Celebrating Kolkata at Vivekananda Mission School, Joka

“Calcutta is beautiful. Wherever you place a camera, you get a vision.”- Pradeep Sarkar

The very words of the famous writer and director could be felt by all who were present at the Annual Exhibition of Vivekananda Mission School, Joka. Titled Kolkata Mahanagar, the Annual Exhibition was a grand celebration of our beloved City of Joy. The Exhibition was an effort to help our students as well as the visitors, understand the essence of our Tilottama- her cultural richness, diversity, and other aspects.

The Exhibition, held on the 16^th & 17^th of September, was graced by the presence of eminent personalities and the entire VMS family. The event was inaugurated with the lighting of the lamp.

Words of wisdom shared by Rector, Arnab Chandra; Principal, Sarmistha Banerjee; and our guest, Vijay Lakshmi Kumar (Principal, Asian International School) focused on the need to develop soft skills as well as the need to maintain a healthy balance between academics and co-curricular activities. This was followed by Prabhat Pheri in which students of the Pre-Primary and Primary Section marched forward in the guise of the highlights of Kolkata.

P.C. Sorcar Jr., a renowned magician and a recipient of the Merlin Award in Magic, graced the occasion with his presence as the Chief Guest. The revered magician’s anecdotes enthralled all. The presence of Principals of various schools across the city along with other esteemed guests made the event a star-studded one.

The event was all about Kolkata- how the city came into existence; the noteworthy places, buildings, hospitals, eminent personalities, lip-smacking food, and so on. The visitors got a glimpse of how our beloved city came into being; the then and now pictures of Kolkata as well as the evolution of transport, spoke of the city’s development over the years.

The models and charts prepared by the students, under the guidance of their teachers, dealt with distinguished buildings, colleges, hospitals, luminaries, places, theatres, and so on. To name a few of the places, students worked at National Library, Victoria Memorial, Marble Palace, BITM, Alipore Zoological Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Jorasanko Thakurbari, the different Rajabaris, Kumartuli, Potua para, Coffee House, Bengal Chemical, GPO, Writers Building, Townhall, High Court.

Charts and models were prepared on noted hospitals like SSKM; universities like Calcutta University, and Jadavpur University; colleges such as Loreto, Lady Brabourne, Asutosh; theatres such as Minerva, Sans Souci, Circarina; festivals such as Durga Puja, Holi, Christmas; Doordarshan and Akashvani Bhawan.

The exhibition also demonstrated the contribution of esteemed personalities such as Swami Vivekananda, Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramakrishna, Mother Teresa, Sisir Kumar Mitra, Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, Satyajit Ray, Uttam Kumar, Chabi Biswas, Uday Shankar, Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury.

Charts and models were put up on Bratachari, the different Sporting Clubs, women scientists, mohila purohits, the Governors of West Bengal, honorable Chief Justices, Eden Gardens, Poto Chitra.

The display of the lip-smacking food found in the popular food joints such as Peter Cat, Basanta Cabin, Dacres Lane, and Terrati Bazaar along with street food such as Ghoti garam, Fuchka, and the famous Kolkata sweets was sure to have left the visitors drooling.

The crowd was left mesmerized by the magic tricks shown by our budding magicians. The Live Music arena had famous Bengali songs being performed by the students and teachers.

The Sale Counter had handmade items of the students put up for sale. The food stalls had popular items such as luchi-aloor dum, jalebi, fish fry, cutlets, and beverages to satiate the hunger pangs.

In a nutshell, the contribution and hard work of the entire VMS family in unison made Kolkata Mahanagar a grand success and a gala event.