In an inspiring new initiative and perhaps for the 1st time ever, the 10th edition of the Nanhi Chhaan National Essay Contest programme was co-hosted by three of Dehradun’s, and the country’s, most prominent schools viz The Welham Girls School, The Welham Boys School and The Doon School over a three-day period from 28th September to the 30th September 2023. A real highlight was the presence of Dr. Karan Singh – Former Union Cabinet Minister, MP Rajya Sabha as chief guest. His sharing of thoughts on his school life and of the significant events of history, of which he was a part, bought history to life in the minds of students. He combined child like innocence and intellectual depth in a wonderfully disarming way, a lesson to be learnt by us all.
Ever since the start of the Nanhi Chhaan National Essay Contest in 2013, the contest has received an overwhelming response from schools and students across the country. This year approximately 50,000 students from all States of the country wrote on the topic: “Diversity - The Essence of India”.
The final event where each school enacted a skit on one of the Nanhi Chhaan objectives of protecting girls and empowering women, planting trees and protecting the environment and of promoting inter faith harmony touched hearts like little else. As a reflection of the schools and country’s admiration for cultural diversity our school auditorium reverberated with the continuous clapping of students and invitees as the Play on “ Tansen “ drove piercing emotions through the hearts of the audience and enthralled everyone with song, dance and drama in ways that many said they had never experienced before. You can be proud of your students, as one parent and teacher said on hearing the students, “ We are happy the country is in good hands “.
Some of the Memorable moments of this years essay contest event began with the program at Welham Girls on the environment where two eminent speakers, Prerna Bindra and Pradip Krishen, exalted students by invoking them to preserve and protect the environment. The vibrancy amongst students was palpable as was for all others who were present. Welham Boys hosted the session on AI by Jaspreet Bindra who excited young minds of the power and potential of AI with students participating with insightful questions. The school’s setting for the two follow up sessions with eminent judges, Chitrangada Raje Singh, Navtej Sarna and Sudipto Mandal for the competition was an ideal one as playing host came naturally to the school. The conversations with students and the finalists unquestionably provided enough food for thought for many years into the future.
The First prize of the 10th Nanhi Chhaan National School Essay Contest was Ayaan Shah of Scindia School, Gwalior and the 2nd prize winner was Arijit Sandhu of The Doon School. The growth and reach that the contest has witnessed in just 10 years reinforces their ambition to making this essay contest a platform for change and next year they hope to substantially improve participation.
The Nanhi Chhaan Foundation is an initiative of Mr. Harpal Singh(322-H, 1965), "Nanhi’ is how little girls are endearingly referred to and ‘Chhaan’ is shade/protection, is a not- for-profit organization set up with the objective of addressing three important issues on the social agenda of the country namely, the adverse gender ratio (and women’s empowerment), preservation of trees (and environment protection) and promoting Interfaith harmony.
