Still I Arise: towards an anti-racist world” was the theme for Rhapsody. The annual fest and exhibition of Salt Lake school had students charged up as they took part in different events after a gap of two years.
The two-day fest, organised on the school grounds, was inaugurated by Sujit Bose, minister of state for fire and emergency services, Debshankar Halder, theatre and film personality, and Suranjan Das, vice-chancellor, Jadavpur University.
The face painting round had eight teams of two people in each. While one painted the other had to sit patiently without moving, so their partners could draw on their faces. While a few were happy to sit quietly, some were having a hard time to keep a straight face.
A team performs in the musical band contest at the Salt Lake School fest
Everyone tried to portray various facets of racism through their works. Srijita Ghatak had taken inspiration from the football World Cup. She had drawn half footballs on either cheeks in white and black while the area on the nose was painted as a football field with people in team jerseys cheering around the chin. On the forehead, she wrote the slogan ‘Show red card to racism’.
“The FIFA World Cup had seen a lot of protests over the years, but still it brings people together. So I wanted to use that theme for today's face painting. This is also my first attempt. I have previously taken part in T- shirt paintings but this is different. I neither had time to practice nor did anyone lend me their faces to practice,” smiled the Class XII student of National English School. Manaswita Patra was sitting patiently but was worried about the effect of paint on her face, “I have a sensitive skin,” the Class XII student said.
Sanjukta Khalkho drew different skin shades from different parts of the world. “This was a very spontaneous idea. I tried to draw skin shades of people from countries like South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, Argentina, US and India. By mixing different colour shades, we tried to get the perfect skin colour. We thought this was going to be easy but proved otherwise. My partner Bhagyashree Roy is very talkative. She is having a hard time trying to keep her mouth shut and her head straight,” laughed the Class IX student of Salt Lake School.
In the junk art event, students used newspapers, old tiffin boxes, ropes, card boards, scrubbers, bandage gauge, bottles and more to create craft from the waste. Arkopriyo Pal made a bike model by folding newspaper rolls. “I like doing such craftwork. This is an easy technique that I have picked up from YouTube videos and trying out for the first time today. Bikes are my passion so I decided to make one today “ said the Class XI student of National English School.
The fashion show participants were decked from head to toe. “We represented unity in diversity but with a fusion. Our models wore dresses of different type, like Egyptian, Japanese and south Indian but we gave it a twist. From designing the costumes to making the jewelleries, we did everything, “ said Srijita Ghosh of National English School, who was also the showtopper of the walk.
Quiz master Pranam Roy was back for an engaging competition. He tossed a variety of posers: In Japanese there is a word for ‘they who serve’ (Samurai), which game was originally called ‘crisscross’ (scrabble). Name the musical duo commonly known as ‘Tom and Jerry’ (Simon and Garfunkel), and more. But when the quiz master asked the real name of Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman), it took everyone by surprise. The most common reaction among the audience was ‘Bob Dylan-er naam Bob Dylan na?’”
The quiz contest underway at the fest
WWA Cossipore English School won the quiz staving off tough competition from Salt Lake School students. “Some questions were from our syllabus while some required general knowledge. We got to know about so many different things. It all came down to the last few questions. We are happy that we gave our best,” said Souptik Chandra of Class XI. “I am sad for not knowing which game the Jules Rimet trophy is associated with. The answer was the football World Cup. I even got a scolding from my father for the miss,” said his team mate Dhruva Ganguly.
The best quizzer award went to Nafi Amaan Hossain of National English School.
“We are back with Rhapsody after two years. This is not just about contesting but about talking part and meeting other students and getting motivated. We are very happy with the response we have received this year. Our ex-students came, students from other schools enjoyed. It was a learning experience as well as an enjoyable one,” said Anindya Kishor Routh, secretary, Salt Lake School.