147 schools, 16 events and over 4,500 participants from the city and across the state rocked Dabur Babool The Great TTIS Challenge at Swabhumi from December 5 to 7. They showed off their music fundas in Medley, rocked with pots and pans in Unconventional Orchestra and displayed their acting skill in Impact. And that’s not all. Read on for more…

Judges for Impact, actress Chaiti Ghoshal (with mic) and thespians Gautam Haldar and Dolly Basu (not seen), congratulate participants on their efforts. The Aryan School secured first place with a tale of an underachieving student explored through metaphors. Hirendra Leela Patranavis School scored second place with a play about dispelling superstitious beliefs. Don Bosco Park Circus came third with a dark and compelling script that paraphrased Shakespeare in bits to expose corrupt politicians, evil terrorists et al.	Judges for the fusion dance event danseuse Alokananda Roy and dance instructor Tapas Das. Springdale High School impressed with a dance based on the nine rasas, including hasya, vibhatsa, bhayanaka and veera. Hirendra Leela Patranavis School came in second by combining tribal and classical dance forms.
Just after the fusion dance competition, the twinkle toed could not stop grooving. The kids broke into an impromptu jig as a mushy Bollywood song played.	The very acrobatic students from La Martiniere for Boys School fused varied forms of dance, including line dancing and jazz, to a medley of electronic beats and choir music.
Barasat Indira Gandhi Memorial School staged a fusion of different forms of classical and western dance to a fusion number from the film Morning Raga, Maha Ganapatim.	The Tug of War tourney saw 84 schools heave their best, with the winner emerging after more than 100 well-fought rounds. Here’s a tense moment from one of the battles. Finally, MC Kejriwal Vidyapeeth came first in the boys category while Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum tugged out the rest of the gals.
A scene from The Aryan School’s impressive play about the pressure on children to perform in the Impact competition. One scene involved five students sitting around in the classroom with dustbins in hand, into which they were spitting water gulped from bottles. The poor protagonist had an empty glass, and thus nothing to regurgitate. Sounds familiar? It depicted an examination.	Students from Hirendra Leela Patranavis School, of Golf Gardens, celebrate after being named the Champion of Champions on the final day of the fest. The first runner up was St Sebastian’s School, with DPS Megacity coming in third.
Fashion Show judges designer Kallol Dutta and model Jessica Gomes share a laugh. Jessica was so impressed with North Point that she fished out her cellphone to record their show. “I love the energy of school fests,” commented Kallol.	There was fun to be had off stage, too. There were painted-on tattoos for free. Kids happily walked about with scorpions painted across their cheeks, hands and arms. There were prizes to be won too. Students won tickets to the Maradona match at Salt Lake Stadium by participating in a lucky draw.
Which fest is complete without PYTs? The cheering at the three-day gala got as competitive as the actual action. Deafening cheers of “Jhoot bolna paap hai, CBS sabka baap hai” and “Baki sab harega, Lycee sab ko marega” reverberated throughout the Swabhumi grounds.	The crowd rocked to Bolly beats churned out by Jimmy Tangree and his team from Red FM on DJ Nite, bringing down the curtains on Day Two. Ma da ladla bigad gaya! And as you can see, the ladlis too.
Mock-a Band had to be the coolest competition ever! All you had to do was get a CD of your favourite band and play it loud while you imitated the band’s stage act. Amidst Slipknot and Linkin Park and Las Ketchup impersonators, South Point High School impressed by ‘mocking’ Indian Ocean’s Kandisa and Bande. “It’s sad that no one else mocked an Indian band today. This was for peace,” they said about Bande.	St James’ School didn’t need much time to get into the Unconventional Orchestra groove. They made music with plastic jars, aluminium tins and plates, just like the others. When asked how long they practised, they didn’t need to give the answer much thought: “Actually not even a day. We did nothing the whole day. We finally practised for an hour.” We are not sure how long St Sebastian School practised for its first-place-worthy melody made with flower pots and plates. MC Kejriwal Vidyapeeth used an earthen pot, glass jars and tin cans to secure second place. But the crowd favourite was the St Xavier’s Institution effort, in which a student tapped her pretty party heels to keep beat with plates and jars.