Go green, fest tells Tihar inmates

NEW DELHI: The badminton hall of Jail no. 7 at the Tihar Jail complex, on Friday, played host to a unique film screening on biodiversity and environment. The mood was vibrant; the laughter rolls and occasional gasps were loud and clear. One by one, five movies opened on the big screen to a 300-strong audience whose attention didn’t waver even for a moment.
Giving the inmates company were eminent personalities like Dr Kiran Bedi, former IPS officer; DG (Prison) Neeraj Kumar; Meera Mehrishi, additional secretary, MoEF; and P N Vasanti, director, CMS Environment.
“I will be more sensitive to flora and fauna around me when I will go out of this jail. If I become a driver tomorrow, I will drive very carefully. I will ensure that I don’t hurt any living being,” said Krishna, an inmate.
The event was part of a four-day long fest called ‘Biodiversity Film Festival’ organized by the CMS Environment under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which began on Wednesday.
Five films were screened in Tihar—Natasha Serlin’s Forest: Nature at
your Services, Vilas Kane’s Ekka Nishpap Jiwacha Ant (...Just Another Death), Makrand Joshi’s Lost Home, Naresh Bedi’s Rolling Dunes of Thar and Shekhar Dttatri’s SOS- Save Our Souls.
“These are experiences one can never forget and visuals always have a long lasting effect. Moreover, many of the inmates are between 18 and 20 years; it is very important for them to be sensitive to their surroundings. They are the next generation,” said Dr Bedi.
She added: “Moreover, the larger aim is to make them better people, sensitive people,” she added.
The festival has been organized in keeping with the World Environment Day (WED) on June 5. This year, India is playing host to the WED global celebration for the first time, and the theme is ‘Forest: Nature at your service’.
Official inauguration of the festival, took place on Thursday at the PVR Plaza in Connaught Place. The festival is scheduled to run in five different venues across the capital, including the Tihar Jail, ITBP Tigri Camp and Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park. Organizers said selection of venues was unique as they wanted to reach out to those sections of the society that were so far left out of the fold.
“We wanted to reach out to people we had never gone to before. We decided on Tihar Jail inmates as those are the people who actually undergo transformation and are seldom inspired by anyone for new ideas. We need everybody’s contribution. Children are the future advocates of the issue,” said P N Vasanti.
Films to be screened were chosen from 50 entries. Some of them are
Girish Girija Joshi’s Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiyaa, Makrand Joshi’s Lost Home and Naresh Bedi’s Project Tiger- Ensuring Survival.