The assembly hall of Jhilmil Primary and Secondary School in Boral, on the outskirts of Calcutta, was crowded from early morning that day with more than 100 children. Mostly from underprivileged backgrounds, the children were excited about the exhibition they had put up showcasing their expertise in subjects beyond the school curricula. The walls of the hall were dressed in paintings and on a large table were displayed crafts made with discarded plastic bottles, paper cups, packing boxes and so on. The friendly competition was held under the aegis of Nabadipa Sreejon Foundation, a non-profit that aims to nurture creativity in underpriviledged children.
The winner of the day was 7-year-old Reyan Mondal who had built a digital camera with cardboard and plastic. “You can’t shoot a picture but doesn’t it look like a real one?” he said. Reyan had also painted some cute pictures of Boral village, the location for Satyajit Ray’s classic film, Pather Panchali. Before the award ceremony, headmaster Dulal Halder mentioned that Reyan does as well in academics as in creative projects, despite suffering from a critical ailment and the removal of a kidney. “On days he has excruciating pain, he takes online classes from Dulal Sir,” his mother Regia told the audience.
Subrata Roy, founder of Nabadipa, was impressed by the creativity of the children. “The foundation originated from my longtime dream of and passion for opening a school for creative minds who are otherwise misfits in society or financially challenged.”
Roy is an inventor, educator and scientist based at the University of Florida in the US. Originally from Calcutta, he is renowned for his work on plasma-based technology used in spaceships. Currently, Pradip Mitra, retired director of All India Radio, and three of Roy’s childhood friends (Debasish Chakraborty, Utpal Mukherjee and Siladitya Bose) run operations at Nabadipa. “Thus far, we have tried to encourage school children in the Sunderbans — such as Canning — and a few selected school students in Calcutta.” Eventually, Roy hopes to expand Nabadipa’s activities to schools for underprivileged children across the country.
Thriller run
On February 6, 2025, Loreto House organised an intra-school vernacular workshop titled Chhayanot 2025. As is the tradition at Loreto, the event began with a solemn prayer service and the lighting of the ceremonial lamp. Under the guidance of the principal, P. Bagchi, the occasion also marked the launch of Loreto House’s Bengali emagazine Roddur.
The workshop’s Bengali segment was rather thrilling. There were six groups, each comprising 12 students from the six participating Loreto schools. The groups were given some clues and asked to create an original story incorporating the clues and featuring a specific detective. The detectives to be featured were Feluda, Damayanti Dutta Gupta, Kiriti Ray, Kakababu, Mitin Mashi and Byomkesh Bakshi. The groups were given 45 minutes to come up with the story. The participants demonstrated exceptional writing skills. The story that featured detective Kiriti Ray won the top spot in the contest.
Digital creator Mohin Khandekar and writer Kajal Bhattacharya conducted the workshop, offering valuable insights and judging the final presentations. It was a memorable day for the students.
