Bhubaneswar: As Ganesh Puja is around the corner, Little Harvard PreSchool, a preschool at Satya Nagar here conducted an Eco-Ganesh workshop on its premises Tuesday. Around 80 students along with their parents participated at the workshop.
Orissa POST interacted with the director of the school, staff and children at the pre-school.
Anuradha Dalmia Agarwal, director of the school, said, “In order to inculcate an ecofriendly sense of environment in children from the very beginning, we have taken the initiative to conduct a workshop on making Ganesh idols from eco-friendly materials such as clay, soil, organic fertilisers and natural colours such as Haldi.” The idol is then planted in a clay pot along with various seeds and when showered with water, the idol dissolves, thus allowing a Visarjan, she added. A new plant is given life, following the concept of godliness flowing and blossoming in our homes, and moving away from the often disrespectful ways the idol gets treated post-Visarjan in natural water bodies.
Sneha Madam, one of the pre-school staff, pointed out that before the onset of plastic in our daily lives, all such idols were always made at home using natural materials. We at Little Harvard are simply attempting to return to the green eco-friendly roots of our culture, she underlined. It may be mentioned here that Little Harvard PreSchool is an ardent follower of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. “This is just one small step in fulfilling the dream of Clean India, Green India”, Sneha added.
Toddler Ayush Mohapatra loved his clay Ganesh idol so much that he did not want its Visarjan. Prakruti Patra, another toddler, said her Ganesh was the best one.
The workshop was conducted with parents and children working in unison, thus providing an excellent opportunity to bond in the modern era of electronics. The clay molding also is a strong way of improving fine and gross motor skills thus enhancing the development of young children. Overall, all the kids enjoyed their time as they made their own Ganesh.