The first national-level Carmel Summit by Carmel Junior College, Jamshedpur, started on Thursday with a series of events ranging from online trading to dance dramas, in which over 100 students from across the country took part.
Apart from eight Jamshedpur schools - JH Tarapore, Sacred Heart Convent, DAV-Bistupur, Loyola, Little Flower, Hill Top, Rajendra Vidyalaya along with the hosts - Sat Paul Mittal, Ludhiana, De Nobili, Dhanbad, and Carmel, Rourkela, are participating in the two-day summit, based on art and business acumen.
Day One witnessed a quiz hosted by Lloyd Saldanha from Greycaps along with events like FIFA gaming, Product launch, ongoing Boom Merchant - an online trading competition - and dance dramas based on literature.
As many as five schools participated in the dance drama section. While Little Flower School and Sat Paul Mittal, Ludhiana, performed dance dramas on Ramayana, Carmel School, Rourkela, and Sacred Heart Convent wowed the audience with Rabindranath Tagore's Chandalika and Chitrangada respectively. Loyola School presented O. Henry's The Last Leaf.
The hosts, on the other hand, are quite excited about organising a national event.
"This is for the first time we are hosting schools from other states. In future we would like to make the event better and I am sure our juniors will carry it forward. We have kept very innovative competitions that give students a chance to think and learn something new," said Akankhya Ashavary, a Class XII student of Carmel Junior College.
The spokesperson for the school, Deeplina Khanna Saha, added the summit was set to test students' intelligence and presence of mind in adverse situations. "So we have kept such contests, which will test the student on a number of criteria from the craft of speech and good articulation to combating crisis and hindrances in profitable ventures. The Carmel Summit is a national platform and an incipient welcome to know where one stands," said Saha.
On the new concept, Irani Bhattacharya of Class XII said that inter-school events should be beyond just dance and music. "It should have events that compels a child to think, analyse and gain knowledge. This time all our clubs have come together for the Carmel Summit," she said.
The final rounds of Boom Merchant, a business competition, a fashion show, a model United Nations discussion will be held on Friday. The winners will also be announced on Day Two. Boom Merchant has a prize of Rs 25,000, other winners will get trophies and certificates.
