Looking Back Detail Page

01 Apr

Have you ever heard before of a school boy making an exhibition of his own works and selling all his exhibits? Surely you never heard of such a feat and probably you’ll find it hard to believe it.  Well that is exactly what our Dileep Shahani-Britto-IV B did last December, a one-man exhibition of his own, very own works, and he sold all of them at the end, not one remained. Most of you know him.  Ask him, or better still, ask his mummy, and he will tell you all about it.

Dileep had heard a lot about the National Defence Fund, he knew how people had given generously all over the country, how Campion the previous year had given a lot of money for the same.  Well, he was not going out for the winter vacation and, what could he do in order to contribute his mite for the Defence Fund?  Then he got the idea.  He is pretty good at crafts and drawing, and that’s what he would do: lots of drawings and crafts that he would sell.

First thing he had to get materials and he asked his mummy to bring him all sorts of paper, satin, crepe, and of all colours.  Then he needed cardboard and lots of glue, and colour pencils, and all the rest.  Mummy bought them all for him.  And so he started his work, morning and afternoon he kept on working for ten long days. The result was tremendous amount of all the things he had learned at craft class and at drawing class, plus something he himself invented.  Then came the second part, for his mummy thought he just wanted to play by doing all those things. He asked her for their big drawing room for three or four days.  Imagine his mother’s surprise.  Do you want to give a party or something? No, it was not a party, or still better it would be a party of sorts.  For he wanted to make an exhibition of all the things he had done. So he set up the exhibitions.  You could see there all sorts of rabbits with big ears, giraffes with silver necks, teddy bears with puffy ears and tails, sailing boats with sails of gold paper, a train with a shiny red engine...

The he invited all the neighbors and all the friends of the family and, of course, all his uncles and aunties.  All flocked there and admired the work of Dileep.  Thought they were astonished when he told them that he wanted to sell the whole lot, even his mummy got puzzled and she sort of gave him a blowing up.  Didn’t he have all the pocket money he needed? And, what did he want the money for? You see he was asking for rather high prices–nearly black-market prices, for his works.  Then he had to give away his secret, but in doing so he opened fully the market and the pockets of neighbours and relatives.  He wanted that money not for himself but given for the National Defence Fund.  You can imagine his mother in tears of joy, and the rest of the crowd astonished that such a small head.  All his works were that very moment, not one remains at home, except one that his own mummy bought and she keeps it as a souvenir of Dileep’s exhibition. The amount he collected is small.  But that does not take away the beauty of his idea.  He collected Rs.  353 -, which he handed over here in the School.
Congrats Dileep, and let us know when you put up your next exhibition so that we can come to your place and admire it.