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.

Vigyan Prasar and DECU (ISRO) are in the processes of developing a mechanism to answer the queries from the viewers of AH3. Meanwhile a web site has also been launched: www.vigyanchannel.com to provide a forum for interaction with viewers. Hope you will continue to view and enjoy AH3.