COEXIST Ebook Website

COEXIST
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COEXIST Actionable Stories for Sustainable Change
Creating Original Earthy eXciting and Inspir-

ing STories (COEXIST)
COEXIST is a project that provides a story-creation
and story-sharing canvas to reflect on how the envi-
ronment shapes our lives and how our actions shape
the environment.
This project aims to help students
• create and share stories about the local envi-

ronment (specifically, urban wetlands)
• internalize the seriousness of local ecosystems

such as urban wetlands in Pune and Bengaluru
• design actionable pathways for change
• share the message with the community
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Please note that the stories and this e-book are li-
censed by Creative Commons License 4.0. (https:
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Through workshops and online events, we use the
platform to help students create and share stories
related to urban wetland issues. These stories are
published in this e-book.
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How to create a story
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Creation of the Story
Step C Choose a Hero, Choose a wetland issue.

Step O Write a One-liner story in which the hero
tackles the wetland issue.
Step E Write an Eventful start for your story.
Step X Write an eXternal threat to your hero.
Step I Write the (In-between) part where the hero
moves to action.
Step S Make the Support of the hero’s friend or
guide go away.
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Step T Give your hero a Tough challenge, make

your hero work hard.
THE END End the story with a HAPPY ending.
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Closing Steps
Final Step 1 Connect all the story blocks that you

have created so far by placing them in the fol-
lowing order - C, O, E, X, I, S, T, The End
Final Step 2 Read the entire story, and add/edit the

text to make it a complete story.
Final Step 3 Great Job! Contact us at https://

coexistproject.wordpress.com/contact/ to find
out how to publish your story on the COEXIST
website.
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Stories
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Sashi, hot on her Eels
Sashi is sad because she has to write a school report

about Indonesian shortfin eels and she does not know
anything about them.
In the evening, she goes to the local lake near her
house. As she walks along the path around the lake,
she witnesses a sack full of dead eels. She is shocked.
Manu (the villain) warns Sashi to not tell anyone
about this incident (spotting eels that were caught
from the lake).
Sashi is tired of being bullied and decides to focus
on saving the eels in the lake.
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She reports the incident to her teacher; however,

the teacher ignores her and later asks her to forget
about the incident.
All of Sashi’s friends and teachers blame her for
the undesired attention that their school is receiving
after the eels incident. Sashi does some research by
herself on the threat to the eels in such urban lakes.
She writes an article for the local newspaper. The
article is published and becomes very popular.
Today, Sashi knows a lot about eels. She is now
considered as the savior of these eels in her school.
Author-Bala Ramadurai, COEXIST Team
This story helps in increasing awareness about topics
highlighted in SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Commu-
nities and SDG 15: Life on Land.
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Floody Tales
Shyamala, 54, a primary school teacher, finds 3 inches

of water in her entire apartment after light rains.
She questions the local authorities about the rea-
sons for this flooding. When she doesn’t get satisfac-
tory answers from them, she decides to become an
RTI activist to find out more.
The builders of Shyamala’s apartment warn her
against proceeding further in the case because it may
expose their deviations from the originally approved
architectural designs.
Shyamala has had enough dilly-dallying and has
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decided that if she doesn’t act, no one else will.

The builder has spread the word that Shyamala’s
actions are invalidating the designs, and hence, the
owners may not get the legitimate certificates from
the authorities because of her actions. Her own fa-
ther, mother and cousins also live in the same com-
plex. They join the neighbours, authorities and the
builders to stop Shyamala from proceeding further.
Shyamala realizes that she’s on her own. She en-
courages her young students to draw cartoons on
the topic of rising waters and publishes them on the
street. Many other activists spot these cartoons and
post the images on Twitter. All the publicity reaches
the mayor, who then steps in and takes corrective
action.
Shyamala was able to secure her apartment and
her entire neighbourhood from flooding.
Author-Bala Ramadurai, COEXIST Team
nities.
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Hyacinth - Friend or
Foe
Deepak, a 13-year-old boy, is walking around the lake

in his neighborhood to spot aquatic life (to gather
information for his oral presentation at school); he is
upset when he sees dead aquatic plants.
Deepak mainly sees only one type of vegetation in
the lake - a lot of water hyacinth. These plants have
covered almost the entire surface of the water and
barely any other aquatic plants are visible.
The oral presentation deadline is looming.
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Deepak’s friends urge him to just record and de-

