By: Labynta Rynjah

Guwahati :A group of university students in northeast India has come up with a novel way to capture the imagination of young people and inculcate in them love for nature. As part of upcoming Earth Day Celebrations the students of Mass Communication Department, Assam Don Bosco University (ADBU) have launched E-event christened Shout Out To Green World.

The ongoing E-event “Shout Out To Green World” celebrating World Earth Day began on 7 th of March will be concluded on 22 nd of April 2017.

The group recently conducted a fund raising activity of miniature effects creations at ADBU’s Tapesia campus near Sonapur outside state capital Dispur.

“The concept of Miniature Creations is editing people’s photos into their miniature forms and placing them in interesting backdrops like in tiny tea cups, on flower petals, or on branches of trees and so on,” says Uthomporn Saelow a final year student from Thailand.

An award winning visual artist Saelow says revealing the group’s secret, “All our miniature creations are based on subtle themes of keeping alive a love for nature, through the process of editing and juxtaposing different pictures together.”

Her companion, Amar Laishram Swital from Manipur who won a prize at the national level inter university photography competition last year is jubilant when he says, “Customized miniature creations featuring campus friends had a huge response and a lot of orders were forthcoming. Our team is still taking in orders for more requests and personally delivering them to the interested parties, along with additional merchandise like car stickers.”

Faculty member and mentor Mr Kaushik Bhuyan adds,“It is a novel idea of attracting people’s attention through miniature effects of their own photographs while making sure that the themes behind World Earth Day are still addressed through the backdrops selected.”

The team also has six competitions for Earth Day focusing on issues like pollution, deforestation, water scarcity, soil erosion and degradation through Radio Jingles, T-Shirt designing, Miniature Effects Competition, Public Service Advertisement and Short-film competition.

While cash prizes will be awarded to the winners, the competition will be judged by experts in the field, who have been supporters and advisors to the event.

In an effort to also contribute towards online media education resource material, and to make it easier for the participants, the team has uploaded a tutorial of creating miniature effects in their Youtube channel, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG14lJYi-FE).

These events are happening as a prelude to the upcoming World Earth Day celebrations that the team is planning for 22 nd April 2017, to be followed by an event on the 1 st week of May 2017, within the university campus at Tapesia.

The group is also preparing a report of the impact the event has on participating members on the topic: World Earth Day.