Friday, January 29, 2021

Lockdown hobby brings her a national award

We all found some way to engage ourselves during the enforced stay-at-home period spanning many months last year.

For Beneetta Varghese, a 10th grade student, it was making toys from naturally available materials like leaves, bamboo, areca palm, plantain stem etc.

She used to post their photos on her WhatsApp status, and that caught the attention of her teachers who encouraged her to take part in a national competition, Kala Utsav, organised by the India government's Ministry of Education.

This student of St Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Kallody, Wayanad, Kerala, cleared the block level, the district level and the state level, and reached the national level, where her passion was rewarded with the first prize.

This is the news in today's The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram edition.


(This post is part of the monthly We Are The World Blogfest that goes out on the last Friday of every month to highlight the positive stories around us. On Facebook and on Twitter.)


24 comments:

  1. Hi Pradeep - that's amazing ... Beenetta sounds so creative - and well done to her ... such a wonderful #WATWB post ... excellent to learn about her ... stay safe - Hilary

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  2. Hari OM
    Something to boost the spirits!!! Well done to that young lady. YAM xx

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  3. Brilliant story Pradeep thank you for sharing it! Well done to Beneettta and the 2 runners-up. Beneetta's cousins must have been pleased to have been the recipients of these lovely toys. Have a good weekend, keep well and stay safe.

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  4. There seems to be so much initiative and compassion in youth like Beneetta. It gives us all hope that the world will be a much better place in the decades to come.

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  5. How cool! Good for Beneetta. She's very talented.

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  6. Congratulations to Beneetta. She should be a role model to other teenagers.

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    1. Hi Rajan - The lockdown seems to have brought out an innate talent in her.

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  7. This girl is going places for sure.

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  8. That's a welcome change from the regular engineers and doctors that our education system manufactures.

    Wait. This is perhaps the result of being away-from-school.

    At the least, people around her encouraged her to pursue the passion instead of advising her that it would interfere with her studies!!

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Hi Rajesh - One positive side of the lockdown. It's important youngsters get good support and encouragement, and she seems to have got that.

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  9. Congratulations, young lady! That kind of creativity will take her far. That's wonderful. Lovely to see a young person being so productive with her time like this.

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    1. Hi Vallypee - I am sure she will be able to improve her skill sets.

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  10. I always love to hear about items made out of natural materials. Thanks for posting.

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    1. Hi Kalpana - Such items are environment-friendly too. Thanks for visiting and for your comment.

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  11. It is indeed interesting to hear such positive things, born amidst the negativity imposed by the Corona virus. All the best to that creative girl Actually those, who live a village-life(not much developed villages) know much more practical things than the ones with urban-life. Coconut tender nuts, petioles, leaflets, leaf-sticks(Leaflet midribs), Aracanut-leaf-sheath, paper bits etc become beautiful toys in the hands of rural dwellers. Nice post, Pradeep.

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    1. Hi Sarala - Indeed, people in rural settings are able to tap into natural resources much better. She seems to be a very talented girl.

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  12. With stories like this it offers so much hope for the future. So happy that Beenetta's creativity was recognized! Thanks so much for sharing this and for being a part of #WATWB!
    Hope you have a fantastic week!

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    1. Hi Witzenhausen - Absolutely. She is a talented girl and very good of her to have made use of the lockdown time to hone her skills.

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  13. I haven't heard of the We Are The World Blogfest. How long has this been going on? I'm guessing it was born out of the pandemic. Everyone is looking for positive things in the world.
    This is great.

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    1. Hi Red - I don't know when it began. But it surely was there before the pandemic.

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