scribe whatever aquatic life he has observed so far.
Deepak gathers his friends together. They collec-
tively collate information about water hyacinth, its
uses, and the problems it can cause.
They take photos of the current condition of the
lake. After some intensive search efforts, they dis-
cover older photos and records of the lake.
Deepak is in a fix. The presentation is in two days.
Should he just focus on his schoolwork and presen-
tation and pause efforts on finding out more about
the water hyacinth problem?
Deepak’s friends are busy with schoolwork. They
do not have the time to help him.
Deepak decides to take further action - he creates
flyers on the water hyacinth findings and distributes
them to the joggers/walkers at the lake.
Some people take a copy, others politely decline.
He wonders whether his efforts will have any impact.
A key civic official is a regular jogger at the lake.
He receives a flyer from Deepak.
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He reaches out to Deepak after a few days and

promises that he will take up the problem at the next
official meeting.
Some weeks later, Deepak and his friends are
happy to read a detailed plan of action from the civic
officials on water hyacinth management in the lake.
Deepak is happy and hopeful that he might soon spot
other aquatic plants in the lake.
Author-Anita Nagarajan, COEXIST Team
This story helps in increasing awareness about top-
ics highlighted in SDG 15: Life on Land and SDG 11:
Sustainable Cities and Communities.
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Brain Drains
A student, Student, 15 years old, woke up to see water

flooding his building’s parking.
There were no drains at that level, and the road
was flooded with water.
Student’s parents were complaining that the mayor
and other city authorities were not doing much to
solve the problem. Student was tired of listening
to the complaining. As the family watched the Zee
News Channel, they heard the newscaster say, ” No
one should approach the civil authorities to solve
their minor problems. They (the authorities) are re-
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ally, really, really busy now. Thank you (newscaster

bows and runs out of the camera’s range)!”
Student got an idea. He picked up the phone and
called his friend, Deepak. He asked Deepak to meet
him in the parking area.
When Student arrived in the parking area, he told
Deepak that they should go to the civil authorities to
inform them about the problem (he did not mention
the specific problem).
Deepak (who is a stickler for rules) was shooed
away by the (first) authorities, saying they were too
busy. Deepak was upset. He told Student that he was
not interested in talking to the authorities and left.
The civil authorities refused to take action. They
called the situation ”trivial” and also warned Student
sternly to never come there again. But Student didn’t
give up.
He kept trying. He went to another official who
agreed with Student and took the matter to higher
authorities for discussion.
They built new drains. The covered drains on the
road were designed well. The next rains did not cause
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any flooding.
Author-Akhilesh Balachandar, 10, Pune
nities.
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The Great Wall of
Croak
Croak, the friendly frog, decides to seek help from his

fellow lake residents who will be equally concerned
to hear the shocking news about the new wall, which
could destroy their breeding and, more importantly,
sleeping grounds.
Croak decides to cross over to the other side of
the lake to seek help; along the way, he manages to
escape from the predators lurking in every hole in
his path.
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Today, Croak had seen a scary example of what

the yellow, earth-moving monster machines could
do to their lake. He could imagine the big damage
that would be caused around the lake if the wall were
built.
Croak had to do something, something big, and he
needed help.
Croak was uninvited at the time when the ma-
chines were blaring and had dug up a portion on the
other side.
Croak seeks to explain the bigger dangers if the
humans had their way with the wall. He talks to his
friends and explains why building permanent paths
to burrows even with the wall was their only option
to ensure the safety and security of generations.
The eclectic miner burrow frogs are up for the task.
They find that spots a little away from the periphery
can be their refuge.
They dig burrows through the summer and Croak
can see that this vigilance on human activity has to
be kept up, to ensure the survival of their species.
What Croak did was to build an alternative to the
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typical burrows that are now threatened and to find

a way to survive during the construction of the con-
crete wall along the lake.
He makes an agreement with the eclectic diggers
of his clan–even if the wall is constructed, they will
survive by hibernating through the long dry spells
in the burrows that they have built.
Author-Murali Loganathan, COEXIST Team
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No Otter Way
Rosalyn is a passionate zookeeper with tight budgets.

She notices a few otters missing from the zoo one
day. She stays one night at the zoo to see what the
matter is and who is doing this crime.
Rosalyn finds unusual activity at around 2 am with
a rustle in the otter station. As she gets closer, she
notices poachers who are packing otters in bags, in
coordination.
She wakes up with her head spinning and now
she recalls what exactly happened last night. She
understands that she was kidnapped and is now in
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the poachers hideout along with the catch. She does

not know exactly where she is. But she sees her
favorite parrot from the zoo, also in the same room,
and possibly stolen as well. She coaxes it to bite the
rope off. After some struggle, she manages to escape
from the hideout.
She recognizes the place and hitchhikes her way
back to the nearest police station.
Duly lodging a complaint and giving details, after
some prompt police action, she has saved the zoo.
Author-Nithyashree Muralidharan, 10, Bangalore
highlighted in SDG 15: Life on Land.
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New Age Sewage
On one of her usual walks around Kommaghatta lake,

