11-year-old Pune boy's creative toil with the foil

Young minds sometimes do things beyond our imagination. Their creativity is brought out in the small yet innovative games they play or things they do.

So what do you think a standard VI student does with the aluminium foil that his mother uses to wrap food in his lunch box? Many would say he would throw it in the dustbin without giving it a second thought.

But not 11-year-old Punmeet Tiwari who not only collects the aluminium foils that his mother uses to pack his food but also makes miniatures out of them. Punmeet has made more than 500 miniatures of cartoon characters such as Spiderman and Superman, stone-age man, sportspersons, a cricket field and many other toys with the used foils.

“My elder bother Harsh is good at drawing. He would encourage me to make 3D models of the characters he would draw. I took it as a challenge to use foils to make the models. Now the art is a part of my life,” says the standard VI student of The Bishop’s School. He adds, “I have also made various tops with the foils. My friends love to play with the flying top I have made.”

Punmeet’s involvement with the aluminium foils begins during the lunch break every day when he collects the used foils from his friends’ tiffin boxes. Then is the time to think of a new character to be modelled. “When I come home from school, I start thinking of what to make. I put on the television and pick up an image. While watching cartoons or any film or even a dance show, I just roughly sketch the image on paper and then take foil and mould it accordingly,” says Punmeet.

“On my birthday, Punmeet made masks and caps as return gifts. He had made motorbikes from the foils that we gave our friends and were liked by all,” says Harsh. He adds, “Sometimes Punmeet becomes restless when he cannot think of anything to replicate. On an average he creates one miniature every day. He can concentrate on his studies only when he has made a miniature for the day.”

Punmeet loves to share his creativity with others. “During the lunch break when my friends get time, they learn to make miniatures from me. This way we exchange our creativity,” he says. “On Teacher’s Day, I gifted my class teacher a music system made of foil,” adds the boy.

Punmeet’s mother Sangita, who is the chairman of Pune Municipal Corporation’s education board, says, “Our house is full of different kind of miniatures and now there is no place to keep them.” She adds, “My daughter died in a road accident because she was not wearing a helmet. I plan to start a campaign to create awareness in people about the importance of wearing a helmet by distributing models of helmets made of foils.”

Last week, Punmeet was busy making toys, animals, birds, vases, trees, bikes, jewellery boxes to give as Diwali gifts. The Koregaon Park resident’s house also adorns a colourful killa (fort) made of foils.