Dejected after losing his tree, Class 6 student gets new saplings from the Chiri Project

Nurturing your own plant and waiting to enjoy the fruits is quite a big deal, especially when you’re a 12-year-old. Pavan Nash, a Class 6 student from Ernakulam, Kerala, was also nurturing a gooseberry tree for about two years that was growing in the front yard of his house.

However, the boy had been devastated recently after he discovered a severed stump of the tree on his way back home. Reportedly, two miscreants broke off the two feet tall plant.

Following the incident, an inconsolable Pavan took his mother’s phone and called the Chiri Project (meaning smile) — a tele counselling initiative for children by the Student Police Cadet of the state — and detailed his ordeal.

According to his mother Divya, Pavan’s elder sister has a teacher who is part of the Student Police Cadet and has a picture of him in a police uniform on his WhatsApp profile.

“Pavan had seen this before, so on Monday, following the incident, he took the phone from me saying he wanted to play games. But it was to call this teacher, thinking that he was a police officer and he could help... We learned this later. It is the teacher who gave Pavan the Chiri helpline number, thinking that they could console him. He called this number and poured out his grievance. We didn't know any of this,” Divya told The News Minute.

The issue was picked up by higher officials at Chiri, following which the Inspector General Of Police and Chiri’s Nodal Officer P Vijayan directed the officials of the Njarakkal police station to present tree saplings to the boy.

The next day, Pavan and his family were surprised to see the officials with nine young saplings of gooseberry, tamarind, and guava.

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Inspector-General P Vijayan said that a majority of the children have been complaining about feeling sad after remaining indoors for more than 150 days without seeing their friends or playing outside. Meanwhile, parents are complaining about the increased mobile addiction of children.

“Children are calling for assistance and to raise complaints on various issues, ranging from fights between parents to lack of a playground. Over 80 psychologists and psychiatrists have voluntarily extended support to offer counselling sessions. We have formed district-level units comprising volunteers to attend to the requirements of children,” Inspector Vijayan told The New Indian Express.

In fact, Pavan received a CCTV camera from a company called Smart Guard based in Kochi to keep an eye on his new saplings.

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