Students of South Point High School with The Telegraph School of The Year Award 2008 at Science City on Saturday. Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Aug. 30: It was the day of the chief guest at the 12th edition of The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence. On paper, there was none. In reality, there were more than you could ever count.

There were, as The Telegraph Education Foundation convener Barry ’Brien put it, a “world record” number of chief guests in the Science City auditorium during the annual August tryst with inspirational tales of triumph against odds.

The awards ceremony teemed with chief guests — from a courageous 10-year-old to an extraordinary 90-year-old, from teachers to parents and, above all, hundreds of bravehearts in uniform.

If Taare Zameen Par — Every Child is Special was the theme of the awards, presented by Adamas Institute of Technology in association with Amity, every participant was a chief guest.

Leading the parade of chief guests was Krishna Prasad Bhattacharya, 90, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame for changing the face and the fortunes of a village almost single-handedly. Over six decades, the former assistant stationmaster has been instrumental in setting up the first post office, the first school and the first hospital in Nekurseni village of West Midnapore. “Khub bhalo lagchhe (I am touched),” smiled Bhattacharya standing tall, wiping tears with his uttariyo as the auditorium rose as one.

Then there was an award-giver rather than a recipient. Dr Nirmal Ghosh, who gave away the Surrendra Paul Memorial Award for Courage, was a chief guest for treating hundreds of patients every day in the interiors of Howrah despite being visually impaired. And also for taking up mountaineering soon after he lost his eyesight and leading a team of four physically challenged people to the Guan Nelda peak in Himachal.

A chief guest whose presence was not seen but felt was Keshav Rathi. This 17-year-old topper fought leukaemia till his last breath, desperate to sit for his ISC exams. This brilliant student of The Assembly of God Church School lost the battle for life on March 1, but won the hearts of all those present at Science City today.

His parents received the Surrendra Paul Memorial Award for Courage and then gave away the first Keshav Rathi Memorial Scholarship for Courage to Swati Bhura, the Class XI topper of Frank Anthony Public School, who has fought financial crises to emerge “a stronger person”.

There were many little champions on whom the chief guest crown sat easy. Like Aropi Guha, son of a watchman, who walks 5km through a core forest area in Buxa village, then swims across a river to board a bus that takes him another 26km to his college in Alipurduar. The history honours student does this every day because nothing can come between him and his dream of becoming a teacher.

Aropi was given the Reverend Noel Sen Memorial Scholarship by another chief guest, Enamadree Sunitha Das.

The karate black belt from Guntur, who did not know a word of Bengali when she came to Maslandapur in North 24-Parganas as a bride, was struck by the complete absence of women in the public sphere. She picked up the language by eavesdropping on her son’s Bengali lessons and reading from thongas (packets) made from Bengali newspapers.

Armed with the power of words, she reached out to the women of the village and, 25 years on, she heads a self-help group that has empowered women economically and given them the confidence to stand up for their rights.

Among others taking centre stage was Renu Lomjel of Darjeeling, with the Abhirup Bhadra “Thank You Baba-Ma” Award for carrying her daughter Antara, now a Class IX student, to school every day. The child has been left immobile by lumbar meningocoele spastic paraparesis.

So, it was a day of chief guests galore and countless taare zameen par.