Shelly finds a couple of dogs running with large fish
in their mouths.
She reaches the lake and sees a large number of
fish floating dead.
She takes a sample of the water to her friend Penny
for testing. Penny is good at chemistry. Penny states
that the fishes have died due to lack of oxygen, pos-
sibly caused by dumping of industrial waste. Shelly
reports this to her father and asks if he can help.
Shelly’s father asks her not to worry about it and
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that the municipality will take care of it. Sure enough,

the municipality officials arrive the next day, and they
take pictures. But that day too, more dead fish are
floating in the lake. Shelly is sad and does not know
what to do.
She notices that whenever the municipality offi-
cials come for a check, her father is tense and seems
to be busy talking with folks in his company. Shelly
overhears a part of one of his conversations, ”…stop
the pumps tonight, and it will have to wait for Friday.”
Shelly is suspicious now and finds from her fa-
ther’s phone messages that it is her dad who has
been dumping sewage in the lake. She confronts her
dad that night and her dad confesses to the crime. He
tells her that he had no choice as there was no money
to treat the sewage or to fix the sewage plant. Shelly
asks her dad to wait for 2 days before he decides to
do anything drastic. She hopes to find a solution.
From their research, Shelly and Penny find that
the nutritious sewage is only harmful when dumped
in the lake, but not when used for gardens after some
treatment. They contact their friends to find people
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who would be willing to use some of the odor-free

nutritious sludge for their gardens. This idea is a
success and people want more of this fertilizer.
Shelly has now fixed both problems–one for her
dad who now has more profits selling treated sludge,
and the other for the environment by saving the lake
and its fish.
Author-Nithyashree Muralidharan, 10, Bengaluru
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Hairy tale
In early June 2020, Russia reported a 20,000 tonnes

diesel spill in the Arctic Circle. At the same time,
Sundar, a part-time barber and orphanage caretaker
in Tirupati, India, is not able to make ends meet.
When he reads this news, he feels like he has to
do something and shares his thoughts with his son
one evening. His son Rahul, a hydrobiologist, tries
to think of a solution with only things that he has
around him. After a few days of tinkering and think-
ing, he finds the perfect solution.
Hair is hydrophobic (it repels water) and a great
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adsorbent (it collects things on its surface) of heavy

metals. Thus, it is a great candidate to clean oil spills.
Rahul gets in touch with the research team in Russia
and shares his simple solution. They were perplexed
about where they would find so much hair. Rahul
then describes Tirupati and all the sacrificial hair
from devotees of the lord. He then commits to the
team and makes arrangements to donate 2 tonnes of
hair with the help of his father. The researchers were
greatly surprised by his talent and wanted to recruit
him.
Sundar is very proud of his eldest boy and tells
him that he can accept the offer and that they can
manage things back in India. Rahul is on his way to
becoming a famous person and would be well-known
all around the world for his innovative solutions.
Author-Srivats Muralidharan, 13, Bengaluru
highlighted in SDG 12: Responsible Consumpton and
Production and SDG 14: Life below Water.
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The Rebirth of Lake
Jolly
Rita was truly excited to go back to her grandparents’

house for the first time in three years. She used to
visit every summer until her father transferred to
the US, but now she could finally go back. Their
house was in a small village in Kerala by a lake, and
Rita remembered spending her time in the beautiful
waters, coming home only to have a delicious home-
cooked meal. The original name of the lake was a
real tongue twister, but we kids always referred to
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it as Lake Jolly because that is exactly how it made

you feel. So when she came and found the lake green
and filled with bits of plastic waste, she was very
disappointed.
“What happened to the Jolly?” she asked, as she
sat down to eat her lunch.
“Oh that? A factory moved in a few years ago and
started filling the lake with all its contaminants.”
“And no one objected?”
“We tried but they won’t listen to us. They told
us that we could take the issue to court but they are
much more powerful than us. They would surely win
the case.”
Rita was disheartened. She had looked forward to
playing in the waters but she wouldn’t let this factory
destroy her hometown.
“Can’t we do anything about it?” she asked.
“Sorry Rita! We tried…” her grandfather sighed.
“No one in the village is willing to do anything,
but I want to help. But what can I do?’ she thought.
As she sat there, facing the once beautiful lake, she
remembered the way her friends had raised money
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for their dog’s surgery. As the realisation struck her

