The Birla High School, Kolkata recently organised a debate in keeping with the vision of their Founder, Late Syt. L.N. Birla to create independent and free-thinking men and women who could confidently lead to new frontiers of knowledge and progress. The eponymous L.N. Birla Memorial Debate has always provided students with a platform where they can think independently and confidently express their views.
The preliminary round of the debate took place on 9 July, 2022, where the motion being debated was ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is a premature celebration of a still distant dream’. This round saw two students each, one from class XI and the other from class XII, from 15 eminent schools of Kolkata and 2 schools from Pilani and Lucknow battle it out for a place in the finals. The round was chaired by Mr.Raju Raman - Programme Consultant to Victoria Memorial Hall, and judged by Ms. Vibha Mitra, Ms. Indu Gandhi and Mr. Samrat Chowdhury.
Eight teams qualified for the final round to debate on the topic: ‘For 75 years the Indian Education System has served the Nation well’. This round was chaired by Dr.Kunal Sarkar - an eminent Cardiothoracic Surgeon who is also the President of Calcutta Debating Circle. Judges for this round were Ms.Ramanjit Kaur, Ms. Oindrilla Dutta, Mr.Ratan Postwalla and Mr.Pradeep Gooptu.
While the competition was tough, Madhunisha Majumder and Noyonika Ghose of Sushila Birla Girls’ School emerged as the Best Team and received a certificate, an Apple Ipad, and a cheque of Rs. 5000 each, sponsored by Sri S.K. Birla. Teesta Ray and Umika Panda from Loreto House received the Runner Up Team Award which came with a certificate and a cheque of Rs. 2000 each.
Noyonika Ghose from Sushila Birla Girls’ School bagged the Best Speaker Award, for which she received a certificate, the Birla High School trophy, the Birla High School Alumni Trophy, a certificate and a cheque of Rs.5000, in addition to a Canon DSLR camera worth Rs 60,000. The runner up position saw a tie between 3 participants - Teesta Ray from Loreto House, Madhunisha Majumdar from Sushila Birla Girls’ School and Ram Daftari from Birla High School - who were all awarded with a certificate and a cheque of Rs 2500 each.
The session was a kaleidoscope of opinions, thoughts, ideas and perspectives that definitely enhanced the knowledge and understanding of the topic among the audience.