Teachers’ Day at Bidhannagar Municipal School started on a controversial note after some posters maligning the principal were reportedly found on the walls in the morning.
Though the posters were all removed by the time the Teachers’ Day programme started, principal Bhaswati Chakraborty referred to the incident in her address. “The CCTV camera was blocked and miscreants put up posters about me on the walls outside the school today around 4.30am. That they had to do the job secretly in the dead of the night is an achievement for me. They are trying to malign the school but this is a warning to them that they will not succeed,” she said, adding that a police complaint had been lodged.
Trouble has been brewing at the school ever since the civic body proposed nominees for the school’s managing committee earlier in the year.
The school’s last managing committee had dissolved in 2019 but a new one could not be formed due to the pandemic. The process resumed this year.
The bone of contention reportedly is the omission of Tulsi Sinha Roy, a mayoral council member of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, from the list of nominees. Sinha Roy was the secretary of the outgoing committee. Instead, Banibrata Banerjee, the new local councillor, is proposed to be the next secretary.
Show must go on
A dance item being staged
Students of the school put the unsavoury incident behind them and put up a sparkling Teachers’ Day show.
It began with Class XII student Akash Sheet delivering a speech. “Every day can be celebrated as Teachers’ Day if we respect teachers. They are our second set of parents; they are craftsmen who shape the future generation,” said Akash.
The inaugural song was Kishore Kumar’s Akash keno dake. “This is the 25th year of our school and so we thought of starting with something unusual. We chose this song instead of a Rabindrasangeet or Nazrulgeeti,” explained one of the singers, Maurakshi Bhattacharya of Class IX.
There was also a chorus of Moheener Ghoraguli’s Prithibita naki chhoto hote hote. “This song makes us realise how we detached we are getting from one another. It inspires us to make the world a better place," said Bhaswati Das of Class VIII.
Students danced to slokas, the tarana Dheem ta dare from the movie Thakshak as well as a classical fusion of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of you. “This was my first time experimenting with fusion choreography and I enjoyed the energy,” smiled dancer Aditri Mallick.
Fourteen students sang Give me some sunshine from 3 Idiots, accompanied by Dip Adhikary and Tushant Pramanik on guitars. “This song energises us,” said Anwesha Paul. “It’s an anthem for students,” added Shreya Mondal.
The final item was a group performance to Durga stotra using Bharatnatyam and kathak steps. Swastika Saha played Durga, Sonia Dutta Lakshmi and Megha Ghosh Saraswati. “This dance item was decided upon just last night,” said Swastika. “Initially we were practising a hip hop number but changed it to Durga stotra as the Pujas are around the corner.”
Aishani Mallick of Class VI and Vinayak Chakraborty of Class IX anchored the show, that ended with the cutting of a cake. “This is my first time anchoring and am thankful to my teachers for selecting me for such a special occasion," said Vinayak.
The teachers enjoyed the show. “The students put in their best efforts to make us feel special,” said commerce teacher Samarpita Kar.
