It was an unusual afternoon at DI. A flock of parrots flew to their usual perch on the beautiful Gulmohar tree. The tranquil serenity that usually awaits them seemed to have disappeared in the cheerful shouts they could hear. As they peered down at the lush green DI lawns they could see scores of children running around cheering others. Four groups of children and a smattering of adults seemed to be revelling in a joyful afternoon. 

The trees on which the parrots sat now had some unusual additions – a rope bridge built from one trunk to another, a thick yellow rope with knots dangled from a sturdy branch and children swung across the Blue Mat ‘river’ on the rope as others cheered. 

The parrots were witnessing the unfolding of the DI Children’s Day camp on the afternoon of 12 November 2022. After a hiatus of over 3 years, the outdoor camp had been organised by the DI Library team. A closer look told many personal stories – stories of children enjoying being outdoors again, children learning how to cheer for their teams again (something it seemed they had forgotten in the loneliness of COVID), children overcoming their fears, children helping each other. 

Little Sree overcame her fear of the unsteadiness ropes offered as she crossed the bright yellow rope ‘Burma Bridge’ not once, but twice!

Children swung on Tarzan’s Swing crossing the innovative and safe Blue Mat river under the careful ministrations of Leonardo. They learnt their first failure was not the end, they were encouraged to try again and again. Soon they were vying for turns without feeling they might be laughed at or judged if they failed to cross the ‘river’ – the joy of trying was more important. We soon had some new-found swinging experts like Rayed, Aria, Dylan, Devyansh, Rayna. 

Older children, termed ‘seniors’ were seen ‘Shouldering responsibility’ as they lifted the ‘juniors’ on their shoulders. 

Team working was key as children crossed an ‘Invisible Maze’ – a feat only the Blue team was able to accomplish, with soldier Rayed finally making it home alive!

Earlier that afternoon, some 50 children gathered at the DI Lawns. They were divided into 4 teams – Red, Green, Blue and Yellow, with team colour ribbons donning their wrists. Captains Nitya, Ananya, Jawaharatus and Nevaeh took charge immediately, managing teams of 12 or 13 kids down to age 6. 

The Children’s day Camp had been carefully planned by the Library team- with outdoor activities and indoor activities separately. Cool, refreshing orange Tang was kept ready in the lawns for the children to revive their energy levels. 

    

The Outdoor activity started with a set of relays where all 4 teams competed together. Betty, Tanya,Rajashree, Nushrat quietly tabulated points and others like Simran, Roshan, Craig and the D’Gama family Christabel, Leonardo and Lorenzo led by Leslie conducted activities assisted by Adventure Zone. After the relays, the teams had 4 bases to complete – each set up in one corner of the lawns. 

• Shouldering Responsibility
• Invisible Mines
• Burma Bridge
• Tarzan’s Swing

Each of the games invoked much cheering and learning for the children who were back after so long. The setting of the sun signalled the time for Indoor games. 

      

After the activity driven afternoon, an engaging Quiz was planned for the teams by Quiz Master Debjani Basak. She carefully divided the challenges for the juniors and seniors in Round 1. Rounds 2 and 3 saw the juniors and seniors participate together. 

The questions in Round 2, Stories from History, had been carefully selected to encourage participants to arrive at the answers if they thought through the clues given. Each had an interesting story and had both the participants and parents, who had, by now joined the indoors as audience, try to answer the question. 

Important events like the installation of the iconic Statue of Liberty, to the malfunctioning of the scoreboard in the Olympics of 1976, to the Great Indian Writer, Rabindranath Tagore receiving the Nobel were covered in a most engaging manner. 

The last section asked the teams to connect some pictorial clues and answer the main question which offered them the opportunity to grab more points. While interesting and funny attempts at answers had the audience laughing, it was rewarding to see children try and ‘arrive’ at the answers by logical thinking. This was the underlying aim of the quiz, along with encouraging children to visit the well-equipped DI library and read.

As points were collated by Betty, children tried to ensure that their team won. The Red and Blue teams were neck to neck. The final game planned by Nushrat, had the juniors counting triangles – a suitably challenging task for them, and the seniors demonstrating their vocabulary by writing synonyms for a list of words shared. The well-read, yellow team was the clear winner in this round. 

  

After the final tabulation of points was done, it was apparent that Team Red had won by a small margin over Team Blue. The activity-driven 4 hours made all the participants hungry. A celebratory Children’s Day cake by Saldanha Bakery was cut by the winning team and relished by all including the voluntary organisers. Snack boxes with Pizza, Cheese sandwiches and chocolate eclairs, along with a refreshing lemony drink awaited the famished but elated bunch. 

It had been a truly rewarding day with the DI organising this for their children despite many challenges which continue to surface. The careful planning done by the Library team, over several meetings in the last few weeks, delivered the enchanting afternoon. 

I don’t know if the parrots gave this day a thought as they retired, but I am sure everyone who was part of the Children’s Day camp slept with a happy and content heart. 

Editor's note:  Special thanks to our Honorary Secretary, Michael N Rao, and other members who set up the entire indoors, rolling out carpets, laying out tables and chairs and organising equipment despite the resistance from the Union who did not permit our casual staff to work. Thanks to the children and their parents for cleaning up after the event.  It is this support, in the face of unfair intimidation by the staff, that motivates us to continue to put our best foot forward for the children and the members of the club.