'Our Netravati,Our responsibility' - My First Social Service and Community Development Activity in NCC

-Cadet Merlin Jenniffer Rodrigues -Troop no 29,Milagres High School 6 Kar Air Sqn Ncc Mangalore

" Whatever you are physically….. Male or female, strong or weak,ill or healthy.. all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All the other things,they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside " Cassandra Clare

I still remember the day when I was in V standard. As usual I held my mom's hand and entered the school. I saw the high school NCC cadets Marching in the ground . Their hat,Blue colour NCC uniform, leg movement,hand swing, commands etc caught my attention.

I said ''Mummy,I too want to join NCC'' My mom saw my eyes,left my hand confidently and answered " Yes my dear you can join in the high school ". Thereafter I always dreamt of joining high school. But the tedious thing was that when I passed VII standard and about to join VIII standard the school was closed due to Covid -19 pandemic . As you know the entire world suffered a lot and even today each one is struggling to survive from it. I think this is a curse to mankind! My friends and I lost many lifetime opportunities. It is very boring to be locked inside the house and sticking to mobile and television. Fortunately in the month of January 2021, school was re -opened. A big punishment to sit at home ended here. On the very first day itself the NCC Officer came to our class and explained about NCC. I was very much curious about NCC. I understood the Aim and motto of NCC. I myself decided to build character, commardship, discipline, leadership, service -mindedness by involving myself in NCC activities.

On occasion of World Water Day, our NCC Officer S/O Santhosh Gonsalves had arranged one awareness programme,that was 'OUR NETRAVATI, OUR RESPONSIBILITY' He selected 25 cadets and asked them to write some slogans on water, river and environment. Next day the best 25 slogans were selected and were given to each cadet to prepare placards. Some slogans are : ● 'Conserve the river, It will conserve you ' ● 'Love the river clean the river' ● 'Don't throw garbage into the river' ● ' Keep the river clean and Earth evergreen' ● ' Stop the pollution quick don't make the water sick' ● ' Save the river' ● ' Spread the awareness not the garbage' ● ' The water you pollute will find its way back to you' ● ' If you can't clean your surroundings then don't make it dirty' ● 'River is the dying clean it'

● ' A good mission is cleaning the water'. Our NCC Officer S/O Santhosh Gonsalves explained about the Netravati river. 'Netravati river has its origins at Bangrabalige valley, Yeleneer Ghat in in district of state. This river flows through the famous pilgrimage place , and is considered as one of the Holy rivers in . It merges with the at before flowing to the ,south of Mangalore city. This river is the main source of water to Taluk and Mangalore Taluk. The Netravati Railway Bridge is one of the known bridges which serve as the gateway to Mangalore. Netravati the lifeline of Dakshina and the only source of drinking water for Mangaluru'. Further sir said that ' it is very tragedy that the people are throwing plastic bags,plastic bottles,fast food wrappers, plastic containers, household waste extra into the river and polluting' On March 21st we all clearly instructed about the programme. I was very much excited.I couldn't sleep that night. It was my first NCC activity which I will never forget in my life. On 22nd March while wearing my NCC uniform I remembered this quote ' No matter how you feel.Get up. Dress up. Show up and never give up'. As I am wearing NCC uniform for the first time I felt that 'I am a soldier ' On that day morning at 6 a.m. we all 25 mini soldiers along with our Commander S/O Santhosh Gonsalves gathered near Netravati river bridge. It was not an easy thing for a 13 year old girl to wake up early and walk with fellow cadets towards the bridge.Because I was not used to these things. one of the cadets said 'A big salute to our soldiers as they protect our country day and night irrespective of hot sun, thunder, lightning, wind and rain. Really great'. We all replied,'Yes,you are right ' As we all gathered near Netravati Bridge our NCC Officer introduced an environmentalist Mr. Nagaraj Raghav Anchan,Bajal to us. He is a member of ' HASIRU DALA '. He is working in Ocean plastic recycling centre. Everyday he comes to Netravati Bridge and gives awareness to the people from morning 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on 'ನ룍ಮ ꃇತ್ರಾ 풤ಿ ನ룍ಮ ಜ풾ಬ್ದಾ 삿 ' which means 'OUR NETRAVATHI OUR RESPONSIBILITY 'by holding a message 'Do Not Throw Garbage In to The River :But people used to call him 'Marle ' which means mad. Later people realised the importance of his Noble work. Especially local MLA,Police Commissioner,other officers and media appreciated his work. Our NCC Officer was also inspired by him and asked us to assist in his drive. Holding the placards in our hand we stood silently on the side of the road. Thousands of vehicles passed by. People in the vehicles read our slogans. Some went around without looking, some took our photographs, some showed their thumbs up. Many said 'well done children,keep it up'. At that moment I felt that ' good work would definitely get the support of hundreds of people. At the end of the programme the environmentalist Mr.Nagaraj bajal shared his experience with us and requested us to give importance of the cleanliness.He is like a real hero,because he and his 'HASIRU DALA 'members had cleared 32 tons of garbage from the river side. I know most of the programmes end in publicity,photographs. Some conduct the programme for name sake. But to be honest this 4 hours awareness programme created self awareness. The dumping of waste must be stopped. People have to change their Minds . It takes a constant effort to change people's minds. First I have to change. Change must come from me. Hundreds of lights can be lit by one lamp. Isn't it?. Many uploaded our photographs on social media. Local newspaper highlighted our work. My parents ,Vice Principal,teachers,classmates,friends, appreciated our work. I felt very proud. Appreciation inspired me to do good work in future. I understood that everyone can serve our country in one or other way. I came to know about how we can plan,prepare and execute programmes effectively and successfully. I realised the importance of personal hygiene. I decided to keep clean my bag, room, house,surroundings,classroom,School, environment. I also had discussions on waste management with my teachers,parents and friends. So NCC is the best platform for high school and college students for all round development and it leads to articulation between life and education. Before joining NCC I always used to think that 'after all I am a girl.what I can do'? Now I have become very strong.I feel that I am 'a soldier of light'. Thank you, Long Live Ncc JAI HIND.