Students attend Makar Sankranti celebrations organised at Tarumitra Ashram in Digha on Monday. At least 150 students from different institutions, including St Michael’s High School, Don Bosco Academy and Mother India Mission School, took part in the celebration organised by non-government organisation Tarumitra. “It was an eco-friendly celebration, as the schoolchildren ate flattened rice of near-extinct paddy varieties such as Mirchaiya, Jhilli Manipuri and Sonapiya with curd. All these varieties are grown on the Tarumitra campus through organic methods,” said Father Robert Athickal, the founder of Tarumitra Ashram. Text by Shuchismita Chakraborty, picture by Ashok Sinha