she hastily opened her laptop and got straight to
work.
Within a month her go-fund-me page raised more
than one lakh rupees. She used this money, along
with some help from her grandparents to hire a good
lawyer and along with the rest of the village, they
marched up to the factory. The company, seeing the
amount of support they had gathered, agreed to stop
dumping all its industrial waste in the lake. But she
did not stop there. She arranged campaigns to raise
awareness on the importance of conserving water
bodies. Many of the employees coming from the
village remembered how much of their childhood
was based off that lake. And together they decided
to clear it up once and for all. Rita was thrilled to
visualise that they would all be celebrating the new
year by the Jolly the next weekend.
Author-Shravya Shankar, Grade 8, Chennai
highlighted in SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation,
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG
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12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
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Weee… Swat…
A girl goes for a walk and sees many barriers. She

takes a little peek and sees that the water is polluted
and dirty too! The mosquitoes have started increas-
ing; she has just learnt about the diseases caused by
mosquitoes.
She forms a group with her apartment members
and finds out that the sewage was from her apartment.
On knowing this, the apartment members leave as
they have to pay a penalty.
She cannot go against her apartment members; she
somehow has to convince them.
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She blames the builder and forces him to build a

sewage treatment plant.
The builder, without any other way out, builds a
sewage treatment plant.
The girl leaves some guppies in the lake so that the
mosquitoes will decrease.
Author-Nithyashree Muralidharan, Grade 5, Ben-
galuru
highlighted in SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being),
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 11: Sustain-
able Cities and Communities, and SDG 15: Life on
Land.
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Wetlands and Us
Aditya is an 11-year-old student who loves all types

of animals and plants. He lives in an apartment that
faces a 10 square kilometers wetland. Aditya saved
10 square kilometers of wetland.
Aditya looked out of the window and saw a team of
construction men on their lunch break. They were sit-
ting on logs near the lake and were throwing garbage
into and near the lake.
Aditya got out of the house and ran to one of the
builders. He said, “Hello sir, my name is Aditya. You
are damaging the lake and its wetland habitat. Can
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you and your friends please throw the rubbish over

there?” as he pointed to the trash can nearby.
“No, we can’t, we
are allowed to use
this whole area and
all the resources here.
Now we are very
busy, so please go
somewhere else,”
replied the builder.
“I need to speak to
the director of this project,” thought Aditya. “Where
is the director of this project?” he asked the builder.
“Over there!” said the builder, pointing in a direction.
Aditya ran over to
him and said, “Hello
sir. You and your
workers are throw-
ing your waste in the
wetlands, please ask
them to stop doing
this.” “I have no time
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for this, I’m a busy

man and I’m afraid I
can’t listen to your requests.”
Aditya went back home and turned on his com-
puter. He found the website of the company that was
doing the construction outside his house and wrote
a long e-mail about what the director was doing and
the impact of this on the environment.
The next three
days were perfectly
normal, but on the
fourth day he re-
ceived an e-mail
from that company
that stated that the
director had no per-
mission to use the
wetlands. The com-
pany also sent the
story to the local
newspaper company
and everyone knew about it.
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Aditya was congratulated by his school principal

and was admired by all his classmates.
Author-Samarth
Bairoji, Grade 5, Ben-
galuru
This story helps in
increasing awareness
about topics high-
lighted in SDG 6:
Clean Water and San-
itation, SDG 11: Sus-
tainable Cities and
Communities, SDG 12:
Responsible Consump-
tion and Production,
and SDG 15: Life on Land.
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Monitoring Polluted
Water
Romulus, a 3-year-old monitor lizard, goes to drink

water in the nearby lake one morning. He notices
that the water is white and purple. He is confused
about what has happened to the lake. (He doesn’t
drink the water). His people protest against the wa-
ter.
Their protest infuriates the humans. So, the hu-
mans attack them with guns and stones. Three moni-
tor lizards are killed.
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Romulus’s people stop the protest and get dispir-

ited.
Romulus thinks about what to do. He suddenly has
an idea. He shares it with his people and they agree
to the idea. The plan is to splash the polluted water
on the humans to make them aware of the disgusting
water.
His people spot the guns and stones of the humans
and run away. Romulus is left alone.
Since Romulus is alone, he has to change his plan.
He thinks for a long time and comes up with another
idea. His idea is to collect water from the lake and
keep it on the bridge used by the humans. It is hard
work, but he does it.
The humans finally realize what has happened and
start cleaning up the lake. In fact, the factories that
dumped the waste have to pay a fine, but Romulus
does not know about this.
Author-Akhilesh Balachandar, Grade 5, Pune
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12:
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Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 15:

