Students of Shri Shikshayatan School (a unit of the Shikshayatan Foundation) celebrated the 162nd birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in style with music, creative productions and lots of devotion. They also paid tribute to Satyajit Ray on his 102nd birth anniversary on the same stage.
The chief guest on the occasion was Nicolas Facino, director of the Alliance Francaise du Bengale. Other dignitaries included secretary-general and CEO of the foundation Bratati Bhattacharyya, her deputy V.K. Agrawal, school principal Sangeeta Tandon, headmistress (junior section) Poushali Mukherjee and others. The guests lit the inaugural lamp and offered a floral tribute to the bard.
Bhattacharyya drew a parallel between the school's motto, which is about empowering girls, with Tagore's works that also contributed to empowering women in the 19th century. She mentioned how the organisation's founder, Sitaramji Seksaria, was instrumental in establishing the Hindi Bhavan in Santiniketan, working closely with Tagore. She also asked the students to visit Santiniketan to "feel" Tagore.
The principal encouraged the students to enrich and develop their writing skills, seeking inspiration from the bard.
Students of the Inner Wheel Club of South Calcutta were also invited to perform on the occasion. The children staged a skit.
The senior section of the school presented a dance performance. The students recited, "Where the mind is without fear...".
The students presented Pujar Shaj in the form of a play, recreating the atmosphere of joy during Durga Puja. The chanting of mantras and the dhak beats were much appreciated by the audience. The choir sang Anondo dhara bohiche bhubone to stress on the happiness quotient.
The students and staff members also paid tribute to Ray by performing a piece from Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen.
"Rabindra Jayanti is a celebration of culture, thoughts and emotions. Like previous years, our students, teachers and non-teaching staff members celebrated Rabindra Jayanti with the same fervour. They staged skits, dance drama and recited Tagore's work. We feel it is our responsibility to make our students aware of Tagore's rich inheritance," said the principal.
Don Bosco School, Liluah
Music, dance and culinary skills — the students of Don Bosco School, Liluah (DBL), got to showcase their talent in all these and more in a talent hunt contest held for Classes VI to VIII on May 15. Various competitions were held in different venues on the school grounds.
MasterChef of DBL was a much-awaited event in which the students brought their own ingredients and cutlery to prepare interesting dishes within the allotted time.
There were many music contests with prizes for The Budding Crooner, Enterprising Crooner and the Future Crooner of DBL. The students sang without background scores and reference sheets.
There were many takers of dance contests such as Tap Your Feet, Show Me Your Moves and Dance To The Tune.
The budding artists also attempted creative advertising and poster-making. In Brush Strokes with a Twist, the students painted umbrellas, T-shirts and tried tattooing.
Students took part in fashion shows, recitation and extempore contests and attempted mimicry and stand-up comedy.
"Every child has some inherent talent. The DBL Talent Hunt Contest aims at discovering the unknown potential in every child and helps him bloom," said principal Rev. Fr Manoj Jose SDB.
South Point High School
The students of South Point High School, under the aegis of MP Birla Smarak Kosh, hosted an inter-school fest Kalakosh in May. The fest was held at two venues — G.D. Birla Sabhaghar and the school premises.
The events included a singing competition (Satrangi), drama (Masquerade), debate (Cerebrate) and quiz (Q-Point). Several city schools took part in the event, and there were prizes for many. Satrangi or the inter-school singing round was held over two days. Eight schools made it to the finals. Vivekananda Mission High School won, followed by South Point High School and Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
Masquerade saw students from different schools staging interesting skits. The Heritage School won, followed by Mahadevi Birla World Academy and South Point High School. The debate or Cerebrate saw six schools locking horns. The motion of the house was: “Artificial Intelligence is a threat to Human Morality.” Delhi Public School, Ruby Park, won with Garden High School and South Point High School sharing the second spot.
The Heritage School won Q-Point or quiz followed by Birla High School and the Lakshmipat Singhania Academy.
“This is an important event in the school calendar. There are prelims and final rounds for different events taking place on different days. Some events had over 45 schools competing. So a lot of logistics need to be in place, and our students work hard for weeks trying to organise this fest, glitch-free,” said principal Rupa Sanyal Bhattacharjee.
B.D.M International School
The students of B.D.M. International School paid tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary with music, poetry and dance. The guests at the event included academician and artiste Nandini Bhowmik and Maria Claudia Marini, deputy consul-general of the Consulate General of Italy.
The programme began with a short documentary, Humanism – Individual and Society as depicted by Tagore. It showed how the bard lived a life inclusive of all sections of society, working for the welfare of the less fortunate.
The school’s interact club in collaboration with the Rotary International had invited the marginalised children of the Institute of Social Works to join in the celebration.
The students presented Rabindrasangeet and a colourful depiction of Tagore’s characters through dance performances and fashion shows. The performances left the audience spellbound.
The programme concluded with the national anthem and a final message on the lessons one learns from Tagore.
“We had initially planned to invite many more schools and make the Rabindra Jayanti celebrations an inter-school affair. But the heat prevented us. The children presented a wonderful performance, touching on various works of Tagore, his portrayal of women, his inspirations and the interpretation of his works in different languages. I wanted to make the bard’s work more appealing to the students of today by encouraging them to get creative. Every class had participants,” said principal Madhumita Sengupta.