An interesting two-day photography exhibition on traditional rural games clicked by children from tribal-dominated Alirajpur district was put up in Bhopal to mark the World Children’s Day (November 20).
The exhibition was organised by UNICEF office of Madhya Pradesh in association with project 'Youth4Children'and Madhya Pradesh government. The event concluded on Tuesday. The exhibition saw a footfall of 2,500 persons including school children and they appreciated the creativeness and perception of the children photographers.
In the exhibition, 40 photographs clicked by adolescents highlighting games played in their villages were displayed. The exhibition was inaugurated by the adolescents themselves along with Gauranshi Sharma, Deaflympics champion from Bhopal. Rural games were also played by the adolescents photographers, guests and visitors at the exhibition venue.
Prashant Pathrabe, Additional Director General of Press Information Bureau, senior journalists Girish Updhayaya, Sunil Shukla and BJP spokesperson Neha Bagga were present along with UNICEF team.
Pathrabe said that it is great to see expressions of children in the form of photographs. Upadhyaya said that there is a need to give a platform to the creativity of children, especially when it showcases their lives. Bagga said she was delighted to see the images of rural sports and congratulated the young photographers. Gauranshi said that it was a nice experience to play marbles at the venue, leaving aside mobile phones for some time.
The adolescents whose photos were included in the exhibition were Govind, Sunita, Dharmendra, Deepak, Salim, Mahesh, Bhanwari and Kiran who captured photos of local games like archery, satolia (seven stones), game of marbles, catapult and other local games.
The children shared the experience of clicking photographs and what it meant for them to share it at an exhibition in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Gayatri Parihar of Vasudha Sansthan that coordinates the ‘Youth4Children’ project said that there was a plan to take the process of showcasing the photographic skills of the children forward through compilation of the images in various forms that could be shared widely.
Also, as a initiative of UNICEF to mark the day, many public buildings and archaeological monuments in the state were lit up in blue light in a symbolic stand for children’s rights. In the tribal-dominated Dhar district, UNICEF organised a district-level Kabaddi competition for tribal girls.
12 teams participate in Kabaddi event
In all, 12 teams of tribal girls participated in the Kabaddi competition at Dhar, which was opened in the presence of UNICEF MP Office chief Margaret Gwada. She said that the children have rights to play and it was nice to see that the tribal girls in Dhar were aware of these rights. “It is a positive scenario that tribal girls are interested in competitive sports like Kabaddi. Sports activities lead to an increase in physical capacity of the children, which is important for their future,” she said. She also lauded the Dhar district administration for its work on child rights.
District panchayat chief executive officer K.L. Meena, who was present as special guest, said that a healthy body hosts a healthy mind and thus children should regularly remain involved in sports activities. Education specialist with UNICEF office of MP spoke about the importance of sports for children while communication specialist Anil Gulati spoke about the importance of World Children’s Day. Assistant commissioner of tribal welfare department Supriya Bisen was also present.
Deputy Superintendent of Police of Dhar Nileshwari Dabar awarded the winning team from Kukshi Kanya Shiksha Parisar (government-run residential higher-education facility for tribal girls) and runners-up team from Dharampuri government girls’ hostel.