Life on Land.
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Shraddha’s Journey to
Zero Waste
Shraddha is an enthusiastic 23 year old who was

brought up in Goa. She grew up on the beach and
loved it a lot, but little did she know that her favourite
place would change her life.
As she grew up, things around her started chang-
ing. There were so many tourists at the beach, people
started littering all around the place. Initially Shrad-
dha didn’t bother, but as time went by things kept
getting worse. She couldn’t bear it anymore. She
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decided to act, but she didn’t know how. She would

think over the issue again and again, until one day
she understood what she should do. One day she was
gazing at the beach and she noticed that most of the
litter was the plastic packaging. She immediately de-
cided to sell groceries with reusable packaging. She
already had experience of running her parent’s gro-
cery shop. Shraddha started her journey with her
parent’s encouragement.
Shraddha now decided to create a group of people
who would be interested to join her movement and
there came the problem. When she contacted people,
most of them didn’t like the idea and doubted her
plan, saying it’s not economically feasible. So she
started on her own. To get an idea of what zero-
waste is, she met people who had been through a
similar journey. As she discovers new ways of going
zero waste, she gets introduced to different kinds
of biodegradable materials which she experiments
as her packaging material. After a few months of
research and experience she started her shop. A few
people in the beginning didn’t like it, but as they
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started observing what good it could do to them they

started buying from her store to encourage Shraddha.
She packages dry cereals in cloth bags made of jute
or cotton, spices are packaged in ceramic and glass
jars, etc. She also has a refill station where people
can get their own jars, bags, etc. and fill the item.
This way people can buy according to their budget.
These days, Shraddha holds sessions on minimal-
ism and sustainable living to share her experiences
and advice and to encourage more people to follow
sustainable living.
Author-Asmi Priyanshi, Grade 7, Bengaluru
highlighted in SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Com-
munities and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and
Production.
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Nature’s Fury
Ronie was a 12-year-old boy. He always loved to help

the needy people. He was also close to nature, and
he loved water. Because of his habit of reaching out
to needy people to help them, his father was always
cross with him.
One day, as he was sleeping, he heard the shouts
of people. At first, he thought it was a dream. So
he suddenly woke up and he got a shock. The river
was flooding. There was chaos everywhere. It had
been raining for the last three days and alas, the fear
had come true, the flood had come. There was water,
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water and water everywhere.

Then he started thinking. What was the reason
behind nature’s fury? Why was the silently-flowing,
life-giving river flooded?
Then he realized that humans had built construc-
tions on the river bank and cut away the trees and
disturbed the river.
He looked out through his window. People were

running and shouting for help, they were crying for
help. They were shivering and were searching for
shelter as their houses and belongings were gone.
Ronie started calling his friends and family mem-
bers for help, but no one offered him support.
Then he decided to take strong action. He posted
information and images about the flood incident on
social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and
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Instagram. Many people from all over the country

and beyond liked his posts and came forward to help.
Everyone appreciated Ronie for his kindness and
goodness.
Author - Raajveer Deshmukh, Grade 6, Nashik
nities, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Produc-
tion and SDG 15: Life on Land.
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Jumpy’s Way Out
Once there was a frog called Jumpy who lived at the

edge of the river Godavari in Nashik. Jumpy was
very well known for he was quite a selfless frog. He
loved helping other people and was always looking
out for everyone. He always wished that he could do
something big for his friends and at last he got his
chance.
There came a big flood caused due to heavy down-
pour. Many small fishes and eggs were washed
ashore. Jumpy wanted to help them for he knew that
he had very little time before the fishes suffocated
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and died. He called upon his friends who instantly

rejected his idea as they thought that saving so many
fishes in such less time was not possible.
Slightly discouraged, Jumpy went alone to help
the fishes. He started picking them up and dropping
them in water, where they quickly swam away. See-
ing this, a wise old Turtle called Hoodie asked his
fellow turtles to help Jumpy in his noble work. They
made small canals from the river to the places where
the fishes were gasping for breath.
This way, all the fishes were saved. Jumpy was
thanked by so many creatures that he lost count.
Jumpy had a smile on his face all day as he was
proud of himself and so am I, aren’t you?
Author - Nitya Patil, Grade 7, Nashik
highlighted in SDG 15: Life on Land.
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Turtle Talks
Tessa was a turtle who lived with her family and tons
of her friends in the community river which later
joined the mighty ocean. She loved swimming. Even
though she was not fast enough and was teased quite
often, she loved to swim freely in the blues.
One day, Tessa and her friends were swimming
and heard a loud scream. It was their friend Ted the
trout. Ted’s fin was stuck in a garbage bag and he
was unable to get out of it. Tessa quickly called for
help and informed her friends. “Don’t worry, Ted,
we will get you out of this” said Tessa. Soon, they
50 69
found Alan the alligator and asked if he could help.

