Spoon" race for girls, with 2 participants from each school. After declaring the winners amidst shouts and applause we moved on to the next event, girls' Kho-Kho. This event had teams from only 2 schools Ladar and Chak. The boys Kho-Kho was eagerly contested, with all 11 schools in the fray. The semi-finals and finals were eagerly fought and the contest ended in a tie, with both the teams being declared joint winners.


Coming back to the campus for the prize distribution ceremony, it was hard for us to control the enthusiasm of the children. The winners of each event were declared amidst applause and the teachers were called up to distribute prizes. Each school was given a participation prize, while the best school was selected on the basis of the day's performance and overall performance. The Asha shala of village Laddar, taught by Santosh Kushwah, was adjudged the best school. It was getting dark by this time and the children hurried to their respective tractor trolleys so as to reach home in time.

The response to the Mela surpassed our own expectations, and also gave us immeasurable encouragement and energy for the future. Indeed there can be no better stimulant than the smiles on the faces of these children.

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