SHILLONG, July 10: On Saturday, KC Secondary School (Kiddies Corner) brought the curtains down on their School Week with a programme called ‘La Mode’ – a fashion show where children presented five rounds showcasing garments, jewellery, hairdo etc., all made from waste material such as newspapers, plastics and what have you. The head gear and jewellery were aesthetically appealing and left the audience gasping.
The last round was the most unique. It was body art where faces and bodies were painted with different themes and models paraded on the ramp. One student had the image of a crocodile painted on his body and face; a second student had the human digestive system while another had the circulatory system. All these were painted on by fellow students.
The girl models made themselves stylish gowns and outfits with newspaper, discarded plastic bags and chips packages and ribbons of the audio cassettes of yore which are now nearly extinct.
Judging the event was Lee Middleton, Shillong’s well know make-up artist and Iba Mallai owner of a boutique that stocks the finest Ryndia stoles and designer wear made from the Eri Silk a yarn woven from the cocoon of the Eri worm, a speciality of the weavers from Ri-Bhoi. It is the effort of people like Daniel Syiem and Iba Mallai and the push from the Sericulture department that has now given a fillip to the weaving industry that feeds quite a few mouths in Ri-Bhoi. The third judge was Mary Khyriem who had earlier won the Sunsilk Mega Miss NorthEast in 2017 and had also represented Meghalaya in the Femina Miss India contest in 2018.
The highlight of the show was the exuberance displayed by the junior students. They were seated as audience but each time the music played when the models walked the ramp they would gyrate to the sound of the music and short of getting up to dance they made all the right moves. All this without being conscious of who’s watching them. This is so different from those days when students were told to sit still and not talk to each other while watching a show. “It’s a joy to watch these kids,” said a parent.
This is what sets KC aside. From taking part in socially useful productive work like cleaning rivers, planting trees in collaboration with other peoples’ movements led by their Headmaster Brian Wahlang, they are also engaged in several co-curricular activities.
Talking to this correspondent, Brian says, “I want the students to have fun while they learn. Now our school is making them do some research where they will have to read up and do practical work. This is much better than just book knowledge. Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) has to be real work on the ground.”
After that tiring preparation for the School Week, KC students and teachers are now enjoying their summer holidays.
