What activity can be organised to make the mela a success?
Answers
You can either use the following discussion for your asl prompt task or formulate your own discussion taking ideas from it:
Student A: Hey where have you been? I wanted to discuss a very bright plan!
Student B: I was at canteen with friends. What bright idea have you got?
Student A: I was wondering if we could celebrate our coming Children’s Day with slum children of the city, how nice it would be!
Student B: It will be the best Children’s day perhaps.
Student A: We have been told to care for the less privileged and the poorer sections of society. In the slums live thousands of children bereft of basic amenities and privileges of life which we enjoy all the while.
Student B: Hey it is really wonderful idea. But how do you plan to celebrate the day with them?
Student A: We will go to the principal and ask her to give us the permission to invite the slum children here to the school. They will spend the day with us. They will partake in the feast with us. They will dance with us.
Student B: Wow! They will feel so good!
Student A: Hey we can involve them in the decoration of classrooms, the Celebration Hall, etc.
Student B: Yes, they will enjoy being at school. They will also have a look at the kind of life we live.
Student A: We can also organize a mini-sports day for them. They will run races, do jumps, etc. Finally they can enjoy the swings and rides.
Student B: We can contribute some money in the class and give them a nice treat at the canteen.
Student A: Wow! Hey I think we can also gift them some very simple books on basics. It will really help them learn reading and writing.
Student B: Great idea. But how?
Student A: Very simple. We will ask our class students to bring their old books of any previous class, especially the primary level and can sort out the most suitable books to be given to them.
Student B: Very bright idea! Do you think the principal will allow us to invite the slum children?
Student A: I don’t know. For this I need the cooperation of the entire class. I think if we go together and request her collectively, she can consider our request. Besides it is a very innovative idea.
Student B: Let’s go to our class teacher first and discuss it with her.
Follow up questions:
1. There could be many other ways to reach the solution. Other classes can also be involved. Since the Govt. of India has passed the RTE (Right to education); the Govt will appreciate the school's efforts; the principal and the school authorities will also feel obliged to hold the mela.
2. Organizing the mela for the slum children will not be an easy task. So many arrangements will have to be made; initially there won't be many volunteers; there will be many obstacles; there will be some expenses involved, so all these hurdles will have to be overcome.