“You are lucky that I am on a fast,” replied Alan as
he tore the garbage bag and pulled Ted out. Ted was
safe, just a bit bruised. Tessa felt that they should do
something about this garbage problem in the river,
caused by the humans.
When she first shared her idea, Alan aggressively
responded, “No that’s rubbish. These careless fish
get stuck in the garbage, which makes it easier for
me to catch my prey. I vote against it. Don’t listen to
the turtle.” After that, Tessa was threatened by Alan
and was told that if she continued with this idiotic
idea, he would eat up her family. Poor Tessa was left
with only Ted supporting her and was told to leave
the garbage problem alone.
Many days passed by. Fishes were caught in waste
and often died or were eaten by Alan. Tessa couldn’t
just stay and see this happening. Finally, one night
she called for Ted and decided on a plan to get rid of
garbage and Alan’s intimidation.
She called her fellow marine friends and explained
her point. Everyone agreed, except for Alan. “We
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have to show mankind that we can fight back too,

and you can’t keep on ruining the balance of nature,”
stated Tessa confidently. The master plan was ready,
and everyone was helping in saving the river and the
surrounding wetlands.
Alan was plotting against this movement. The
news spread faster than fire that Ted was missing.
Tessa knew exactly who would do such a cruel thing
and rushed to Alan.
“That’s it Alan, where is Ted?” said Tessa, agitated.
“Why do you suspect me?” replied Alan sarcastically.
Before Tessa could reply with a comeback, they heard
a commotion behind them. “Humans!” yelled every-
one. Some kids were throwing stones and cans in
the water and due to that, Alan’s little brother was
hurt badly. That is when Alan realized that he must
join the movement and strike back. And to Tessa’s
happiness, he did.
It was the main day. Predators and prey, the fishes
and the mammals, all were ready. The animals on
the land were happy to help them as well. It began
according to Tessa’s plan. They caused a loud commo-
52 69
tion and attracted many locals. Birds were shrieking,

fishes flapped their fins and tails, and soon the locals
arrived at the spot. When the locals came, they were
shocked to see the fishes upside-down, pretending
to be dead. Few pretended to be stuck in waste ac-
cumulated on the riverbanks. The intention was to
make the humans clean the river and to stop throw-
ing garbage in the wetlands, and this aim was fulfilled.
The residents in the nearby areas complained that
this problem might lead to an unpleasant smell and
soon made a petition to the government.
Soon, the river was cleaned. The government cre-
ated strict rules against throwing garbage in the river,
and hence, plenty of garbage bins were kept nearby
for the convenience of the people.
Everyone thanked Tessa and appreciated her for
standing up for what was right. The aquatic life was
preserved and they led happy lives. All thanks to the
turtle who stood up for what was right.
WETLANDS ARE THE NATURAL HABITATS
FOR A LOT OF ANIMALS AND TO PROTECT
THESE ANIMALS WE MUST PROTECT THE WET-
53 69
LANDS.
Author - Bela Purandare, Grade 8, Pune
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12:
Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 15:
Life on Land.
54 69
An Accidental
Salvation
The day began like any other; Riya was late for school
as usual, and her mother hurried her on. She had her
breakfast hastily and started for school. The school
had planned a field trip to the Bhigwan Wetlands
for the students with the aim of acquainting them
with nature. This was Riya’s worst nightmare. As
she thought about how she hated marshes, the bit-
ter memory of being pushed into the mud crossed
her mind. She dismissed the memory as her friends
55 69
dragged her towards the wetland. Riya, however,

refused to step out of the bus and looked out the win-
dow at her classmates as they milled around the lake.
The visit soon came to an end and the group headed
back to school.
A few days hence, when Riya and her parents were
on their way to visit some cousins, their car broke
down. Coincidentally this episode took place a few
kilometers from the Bhigwan Wetland. The sun had
disappeared well behind the mountains, it was al-
most twilight. The evening was chilly and the wind
blew her hair in Riya’s face. Abandoning the hope
of finding help as the day drew to an end, the family
decided to set up camp near the lake. Although Riya
was most unhappy with this decision, she trailed off
in search of firewood. Soon, Riya and her parents
were huddled around the fire. They had piled up
some hay they had found near the marsh that would
provide as a makeshift bed. Not long after that, the
three of them went to sleep.
Riya was unable to sleep, so she lay with her eyes
open. No sooner did she behold the wonder of the
56 69
magnificent sky than she fell utterly in love with it.

