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| World Vision:They don’t need company. Absorbed in their own world, these siblings take a break to pose for the camera. The younger one seems a little annoyed by the sudden intrusion. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya |
Lakshmipat Singhania Academy (LSA) recently won the International School Award instituted by British Council. The award aims to build ties among schools in India and abroad.
“With liberalisation, the world has come closer and in this global village a citizen ought to be a world citizen,” said principal Meena Kak. “While working for the award, we tried to bring about a shift in traditional teaching methods by exchanging ideas with other schools,” she explained.
Students from classes I to X shared projects, including a comparative study of British and Indian English and folk tales around the world. They created painted paper aprons with scenes from daily life and discussed the contribution of human resource rich countries to the United Nations.
Through the year-long initiative, LSA built up ties with participating schools in other countries, including Pakistan’s Lahore Lyceum School, Prince Henry’s Grammar School Specialist Language College in the UK and Seyhan Çeas Anatolian High School, Turkey The students exchanged ideas through post and email.
There was Out of the Front Window, a project where students represented the scene outside the school premises through sketches. These would be exchanged with students of other countries.
“The award has helped bring uniformity in the curriculum. This will help young minds find easy access to schools and universities the world over,” believes Anjali Chopra, headmistress, LSA.
Saheli Mitra
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| Meena Kak, principal, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, receives the ‘Teacher of Outstanding Merit’ award |
Indian Shakespeare
Loreto College organised the seventh Ajit Roy Millennium Inter-Collegiate Drama Competition recently. Participants were to adapt a Shakespearean play to the Indian context, without altering the original dialogues.
The host college performed Romeo and Juliet, with the tale of the starcrossed lovers set amid the Durga Puja rivalry of the Capulets and the Montagues, rival puja committees. Jadavpur University staged A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Puck manipulates the inmates of a reality show to raise TRP ratings for his show. In Macbeth, performed by students of Lady Brabourne College, the Indian king’s troubled consciousness seeks refuge in tantra rituals. The languishing mansion of Bengali zamindar Orsino witnesses pandemonium when twin frauds Viola and Sebastian create confusion in The Twelfth Night presented by Presidency College. Malvolio is a hypocritical, orthodox priest while Feste is the omniscient baul under whose eyes it all takes place.
The judges included Katy Lai Roy of theatre group The Red Curtain, Rohit Pombra of Stagecraft and Tathagata Chowdhury of Theatrician.
Presidency College bagged the Ajit Roy Millennium Shield for best play and the best supporting actor award. Loreto College who received the awards for best director and best actress.
Sheelonee Mukherjee,
Third yr, English, Presidency College
Shout out loud
What’s on your mind this week
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| A relative of the Guwahati blast victim grieves on September 1 |
Face of terror
A group of engineering students, a young boy celebrating his success in the medical entrance examination and other innocent people including children — they all have one thing in common. They are victims of terrorism who lost their lives in the Hyderabad blast that shook the country once again on August 17.
For hundreds of families, time had come to a standstill. Fear of more bloodshed loomed large and life was paralysed.
But the situation is not limited to Hyderabad alone. Terrorism has gripped every corner of the globe directly or indirectly. A group of people, not happy with the socio-political development around them, are targeting the common man, shaking society to its roots. These groups believe their acts of terrorism are divinely sanctioned.
It seems that mankind’s fight against terrorism is like a game of chess, only that the opponent’s moves are unpredictable and incomprehensible. No cause can justify the game. So what if the lives of innocent people are at stake. It still remains a ‘holy war’ where innocent people are scapegoats.
Shreya Basu,
Class XII, St Joseph’s Convent, Chandernagore
Real trouble
The West Bengal government’s policy of banning the hand-pulled rickshaw not only means no more traditional rickshaws on city roads but also that the decision will affect more than 20,000 people, directly or indirectly. The livelihood of these people is at stake.
According to the government, the the drive is being undertaken “on humanitarian grounds” and in the chief minister’s words: “They were clogging the already-congested city streets”. In that case, tramways should be the first choice in the government list, but it argues that the latter has heritage value. Does that mean that the hand-pulled rickshaws don’t fall under the category?
The ban on hand-pulled rickshaws means almost 12,000 people losing their jobs. Most are unskilled labourers and cannot be absorbed into other sectors. So the most pertinent question is whether the government has plans to provide alternative means of income to these men.
Though the state government had promised compensation to these rickshaw pullers, it is highly doubtful when the promises will materialise.
Gyaneshwar Pandey
whatsup
Changing colours
Anjali, an NGO working with people suffering from mental illness, is organising a kite flying event on September 18, from 10am onwards, on the occasion of Vishwakarma puja. The event is a part of “You can make a difference” programme that started four years back.
