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Vigyan Prasar jointly with Development and
Educational Communication Unit (DECU)/ ISRO has commenced
telecast of a science serial for children and young people
‘Aisa Hi Hota Hai’ (AH3) on Doordarshan National since
May 22, 2005. The serial has received wide acclaim and has
proved to be a very popular programme, especially among
children of age group 10-17 years.
Each episode of the programme consists of a 22 minutes. Each
episode is devoted to a specific topic, say, surface
tension, magnetism, friction, buoyancy and so on. The
programme is presented by two chatty and inquisitive kids,
characterized as middle school students, Deepika and Shivam,
interacting with a lively young and skillful lady teacher.
The teacher, referred to as K2 for she always asks the kids-
‘Kyon aur Kaise’, (How and Why) and leads them to
conclusions through discovery approach. A topic is
introduced and the story is built-up through a number of
experiments and observations carried out by the bubbly kids
guided by the teacher. Even the teacher is not portrayed as
a usual teacher knowing all answers. The emphasis is on
activities that demand inputs only from every day objects
and observations. Anchored by two children, each episode
presents science the fun way - it entertains while it
educates. Most of the activities shown in the episodes can
be repeated by the viewers. The two-minute short programme
towards end of each episode is an animation film dealing
with environmental concerns, say, pollution, food chain,
biodiversity etc.
Indeed, we are flooded with responses from viewers. We
receive hundreds of letters/emails from far and wide every
week at the DECU (ISRO) on AH3. Indeed, the first response
arrived a few minutes after the telecast of the first
episode. Now it is gradually turning into a deluge. Many
want to have more details of the activities shown in the
programme, many want their queries answered on other topics,
many are interested in VP’s publications. The responses
reach us from every part of the country.
Ankit Parashar emails ‘I am a student. I saw this
programme. It is a fantastic programme. I get better
understanding than through books’. Abdul Wahid from
Gulbarga, Karnataka says that ‘ I rarely find time to
watch TV. But, I watch AH3 without fail. The presentation
and topics are simply excellent’. Ruchi Gupta Assistant
Teacher (Science) Maharaja Agrasen Public School, Delhi
writes “I am highly impressed by AH3.” The programem
introduces science through fun activities and is very
interesting. Shri Manish Harwara writes that his daughter, a
6th class student, regularly watches the programme and is
enthused by the serial. Rajkavar Singh from Chak Guru
village in Hoshiarpur district writes that ‘the children
are inspired to do/ perform all the activities shown in the
programme on their own.’ In fact, VP and DECU value more
not the praise showered, but the questions that AH3 has
sparked in the minds of our young viewers. The objective of
the serial is not just to provide answers but encourage
viewers to ask questions and thereby nurture an inquisitive
and curious bent of mind. Rajath wants to know why we close
our eyes while sneezing. Kanti Satardekar from Goa is
curious as to why do some people have black spots on their
tongue. Rajathadri from Bangalore says that according to
Einstein’s equations when a body moves with speed of light
its mass tends to infinity and is puzzled as to why then
photon still remains small though it travels very fast.
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