About the International Literacy Day celebration

In a village called Adhania lives little Munia who cannot play like other children because she has a limp. She plays instead with the Elephant Bird who cannot fly. One day Vayu, the horse, disappears and the villagers blame the Elephant Bird for its disappearance. Well, the Elephant Bird is big enough to swallow a horse but did he swallow Vayu? Munia doesn't think so. She sets out to prove her friend's innocence. 

This story written by Arefa Tehsin, illustrated by Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja was the book chosen by Pratham Books for their  'One Day One Story'  campaign as part of the International Literacy Day.  

We used this opportunity to revive our story telling at the lake on Saturday 17th September. Are we happy we did! The children came in ones and twos and groups and soon the Gazebo was full of kids! A rough count showed about 65 young heads, the highest number ever for a story telling at our lake. Many of them had parents and/or grandparents with them. Some of the adults occupied the benches in the Gazebo, most of them stood outside. Their keen attention to the story telling was evident when they along with the children imitated the gestures of the story tellers! 

Inside and outside the gazebo

Breathing life into the story

The colours on our feet!

Snehadhara has a strong team of such talented story tellers who were enthused by the engrossed listeners, young and old. They brought the curious and brave Munia, the magical Elephant Bird and the suspicious villagers to life. The story ended but not the fun. 

Geetu and her team brought the kids to the open ground, got them to form a huge circle and everybody together played a couple of games. Then it was time to say good bye and disperse but very many of the children didn't want to leave! We didn't want them to leave either so we'll very soon organize another exciting event at the lake. Watch this space for the announcement! 

Bend your knees!

Hoola hoop game

Coming back to The Elephant Bird - the story may be fantasy but Elephant Birds did exist long ago in Madagascar. Read about them on wiki here.

If you would like to read the story to your child, please click on this link where you can access the book -  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/1101-the-elephant-bird.

Usha

for PNLIT with Snehadhara Foundation and Pratham Books

More photographs can be seen here.

Celebrating International Literacy Day @ Puttenahalli Lake

Have you heard of an Elephant Bird? Yes, it sure did exist once. Don't believe us? Come find out about it for yourselves.

International Literacy Day is today, 8th September. However, PNLIT will be celebrating it on 17th September, with "The Elephant Bird" chosen for this year's 'One Day One Story' campaign by Pratham Books. This story, about a magical bird and a brave child, is written by Arefa Tehsin, illustrated by Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja, and published by Pratham Books.

We will have the wonderful team from Snehadhara Foundation with us to sing, dance and narrate the touching story of "The Elephant Bird". 

When: Saturday 17th September 2016 @ 4:00 p.m.
Where: Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase (near South City/ MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium)
Entry: Free - All are welcome

Certificate received from National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards

The National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards was held in Bangalore on 1st September, 2016 at Taj Vivanta Hotel.

The day-long conference focussed on trending and current issues within CSR, delivered by a high-profile panel of experts. The event culminated in an awards function in the evening. The Award highlighted those organisations and individuals that embraced the CSR and sustainability agenda and made it a key component of their procurement activities - as buyer or supplier - delivering not just a neutral impact on the environment as a consequence, but also a clear benefit. 

PNLIT was one of the NGOs invited to the event. Trustee Nupur Jain and volunteer Kalai Gautham attended the evening function. We are happy to inform you that PNLIT was one of the NGOs that was awarded a Certificate of Merit for the "Contribution to Social Cause & Empowerment". Thanks to World CSR Day & World Sustainability for the recognition.

Nupur and Kalai receiving the Certificate for PNLIT

Flocks at the lake

Puttenahalli Lake is looking truly gorgeous... 

Aerial view of Puttenahalli Lake, 22-Aug-2016 (Pic: Geetha Srikrishnan)

... not only to humans but to birds as well. Last Saturday, Madhurima, a resident of South City, who's been keeping a weekly bird census, spotted twenty Cormorants in all the three sizes. This is great news but the even better news is the presence of so many young ones. 

Indian Cormorants

Indian Cormorants (adult and juvenile)

Grey Heron (juvenile)

Night Heron (juvenile and adult)

Grey-headed Swamphen (earlier known as Purple Swamphen) (juvenile)
(Pics: Madhurima Das)

One month after launching our donation drive, we have raised Rs.3 Lakhs against our target of Rs.6 lakhs. We need to raise the remaining amount at the earliest so that we can wrap up the donation drive for the year and move on to making further improvements in the lake. 

Just as little drops of water make the ocean, our small steps over the past several years have given a new lease of life to the lake. Likewise, please donate whatever you can. Your contribution will help PNLIT nurture this precious bird haven. 

Donations may be made by cash, cheque, direct remittance or online through donation partners. For details on how to donate, please see here.

If you are making an online payment, please send a screen shot of the transaction and your contact details to enable us to send you the receipt. 

Cheques in the name of "PNLIT" or "Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust" may be sent to our registered office: 

PNLIT, Usha Rajagopalan,
B3, 502, South City, Arekere Mico Layout, Off Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560 076 

Donations are eligible for income tax exemption, u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act (50% deduction from taxable income)