She watched for a long time the juxtaposing colors of
the night and looked fondly upon the opaline stars.
She could stare at this marvel forever.
The gentle breeze lulled her to sleep before she
knew it. She awoke to the sun shining in her eyes
and warming her cheeks. Her parents were already
awake. In no time, their car was towed towards the
town. On the way back home, she asked her parents
to stop near the marsh. How indifferent she had been
towards the beauty of nature!
She vowed to never be ignorant towards mother
earth and her thriving world.
Riya had made it a habit to visit the wetland every
weekend to escape the noise and pollution of the city.
She would camp there every week along with her
friends.
All was smooth sailing for a few months but this
peace was not perpetual. The government had an-
nounced the reclamation of the Bhigwan marsh. This
news came as a shock to Riya. She was disheartened.
She consulted her parents and teachers about the
57 69
same. Everyone was against ridding the planet of

this scenic landscape.
Riya filed a petition to stop the reclamation. The
director of her school, however, opposed the motion.
He was just another lackey of the government- not a
serious threat if it wasn’t for the immense power he
commanded. This was a problem indeed! Riya and
her supporters would now have to resort to stricter
measures. Bearing in mind the fragile nature of the
situation, the group launched a protest at the site
they sought to conserve. The protests were gradually
gaining momentum. The government was to begin
the reclamation on the 1st of May. That was two days
from now and all the protesting crowds were buzzing
with tension.
The director had threatened to suspend Riya and
her “psychotic clique” as he had called them if they
did not suspend the campaign. The children did not
give in to his threats. Parents and teachers supported
the notion and assured the children that it would be
alright.
The government had served its final notice. The
58 69
infamous project was scheduled to begin the follow-

ing day. However, the government recognized that
the Covid -19 pandemic was a solemn catastrophe.
They were unwilling to risk the health of the workers
and officials involved in the project. The centre had
imposed a nation- wide lockdown.
The physical protests had proven to be effective.
But due to the national curfew, it was not possible to
continue the same. This was an obstacle in Riya’s mis-
sion to save the marsh but it did not discourage her
and her comrades. This was a war the government
had started but it was theirs to finish.
A new campaign was initiated with the help of so-
cial media. The nascent campaign had quickly trans-
formed into a national movement. People from all
over the country had come together despite their
differences. This was a splendid show of national
unity. The proverb ’Strength in numbers’ was true
after all! Owing to the severity of the protest and
nation-wide discontent, the government had to annul
the Bhigwan reclamation.
Riya sat by the lake once again and gazed at the
59 69
vermillion hues of twilight, basking in the golden

aura of the setting sun. The plea of the nation had
been heard and Riya’s mission had been successful.
Her marsh had been rescued. Her dream had become
a reality and her vision an inspiration.
Author - Ananyaa Joshi, Grade 8, Pune
60 69
Save Water, Save Life
Once upon a time, there lived a poor boy in Pune. His

name was Rahul. He couldn’t afford to go on trips,
so he decided to earn some money himself. He de-
cided to go to an urban wetland to see all the aquatic
animals. So he worked in a little shop. After months
of hard-work he earned the money he needed.
So, the next day he went to the Khadakwasla Lake.
He packed everything. He also carried his camera
which was gifted to him by his uncle. He was so
excited. He went there and was shocked to see a lot
of fish dead. Just then, a man who was passing by
61 69
threatened him not to tell anyone because people

might have a bad impression about the city.
Rahul was not scared . As he did not go to school,
he asked his best friend Raj for some help. But Raj
said that if it didn’t trouble him why bother. Rahul
was disheartened. He was counting on Raj.
Then he asked his other friends for help but they
too said the same thing. Somehow the news spread
and the city was gaining a bad impression. Everyone
said that it was because of Rahul.
He decided to take some help from his neighbours.
He told them about the importance of water and also
how important it is to keep it clean. But they did not
bother to listen.
Then he came up with a plan. He decided to stop
the supply of water for a few hours. The next day,
when everyone woke up, they realized that there was
no water. Everyone was worried as there was no
water to drink, wash, cook etc. After that, his neigh-
bours realized how important water is for everyone,
even animals.
So, the next day, everyone joined Rahul to clean
62 69
the Khadakwasla lake. They also cleaned the other

lakes. Rahul also told everyone to stop using plastic
bags. If they wanted to use them they should throw
it into a dustbin and not into a water body.
The city was then voted the cleanest city. Everyone
thanked Rahul. He was also given some money by
the government as a gift for cleaning the lake.
Author - Anahita Jog, Grade 6, Pune
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG
12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
63 69
The Team
64 69
Our team has collective experience in education

and research—research in sustainability and the envi-
ronment; development of teaching aids for integrat-
ing climate change education into the curriculum
of various subjects/disciplines; facilitation of design
thinking workshops for youth; writing and telling
stories; facilitation of workshops for teachers and
students; creation of courses that use blended learn-
ing and flipped learning approaches; and dissemina-
tion/outreach efforts in various domains, including
the communication of scientific, technical, and edu-
cational content to various audiences.
Murali Loganathan
Murali Loganathan is a sustainability
and entrepreneurship researcher at
the Indian Institute of Science, Banga-
lore. He has set up and successfully
managed a corporate startup acceler-
ator for Target. Murali is a seasoned
management and innovation consultant.
65 69
Murali has an M Tech from IIT Madras and a B

