Normally, when students bunk school, parents and teachers are up in arms against it. So it was quite unusual then when hundreds of students from dozens of schools across Delhi and Gurgaon decided to bunk their classes, they were not only supported, but in some cases even chaperoned by their teachers and guardians. The students were part of a strike against climate change , a global movement spread across 40 countries.The movement was started in last August by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has been striking from school every Friday for the last seven months to stand outside the Swedish Parliament, demanding that they adhere to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Since then, Greta’s movement has spread across the world, and she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . On March 15, students in Indian cities took part in the strike for the first time. Gurgaon students chose the waste art installation in Wazirabad Bundh as their venue of protest. Hundreds of students converged at the site, many still in their school uniforms, carrying banners and placards.The students in Gurgaon chose the waste art installation in Wazirabad Bundh as their venue of protestThe students also took to a makeshift stage at the installation. Some spoke, others expressed through music and dance, and students from one school even put up a panel discussion. While talking about the need for students to take up the cause of climate change, Anish Singhal, a Class X student, said, “I feel that this is not an issue that can be just limited to parents or students. We are all together in it. It is not just for one particular section of the society to solve it on their own.” On stage, students spoke about the toll that rapid urbanisation of cities like Gurgaon is taking on the environment. Tarushi Agarwal, a Class IX student, said, “We all have the right to grow and develop, but at what cost? We have forgotten the right way to grow. This race between countries and cities is only resulting in more emissions each year.”While speaking on the stage, Class IX student Vir Khanna said, “Loss of our environment is much greater than any loss in an election. And that’s what we need to tell the political parties of India, that we – the voters of tomorrow – will vote for those who work to save our environment.”Students across a warming globe pleaded for their lives, future and planet on Friday, demanding tough action on climate change. From the South Pacific to the edge of the Arctic Circle, angry students in more than 100 countries walked out of classes to protest. The coordinated “school strikes” were inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who began holding solitary monstrationsoutside the Swedish parliament last yearGreta Thunberg leads a protest in ParisProtest against climate change in GermanyProtest against climate change in GermanyProtest against climate change in Belgium

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