CHENNAI: Heads down and many hands at work, more than a 100 students sat down in groups fiddling with a pack of ice-sticks, some twine, a piece of cardboard and Fevicol as they grappled and brainstormed with the task of building a high-rise structure (like a table).These naturally-interactive, casually-curious, uninhibited school kids are not from high-flying ivy league schools of the city but those from a remote village 20kms from Chengalpattu town.After an hour, each group proudly displayed their handiwork to those discerning IITians who were there as a part of Shaastra Sankalp 2011.The ecstatic kids said they thoroughly enjoyed the process. Rajan (11) said, “We all worked together, so we could do a better job.” Twelve-year-old Gokul said, “The legs of our structure gave away when some weight was put on it. We learnt today that more attention should be paid to building the foundation.” Suganthy, a 13-year-old participant, said, “Initially, it was a bit difficult, but eventually, we figured it out.” Manoj, IITian and coordinator of this building exercise called Project- X, said, “The results these kids produced were very impressive. I would say it was on par with what IITians did when we held this exercise for them in the IIT campus as part of Shaastra. We initially planned a video demo of how to go about doing it, which didn’t happen due to a power failure here. But the inventiveness and team spirit of these students speak for itself.” After an intermission, the students had a interactive live laboratory session staged by the Agastya Foundation, an NGO which popularises science in rural schools through their mobile science lab. They showcased many simple science experiments, making the children think out –of-the-box. Sugan (10), when asked to fill a conical without pouring water into the opening, drank a mouth full and slowly drained it into the flask, with was met with a huge applause.Post-lunch, a Class 9 student Gnanapriya solved the Rubik’s cube in four minutes much to the surprise of the organisers who had a fixed a time slot of one hour. The origami session held was a real portrayal of the free spirits of the rural students who invented things like balls, kites and simple four petaled flowers, instead of the intended lotus.The boys outdid the girls in the treasure hunt, where they had to follow clues to find pieces of wires, batteries, a bulb and a switch to complete a circuit by lighting the bulb. All the 135 students who participated in the day’s event were given Shaastra T-shirts. Other token prizes were handed to the winners in various events.
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