Colour story: Principal Kamalaksha Gangopadhyaya speaks to ex-students

The beautiful day of January 14 saw the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, come alive with long-lost friends greeting each other warmly. Students and ex-students had a fun time at the much-awaited annual reunion of the college. There also was a delicious lunch to add to the picnic mood.

The evening reflected some very different sounds of nostalgia. Upal Sengupta, a member of the Bangla band Chandrabindoo and an ex-student of the institute, enthralled the audience with his songs. Principal Kamalaksha Gangopadhyaya, who also happens to be an ex-student, conducted the closing ceremony.

Azdar Ali Mirza,
Government College of Art and Craft,
Calcutta

CALCUTTA

Little genius

As Bertrand Russell rightly said, “Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination”. The ASSET test, a skill-based assessment conducted by Educational Initiatives (an Ahmedabad-based Research Organisation), measures how well students assimilate the “concepts” and “skills” underlying the school syllabus. Recently, over 1,000 leading schools across India took part in ASSET.

The test was conducted in several subjects such as English, mathematics, science, Hindi and social studies. Neha Jain, a student of Class VIII B, from Birla High School (Girls’), Calcutta, was among the top 10 students in India.

R. Kavya Iyer, Class VIII B, Birla High School (Girls’)

CALCUTTA

Centre stage

Birla High School (Boys’) presented a musical extravaganza, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, on January 12 and 13 at Vidya Mandir Auditorium. The performance transported the audience back in time to Hamelin in Germany — a town infested with a “pestilential pack of rats” and the townspeople’s efforts to get rid of the vermin.

The cast comprised students from classes I to VIII. While the set was well designed, the choir sang in excellent synchronisation and the props were well chosen. The squeaking “rats” won the audience’s appreciation as did the dance compositions with well suited lyrics like Where’s the party tonight, I had a dream and No matter what.

Performances of the mayor, his wife, the corporation, Traper Lee, chemist, exterminator, townspeople and the children deserve mention. The Pied Piper not only piped away the rats but also piped his way into the audience’s heart. Scripted and directed by Sarita Dasgupta, the play was a huge success.

Arushi Dhupia, Class VIII, Our Lady Queen of the Missions, Salt Lake

Howrah

Paying homage

Aritra Sarkar and Shrinjoy Ghosh of Little Star High School, Bally (Howrah) decided to celebrate their winter vacation in a special way. The Class IX students, accompanied by their English teacher, Dominik Banerjee, paid a tribute to the great poet, scholar and academic Henry Derozio on December 26 at the South Park Street burial ground. Peter CR Lane, professor and software analyst at Herdfordshire University, UK, was present along with M. Brown, Relator of the Anglo-Indian Community. To India, My Native Land, a masterpiece written by Derozio was recited by Shrinjoy Ghosh. The programme came to an end with a vote of thanks.

Krishnasish Dasgupta

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