A group of children from a city school stood on stage with a group of underprivileged children on their annual day and recited a poem they had learnt together.
“Let’s be equal, just and free/ Strong in our diversity,” the children from diverse backgrounds recited together from Leila Seth’s book We, the Children of India (The Preamble to our Constitution).
The poem will help them “to remember the spirit of the Preamble”, the book says.
“There is division on the basis of colour, religion, class and we are trying to inculcate the understanding that everybody has a right to be free, just and equal by bringing together two groups of students from different backgrounds. If they want an inclusive society they have to try and build one,” said Mohuna Dutt, head of child development at NGO Calcutta Social Project.
The children from Calcutta Social Project have been visiting Mahadevi Birla World Academy for a reading partnership where kids of the schools have been reading together. The collaborative programme last week to celebrate 50 years of the NGO was to practise inclusion.
The children learnt the poem during their reading programme. The first-generation learners got an opportunity to exhibit their talent with their mainstream school counterparts.
Children do not lack talent but the lack of opportunity creates a difference, said a member of the NGO.
The poem talks about love, trust and care that would teach children empathy and the need to support each other, a teacher said.
“Seth’s poem successfully extracts the essence of the Preamble... It captures the essence of our Constitution, which is dynamic, inclusive and welcomes diversity,” said Nupur Ghosh, vice principal of Mahadevi Birla World Academy