Prithvi Media

TALK AT IPPAI’S REGULATORY RETREAT JULY 2011 GOA

Laxmi Dhaul CEO Prithvi Media attended IPPAI Regulators & Policy Makers Retreat in July 2011 held at Fort Aguada Goa . It was a 4 day conclave in Goa of Regulators & Policy Makers across Asia, discussing Regulatory Issues, Convergence Opportunities across Energy Infrastructure Sectors. She was a participant in the session on Environment . The movie Chimis Dream was screened which was followed by a lively discussion , excerpts of which can be seen in the video

CHIMI’S PARADE AT PANNA TIGER RESERVE FOR TRIBAL CHILDREN

WWF and Sarva Shiksha Abhyan Kendra ( Gov of Madhya Pradesh) have a 9 month residential facility for the children of poachers of the Behelia tribe living in the Panna Tiger reserve forests.  Prithvi Media and Praanah had been invited to conduct a 2 day ‘Art for Nature’ workshop for the 150 children of this residential programme.  Even today the Behelias – nomadic tribals  poach the Panna  forests in search of wildlife. Apparently  the population of larger animals in Panna has decreased drastically and even the number of tigers are in single digits  ! Today wild boar and pheasant are caught and sold in markets in nearby towns such as Satna and Khajuraho.

The principle behind the  initiative organised by WWF (India) and the MP Government is to rehabilitate the children of these poachers, by offering them residential facilities and educate them with skills to survive in villages and towns. All this with aim to dissuade them from resorting to the traditional occupation of their forefathers  and improve their lives! WWF (India)  representatives along with the  Prithvi Media and Praanah teams organised  a 2 two day workshop in Panna on 28th/29th August 2011. Prithvi  Media, a platform for environmental awareness in education believes that it can spread its message of wildlife and nature conservation  by organising workshops, movies and publications. It  has recently launched  ‘Chimi’s Dream’ an animated film (dubbed both in English and Hindi)  based on the story of a young boys dream about animals in a forest who are about to embark on a green parade to protest against man for spoiling their environment . The movie was shown to the 150 children at their residential centre . They understood the message loud and clear – animals too have a right to a clean environment clean air fresh water and pure air! The children were then given musical instruments and divided into groups and along with their teachers coined a slogan

“ Lets go forward ,lets  go forward. We the children of the forests have pledged to save our jungles. We the children of the towns have pledged to save our jungles!”

The children dressed in white ‘Chimi’  T shirts marched in two lines outside their centre beating on their drums and other instruments, cheering whilst repeating the slogan and having fun. The hot afternoon sun beating down did not deter their enthusiasm and joy !

Over the two days various activities were done with the entire group of 150 children  such as reciting of Hindi poems with actions, visualisation with actions such as enacting of wildlife and  the growth of a tree, drawing environmental themes on hand cutouts and building a ‘Globe of Joy’ etc.

Sangita Saxena , Mita Nangia Goswamy and Soji James from WWF India supported Laxmi Dhaul from Prithvimedia  in all these activities. Bhaktiveda Dhaul from Pranaah and her team Tarunima Sengupta, Kamia Sharma and Jyotika Katyal led the  activities.

On the second day wonderful wildlife films made by musician and film maker Chinmay Dunster were watched by the children with avid interest . Each child related to the movements of animals and birds  and clapped loudly !  The children performed plays one of them based on the story of Brave Amrita from the Bishnoi tribals in Rajasthan based on the Chipko movement.

It was a rewarding experience and it was decided that several Chimi Parades  would be organised in various centres all over India.

Earthday is celebrated internationally on 22nd April each year with an aim to bring focus to our planet earth by a large number of organizations and NGOs .

In the morning of 22nd April 2011, Prithvi Media celebrated Earthday by inviting 200 street children from various NGO’s to the Jacaranda Hall at the India Habitat Centre. The children from the NGO’s performed various dances, performed an acrobatic show, had a percussion show and recited poetry. The Ngo’s that participated were Kalakar Tarang, Radko School Ritinjali, Arpana and Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya . The children then viewed the film ‘Chimi’s Dream’ dubbed in Hindi and then were served lunch.

Renowned mythologist, writer and columnist Devdutt Patnaik has been invited by Prithvi media to give a talk on ‘Environment and Mythology’ . Mr Devdutt Patnaik is a physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist and author whose works focus largely on the areas of mythology. He shared his thoughts on the Indian traditional love for nature and our planet Earth which is deeply routed in Indian mythology, which has been passed down for generations. He spoke about the relation between plants and human. Mr Harry Dhaul, Director General of IPPAI also spoke about the close link of environment and energy. Energy is required by us for all our activities and this must be done without disturbing the ecosystems and the environment.

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi Shiela Dixit released ‘Chimi’s Dream’ book and animated movie at the Jacaranda hall, India Habitat Centre on Earthday. Hon’ble Chief Minister complimented Prithvi Media on the move and expressed her desire that the movie be shown to all the 3000 eco clubs in the state of New Delhi. Mr Suhel Seth also said a few words and mentioned that he hoped all the TV channels would show the movie which he felt had a worthwhile message .

Laxmi Dhaul, CEO Prithvi media gave the vote of thanks.