

Highway to HELL!
The Process
When surfing the net, Ajeeth (the founder of the team) got to know about Oracle Thinkquest. The next day itself he asked the five of us (Aarohi, Arnav, Ilina, Rutvik, Shreyas) if we would be interested in being a part of this team; all of us agreed immediately. We requested Mrs. Priya Pillai who teaches us Geography to be our coach and mentor. She agreed readily and was very excited. So, the team was made!
Our exams which are conducted every term were going on at that time. They were the final exams for Grade 7. We did not get much time but made sure there was half an hour everyday to discuss our topic.
After much debate it was decided that road accidents would be our entry topic. Understanding their cause and finding an appropriate and effective solution was our main objective. It was the unpleasant newspaper headlines and articles containing unfortunate, gory incidents that made us choose this topic. We also chose this topic as this is an everyday problem faced by everyone. We were, and still are determined to stop these scary incidents which are increasing at an alarming rate. So, we made our entry by the name- ‘Roads: A Highway To Hell?’.
There are many problems in the road system itself. Also, people even after knowing the rules do not follow them.The authorities also need to be more efficient.
We started working in full force the minute our exams were over. It was fun and a great learning experience. We divided jobs; some work, we decided we would all do together. Interviews were taken, videos and pictures were shot, we worked on our website and brainstormed for solutions!
The whole process, every moment of it was enjoyed by each of us. We visited each other’s houses, worked a lot at school and were most of the time either in front of the computer or shooting or campaigning on the roads. We made people aware and also heard them voice their opinions on the topic. They shared their traffic related problems and we gave them some advice. We were happy to help them.
When we were done, we did a final checking and submitted our entry. We felt we had been able to convey our message to the masses though there are many, many more people who need to be made aware of this fact. We did speak to some drivers in their local languages too.
The people had become more aware. We also became really close as a team as we worked in complete unison. We feel grateful to our family, friends and our coach, Mrs. Priya Pillai who supported us at all times. We also feel we could not have successfully completed this without the cooperation of the people.