(From above) Participants at the debate; the judges; best speaker Chandreyee Mitra.

Am here to listen, not talk,” laughed Barun Chanda, in a light-hearted chat with the participants of Bitarke Ananda, minutes before they took the stage at The Tollygunge Club on Sunday. Eager listeners filled the expanse of the club lawns, braving the late-November chill for the second edition of STAR Ananda’s inter-club debate in English, held in association with The Telegraph. Snippets…

The motion: All progress depends upon the unreasonable man. Drawn from George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Super-man (1903), Maxims for Revolutionists: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the wor-ld; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

The teams: Six two-member teams from CC&FC, The Saturday Club, RCGC, Calcutta Rowing Club, Calcutta Club and The Tollygunge Club.

The format: A turncoat debate. One speaker from each team defended the motion, while the other spoke against it.

The judges: PR consultant Rita Bhimani, actor Barun Chanda and retired judge S.P. Talukdar. The debate was moderated by neurosurgeon Dr Sandip Chatterjee.

The debate: Even the time limit of five minutes proved less once the participants fired up. Had it not been for Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s reasoning in the face of ‘unreasonable’ society, widow remarriage would still have been taboo, pointed out Kalyani Chowdhury of CC&FC while speaking against the motion.

For the motion was CRC’s Chandreyee Mitra: “Tired of the apparently reasonable choice of governance, the people of Bengal voted for change and the so-called ‘unreasonable’ lady — Mamata. That is progress for the people.”

As the temperature dipped, the debate only got more heated. It did cool down for a moment when Tolly’s Masud Haq joked as his time ran out, “I’ll talk to you later, if you buy me a drink!”

On a more serious note, speakers drew examples from Stalin, Alexander Fleming, Thomas Paine and ‘unreasonable’ freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh.

Finally, taking on the defenders of the motion, Calcutta Club’s Deborshi Barat wrapped up the debate with an intriguing reference to how Eve was ‘unreasonable’ but wouldn’t Adam have been so anyway?

The winners: The participants were judged on content, presentation and audience appeal. The Saturday Club was adjudged the Best Debate Team — S.M. Devadason and Mirna Guha also won the runner-up and first runner-up trophies, respectively, for the Best Speaker. The Best Speaker was CRC’s Chandreyee Mitra, who spoke for the motion.

Judge speak: “I wish someone had mentioned the book The Emperor of All Maladies. It has such unreasonable actions by doctors to treat cancer, at times administered on themselves, but that’s how research progressed,” reflected Rita.

Club speak: “I think such events are all about forming bonds between the clubs. Six institutions have come together on the same platform today,” pointed out Anil Mukerji, managing member, The Tollygunge Club.

SREYOSHI DEY
WHO IS YOUR ‘UNREASONABLE’ ROLE MODEL FOR PROGRESS? TELL T2@ABP.IN
Pictures by Pabitra Das

A match in progress as (top) participants and enthusiasts keep a close watch. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Adrenaline levels are running high on the floodlit courts of The Saturday Club, where the three-week-long open-to-all tennis tourney has rallied to its final leg. With only a few days to go for the grand finale on December 3, and prestigious medals at stake, the excitement is building up both on andoff the court.

What: The Saturday Club presents the 47th Floodlit Tennis Tournament, in association with The Telegraph.

Where: The Saturday Club, 7 Wood Street.

Matches so far: Over the last two weeks, 16 different tennis events swung into action in a series of best-of-three matches. Handicap events like men’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, veterans’ singles and doubles, and parent-and-child doubles along with all the junior event matches are in their semi-final and final stages.

Up next: This week sees open events in the categories of men’s singles, doubles, ladies’ singles, boys’ singles (under-18, under-14, under-12), girls’ singles (under-18, under-14) and veterans’ singles get into high gear. Come Saturday, the final match of the men’s open singles will take place followed by prize distribution and high tea to celebrate the gala tournament.

On the sidelines: Friends, family, club members and tennis enthusiasts are trooping into the courts during the floodlit hours to watch the players in action. While some are clapping and cheering their buddies for every clever serve or passing shot; others are capturing the moment on camera. Post-match, the club lawns become the chill-out zone for players who catch up over iced tea and samosas and more.

Player speak: For Angad Khosla, it was his first win in the under-10 category after making it to the finals in the past years. “It feels great to finally taste victory. The competition on court is very tough but after the game it’s fun to talk about how the matches went,” smiled the young champ whose scoreline read 6-3, 6-4.

Club speak: “More than the thrill of winning, this tournament also gives Bengal rankings to the players who finish first, which is a huge incentive for them,” said tournament director Naveen Bhatia.

Radhika Sen