It was Friday morning when Ali came home excitedly after finishing his exams and told his mother about his plan to go fishing with his friends.

Ali loved to eat fish, and his favourite dish was fish biryani. He took a quick shower, called his friends Azaan, Saad and Zaid. They gathered the essential items and left for Keenjhar Lake. After reaching there, they had fun playing in the water, and then they tried to catch a fish. They waited patiently for a long time, and finally, they caught one. However, the fish looked pale — it didn’t seem freshly caught as it barely struggled. Within seconds, it died. Although it was natural, something didn’t feel right to them.

They cleaned the fish, and as they made a cut through it, they were shocked. They discovered that fish was already dying when they caught it because it had scraps of a plastic bag stuck in its mouth. The poor creature had been struggling for its life, and instead of a natural death, it died an unnatural and gruesome one.

They were devastated. It was horrifying to realise the amount of garbage being dumped into the water daily. As they looked around, they saw empty wrappers of chips and biscuits, shopping bags and tetra packs floating in the lake. A heavy weight settled on their chests as they realised their mistake. They were mortified by the condition of the fish and the lake.

Alarmed by the situation, they started planning a protest to clean the lakes and stop littering everywhere. In that moment, they knew they had a chance for redemption. So that weekend, they began making posters about climate change and raising awareness about the threat of pollution to marine life.

The following week, they went to their principal to share their idea and also showed her pictures of the fish they caught which suffered the terrible consequences of dumping waste in the lake. They requested her for permission to start a campaign to promote awareness and highlight the threat to marine life caused by plastic waste in the environment.

After listening to their initiative, the principal admired their enthusiasm and agreed to the plan. Their initiative, along with the pictures they took, truly awakened children of all ages to the pathetic condition of the environment and what they needed to do about it. Everyone excitedly joined them in the cause.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 8th, 2025