Tech from SASTRA Thanjavur.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/muralidharanl/
Anita Nagarajan
Anita Nagarajan is a communications
and editing consultant, specializing
in educational, scientific, and tech-
nical content. She has worked on
a global climate change education
project, edited STEM content for lead-
ing publishers, developed content for public outreach
programs, and created and edited communication
material for corporates, global non-profits, and UN
organizations.
Anita has an MS degree from North Carolina State
University, USA, and a BE degree from the Govern-
ment College of Engineering, Pune, India. She is a
member of ACES: The Society for Editing.
Anita enjoys exploring new places, hiking in na-
ture, and learning new languages. She’s always on
66 69
the lookout for good coffee.

https://anitanagarajan.com
Bala Ramadurai
Dr. Bala Ramadurai is an author,
coach, consultant and professor. He
is an international expert on De-
sign Thinking, Technology Forecast-
ing and Entrepreneurship. He has 3
patents to his credit and 10+ publi-
cations in international research journals. He co-
founded TRIZ Innovation India (https://trizindia.org)
and is an Adjunct Professor at Symbiosis Institute
of Business Management, India (https://www.sibm-
pune.edu.in). He currently mentors an EdTech enter-
prise called Knoin Electronics (https://knoin.org). He
is a professor at National Programme on Technology
Enhanced Learning (https://nptel.ac.in).
He has a PhD from Arizona State University, USA,
and a B.Tech from IIT Madras, India.
https://balaramadurai.net
67 69
Acknowledgments
68 69
The book and some of the images in this book were

created using the following open source software:
• Emacs - https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
• Spacemacs - https://spacemacs.org
• Org Mode - https://orgmode.org
• LATEXtemplate for the handbook: https://www.

latextemplates.com/template/ebook
• Picture credit - Photo by Sandeep Kr Yadav on

Unsplash
69 69

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COEXIST

Creating Original Earthy eXciting and Inspir-

• create and share stories about the local envi-

• internalize the seriousness of local ecosystems

• design actionable pathways for change

• share the message with the community

Step C Choose a Hero, Choose a wetland issue.

Step T Give your hero a Tough challenge, make

THE END End the story with a HAPPY ending.

Final Step 1 Connect all the story blocks that you

Final Step 2 Read the entire story, and add/edit the

Final Step 3 Great Job! Contact us at https://

Sashi is sad because she has to write a school report

She reports the incident to her teacher; however,

Shyamala, 54, a primary school teacher, finds 3 inches

decided that if she doesn’t act, no one else will.

Deepak, a 13-year-old boy, is walking around the lake

Deepak’s friends urge him to just record and de-

He reaches out to Deepak after a few days and

A student, Student, 15 years old, woke up to see water

ally, really, really busy now. Thank you (newscaster

Croak, the friendly frog, decides to seek help from his

Today, Croak had seen a scary example of what

typical burrows that are now threatened and to find

Rosalyn is a passionate zookeeper with tight budgets.

the poachers hideout along with the catch. She does

On one of her usual walks around Kommaghatta lake,

that the municipality will take care of it. Sure enough,

who would be willing to use some of the odor-free

In early June 2020, Russia reported a 20,000 tonnes

adsorbent (it collects things on its surface) of heavy

Rita was truly excited to go back to her grandparents’

it as Lake Jolly because that is exactly how it made

for their dog’s surgery. As the realisation struck her

12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

A girl goes for a walk and sees many barriers. She

She blames the builder and forces him to build a

Aditya is an 11-year-old student who loves all types

you and your friends please throw the rubbish over

for this, I’m a busy

Aditya was congratulated by his school principal

Romulus, a 3-year-old monitor lizard, goes to drink

Romulus’s people stop the protest and get dispir-

Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 15:

Shraddha is an enthusiastic 23 year old who was

decided to act, but she didn’t know how. She would

started observing what good it could do to them they

Ronie was a 12-year-old boy. He always loved to help

water and water everywhere.

He looked out through his window. People were

Instagram. Many people from all over the country

Once there was a frog called Jumpy who lived at the

and died. He called upon his friends who instantly

found Alan the alligator and asked if he could help.

have to show mankind that we can fight back too,

tion and attracted many locals. Birds were shrieking,

dragged her towards the wetland. Riya, however,

magnificent sky than she fell utterly in love with it.

same. Everyone was against ridding the planet of

infamous project was scheduled to begin the follow-

vermillion hues of twilight, basking in the golden

Once upon a time, there lived a poor boy in Pune. His

threatened him not to tell anyone because people