The Inter School Middle School Hindi Debate and The Inter School Patriotic Meet, 2021, organised by the Hindi Jyotsna Club of La Martiniere for Boys, were held on August 12 and 15, respectively. A total of 26 schools participated in both the events.

These events are held every year to commemorate our freedom fighters, imbibe nationalistic pride, and popularise the usage of the Hindi language.

The delegates present at the event Telegraph picture

The debate, held on Zoom, featured several schools from outside the city and the state such as The Frank Anthony Public School; Sophia Girls’ School, Meerut; Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun; and Sunshine School, Birpara. Schools from Bengal included La Martiniere for Girls; Modern High School for Girls; Don Bosco School, Bandel; Loreto Convent, Entally; Saifee Hall; Rajasthan Vidya Mandir; Silver Point School; St James’ School; MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School; Birla High School; Loreto Day School, Dharamtala; B.D.M International School; Julien Day School, Howrah; Shri Shikshayatan School; Loreto House; Delhi Public School, Ruby Park; Welland Gouldsmith School, Patuli; The Calcutta Emmanuel School; Julien Day School, Elgin Road; Akshar School; Army Public School, Ballygunge; and the host school La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata.

The debate was conducted in two rounds. For the first round, schools were divided into Group A and B. The categorisation took place at an online meeting on July 30, by employing a randomiser. The debate for Group A started at 8.30am and went on till 11.30am while the same for Group B started from noon and ended at 2.30pm. Thereafter, 12 schools were shortlisted for the final that took place from 5pm to 8.30pm. The students debated on the motion — Ek sabhya samaaj mein mrityudand ka koi sthaan nahi hai (there is no place for death penalty in a civil society).

The patriotic meet streamed on YouTube Telegraph picture

Hardik Agarwal (from DPS Ruby Park) was awarded the Best Speaker for the motion and Aarav Tiwari (from Don Bosco School, Bandel) clinched the runner-up speaker for the motion award. Divyansha Jain from La Martiniere for Girls won the Best Speaker against the motion and Rajdeep Ghosh from MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School won runner-up against the motion. Eventually, DPS Ruby Park emerged victors and La Martiniere for Girls was adjudged the runners-up.

There were different judges for different groups. The panel of adjudicators were drawn from various parts of the country and even outside India.

The three rounds were moderated by Balwant Singh (founder of the Hindi Jyotsna Club), Doyel Ray and Chandan Kumar whereas the time-keeping was done by Shashank Singh, Sam Anand, Shivankk Jain and Rishit Soni.

“It was a commendable undertaking. We need more of such events so that students are furnished with the opportunity to freely express themselves,” said Supriyo Dhar, the secretary of La Martiniere Calcutta. The final round ended with a speech from acting principal P.A. John Stephen who spoke on the necessity to participate above everything and how ‘participating is a greater win than winning itself’.

Sydney Menezes, the Middle School head, addressed the students, encouraging them to ‘express their views freely’ and explaining the ‘importance of Hindi in our daily life’.

The Patriotic Meet was streamed on YouTube to celebrate the 75th Independence Day. It was not a competition but a commemorative event that paid homage to our freedom fighters through songs and dance performances. Shivankk Jain, Shashank Singh, Sam Anand, Mehul Bhattacharya and Rishit Soni took charge as anchors. Teachers and principals from various schools spoke on the necessity of remembering the freedom struggle. The programme ended with a speech from the acting principal and a vote of thanks from Balwant Singh.