Students take part in the show on eggs at BITM on July 8. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

Many facets of simple egg

I never knew that eggs floated in salty water, or that the hummingbird’s egg was the smallest in the world,” exclaimed Reet Gupta, a Class III student of Calcutta Boys’ School.

Reet, along with other students of his class, attended a show on eggs organised by Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) on July 8. Called ‘Eggcellent’, it aimed to awaken the curiosity of children towards an everyday item like the egg. “Only if children question everyday things will they learn more,” said E. Islam, the director of BITM.

Conducted by the technical assistant of BITM, Tarun Das, the one-hour show included simple experiments using the egg to demonstrate principles like pressure and density.

“My favourite was the one where an egg, its outer surface blackened by holding it against a fire, became shiny when it was put in a beaker of water,” said Sabyasachi Banerjee. “This is because there is a gap between the surface of the eggshell and the soot. In water, light is reflected through this gap, which makes it appear shiny,” explained Das.

“I am going to try many of these experiments at home. It was amazing to know that the same egg served at the breakfast table can be put to so many uses,” said Reet.

Islam plans to have another show on the same subject on World Egg Day, designated the second Friday in October by the International Egg Commission.

Sriyanta Chatterjee

Participants stage a play at the inter-school Bengali drama festival Sansriti, organised by St Xavier’s Collegiate School in June. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

At present, look back at tradition

BENGALI DRAMA FEST FOCUS ON URBAN CULTURE & OLD VALUES

St Xavier’s Collegiate School’s Bengali drama fest, Sansriti, was an attempt to look beyond occasions like Durga puja and Poila Baisakh as the cultural markers of being Bengali.

Organised by the Bangla Society of the school in the last week of June, it included teams from 13 schools exploring the theme “creation amidst crisis” in original 20-minute one-act plays. “The theme is an attempt to make the present generation look back on its traditions,” said Animikh Roy, a member of the organising committee.

Most schools, including Don Bosco Park Circus and Assembly of God Church School, stuck to depicting the change in social values among Bengalis, but some like Loreto House questioned the notion that the present generation was deriding all things traditional. Assembly of God Church satirised the urban Bengali who thinks it fashionable to profess ignorance of one’s culture. This was shown with a character singing Tagore’s Ami chini go chini as I sugar you, o beautiful lady.

The plays were judged by actors Chandan Sen, Bijoylaxmi Burman and Sreela Majumdar.

Ritika Bose of Loreto House won the best playwright award, with the school declared the first runner-up. Their play was a conversation between characters from the four yugas. It suggested that confusion was present in every generation and could not be interpreted as the degeneration of moral standards.

The winner was the host school, with a plot about a teenager with scant regard for his elders. He finds himself in prison for possessing drugs. Shomshubhro Banerjee, playing the conscience of the protagonist, was selected the best actor, while Samar Bhattacharya won the best director award. The school handed the trophy to Loreto House.

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Chit chat

The importance of trees and greenery

Delhi Public School, Ruby Park, celebrated Vanmahotsav from July 6 to 10 with a “plant-a-sapling”week. The week started with a special morning assembly presented by Class I. They spoke about the importance of trees for saving the environment. The children of the pre-primary section sowed saplings and were taught to take care of their plants during the week.They carried the potted plants home to care for them until they were ready to be planted into the earth.