It was time for fun, entertainment, brainstorming and a search for the best at a series of inter-school competitions organised by South Point High School at Madhusudan Mancha.

The school organised Perceptum — the essay competition, Q-Point — the quiz competition, Satrangi — the singing competition and Masquerade — the one-act play competition, in April. More than 150 students from renowned city school participated in the programme.

Seventeen schools participated in Q-Point and quiz master Charanpreet Singh had a tough time judging the best. Eight schools made it to the final round. South Point bagged the first prize followed by La Martiniere for Boys and St Augustine’s School.

The brainstorming was followed by the musical challenge, Satrangi, hosted by singer Paroma Banerjee. This time Tista Dutta of Gokhale Memorial Girls’ High School was the winner.

But the best part of the day-long programme was the one-act play competition called Masquerade. There were eight schools which were ready with the their best scripts and actors.

The plays were innovative and the subjects varied. Gosh! We missed the train, staged by Apeejay School (picture by Sudeshna Banerjee), was about a group of young actors who performed a play in Pakistan. They were the first runner-up.

It was followed by MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School’s Valentine’s Wish.

While Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan bagged the first prize for their play Mission to Moon the host school became the second runner-up for their play The Other Side, which was about handling examination pressure and post-examination social activities. The winners were given cash prizes worth Rs 12,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Students of The Heritage School check out pottery and figurines at an exhibition in the school on May 23. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Tunes from the past

In the age of remixes and western songs, Nehru Children Museum organised a workshop where children between the age seven and 18 years brushed up their knowledge of old Bengali tunes.

The three-day workshop that started on May 29, was conducted by singer Nupurchhanda Ghosh. It dealt with songs of Atul Prosad, Rajanikanto and Dwijendralal. About 20 children participated in the programme.

“The workshop was aimed to create a desire among the present generation for old tunes that are on their way to extinction,” said Ghosh.

Though most of the participants did not know about the songs, they were enthusiastic about the workshop. Utsha Das, a Class X student of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, said: “I am rediscovering the music here that I missed out for all these years because of my studies.”

Subhajyoti Dutta of Mitra Institution said: “I will practise the songs everyday that I have learnt at the workshop.”

Sikha Mukherjee, administrative secretary of the museum, said, if the children and parents agree then the museum can also start a full-time course.

Abhisek Banerjee,
First yr, MA, Journalism and Mass Comm, CU

Waste management

Tiljala Shed, an NGO, organised a seminar on May 29 at Charukala Bhavan. The topic was “Corporate recyclable waste — a source for changing lives of ragpickers”.

The seminar highlighted the miseries and plight of ragpickers. To make things easier for them, the NGO under the guidance of Chandana Ghosh Dastidar of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), has set up godowns in places like Topsia, Tiljala and Park Circus. The local ragpickers can dump their collection there and get the price they deserve.

“I think it will be a good idea to recycle the wastes in Dhapa and the CMC should take the initiative. If things go right the process might start from the end of this year,” said Ghosh Dastidar.

SHOUT OUT LOUD

What’s on your mind this week

Batting for Dada

Sourav Ganguly has made a stupendous comeback to international cricket. But about six months ago, the general feeling was that the Indian cricket board had shown him the door for good. He had been kept out of the Indian squad for a couple of tours. Former chairman of the selection committee Kiran More was making statements to the effect that Sourav didn’t stand a chance of making a comeback.

At this stage, when the odds were piled heavily against our former captain, I had pleaded with my spiritual guru to pray for Sourav’s cause. After much cajoling, he had promised me that Sourav would get justice. I know it seems outrageous, but I believe that my guru’s powers played a role in Sourav’s recall to the Indian side, apart from, of course, the southpaw’s own determination and ability.

My guru preaches a humanitarian brand of spiritualism. He implores us to be compassionate and his discourse has a calming effect. It develops focus, devotion and confidence in oneself. All he asks you is to be a human being with kindness as the defining quality.

Srideep Roy,
Student

Chaos on road

Calcuttans tend to blame the driver as a rule whenever there is a road mishap. It is, however, not fair to jump to such a conclusion. In this city, commuters are always in a rush, with scant regard for traffic signals, safety rules and pedestrian crossings.
Most roads in the city do not have pavements and the few that are present are sparingly used. People cross roads wherever they want to, whenever they want to. So, is it fair to always blame the driver when there’s a mishap?

To ensure the smooth flow of traffic, a few immediate measures have to be taken. Pavements should be constructed on all the streets and traffic rules strictly imposed. The policemen too need to put up a smarter show, especially during rush hours.
Taking a leaf out of countries like China, a separate lane should be constructed for bicycles and motorbikes. Another need of the hour is more traffic posts and better coordination between them. And pedestrians should be made to cross the roads only at zebra crossings.

One-way and two-way traffic also needs to be properly planned. Acute traffic congestion is observed when some of the schools give over. School buses should be parked inside schools wherever there is space. Students also need to be alert when crossing roads.

Constructing new flyovers at huge costs is fine but the government should not sanction money to install surveillance cameras to monitor the roads.

Also, it is rather foolish to construct overbridges and expect people, especially old people, to climb up 60 steps and down another 60 to cross a road. Most overbridges in the city lie unused. Escalators and elevators would help. If this isn’t feasible, CMC could consider building more subways.

Driving licenses should be issued only after stringent tests. Too many people take the driving test for granted. For youngsters, it is “cool” to drive at a high speed with booming music dwarfing other sounds. And policemen turn a blind eye to it.

Look at the number of immigrant taxi drivers in the city. Who knows how many of them even have a valid licence or how they procured it? In today’s world, of course, money can even buy the law.

Tanmoy Das Lala,
St Xavier’s Collegiate School