The Green Park Clean Up

In the bustling city of Mumbai in India, Samir lived with his father and mother. He had a very joyous life. He played with his friends all day and Samir was very good at school too!

But his father had got a new job and they moved to Bangalore. His father’s job was going well and his mother loved Bangalore. But Samir did not like it! He had to leave his old friends and school. “I miss all my friends, and it’s very boring Mom” he often grumbled to his mother.

Samir’s mother and father were very busy and were just settling in. They told him that he was not allowed to use his computer. “ Go and see our neighbourhood, Samir.” Said his mother. Grumbling, Samir went on a walk.

He bought some samosas from the local shop. As he walked around the corner, he saw a huge park, named “ The Green Park”. Samir had heard some of his classmates snigger, “ The name garbage park would suit it better !” He decided to go running just to pass the time.

When he went inside the park, the whole track was filled with garbage. Plastic straws, bottles, paper pieces, wrappers and packets. Samir was upset. “ Why is there so much trash lying on these paths? Let me find out.” He exclaimed to himself.

There were bins, but nobody was using them. Nobody felt the need to jog around the track just to drop a wrapper inside. They felt like they had no responsibility to their park! Samir was upset. He wanted to help clean the whole park. But what could he do? Nobody would spend hours cleaning this mess!

There had to be a change in this place. For a few days, he roamed about, clueless on how to go about it. Then, he saw a bunch of kids when he went to the mall. They were all riding on the escalator. Then, he saw a bunch of musical stairs, that played a note when they were stepped on! The kids decided to climb down just so that they could use the musical stairs. Samir then got an idea!

“Ready, Set Go !” Samir yelled. He was at the Green park. All his volunteers for the clean–up dashed off with bags. They scooped up any plastic waste or trash left behind and piled it up in the bags given to them. After the musical stairs caught Samir’s eye, he understood that tasks made into fun activities made people do it more happily.

And he had an Eureka Moment!

He had created a special event, with the help of his mother and his father. They had helped him in gathering volunteers for a clean-up in the park. They cleaned up everything which was on the track and in the soil while jogging simultaneously. Many of his friends, relatives and neighbours participated in this activity. After a week, the entire park was cleared. It indeed was a Green Park now!

- Vivvaan Bajpayee