Performers at the Tiger Festival organised at St Joseph’s College. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

On April 19, St Joseph’s College (SJC) hosted a tiger festival, organised by Sanctuary Asia magazine, with students interpreting the theme “Save the Royal Bengal Tiger”.

SJC and Birla High School (BHS) for Boys performed didactic skits on saving tigers. While BHS stressed on reducing tiger population over the ages, SJC used mime to show how the king of hunters has today become the hunted.

Twenty five city schools participated in the drama competition that followed, including St James’ School, Calcutta Girls’ High School, Modern High School, BHS Girls, Loreto School, Esplanade, Entally and Sealdah, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ballygunge and Vivekananda Mission School.

Students presented skits, songs, dances and charts dealing with issues like deforestation, overpopulation, pollution, land erosion and industrialisation. Many of them used Shakira’s song Animal City as their theme. The competition was judged by actress June Maliah, Anjum Katial and Samarjit Guha of British Council. While June and Katial were all praises for the students’ effort, Guha felt that students required more direction to spread the message of saving tigers.

The open air venue attracted a large audience. Various stalls were set up, including one by NGO Love and Care for Animals that runs two hospitals in the city, and one by the state forest department.

At the forest department stall, pamphlets on Sunderbans birds were handed out. “The Sunderbans is not only about tigers. It also houses a vast variety of bird species,” said Badal Chakraborty, range officer, forest department.

Said Maliah: “By destroying nature, human beings are also ringing the death knell for themselves, because man is not separate from nature.”

National Gems School bagged the first prize, Park English School stood second and Loreto Day School, Esplanade secured the third position. “Though our teachers helped us to put up the skit, we have realised after today’s presentations how important it is to save tigers. They are a part of our ecosystem,” said a member of the National Gems team.

One of the organisers, Joydip Kundu, of Sanctuary Asia, said: “The idea behind such an event is to educate students while entertaining them. We have been trying to get across the message that tigers need to be saved — and most importantly, in their natural habitat.” Sanctuary Asia conducts a project called ‘Kids for Tigers’ that works to spread awareness about the big royal in city schools.

Music bands from La Martiniere School for Girls and Don Bosco School, Liluah wrapped up the event, belting out classics like Imagine and Zombie and popular Bengali songs by Fossils and Lakkhichhara.

Somrita Ganguly,
Calcutta Girls’ High School

SHOUT OUT LOUD

What’s on your mind this week

No compensation for lost life

The bus that upturned in the Lower Bagjola Canal claimed several lives. Among them was a student of Class IX who belonged to my alma mater. Irene Ishika Jaiswal of Loreto Day School, Sealdah wanted to visit NASA. A topper in her class, she died struggling to breathe.

We can call it destiny and wipe tears from the eyes of childless parents. But whom do we blame for the mishap, for the delayed rescue and the malfunctioning cranes? Irene’s mother still awaits her return. Is Rs 75, 000 the price for each Irene who died trying to live?

Swagata Basu,
Third year, English,
Scottish Church College

Fruitless strikes

It has become a custom for politicians in West Bengal to misuse power by frequently calling strikes. A strike cannot do any good, it only paralyses the city for a day. Instead of winning public opinion, the power holders end up losing supporters through such gimmicks. The opposition should try to undo the wrongs of the ruling party in a more constructive manner rather than adding to the chaos.

Shahwar Kabriya,
First year, English,
Loreto College

Foreign degree

LOOKING BEYOND

Globsyn Business School has added a new programme to its kitty. The institute has announced the launch of a two-year postgraduate diploma course in international finance from the next academic year. It has tied up with Freeman School of Business (FSB), Tulane, in New Orleans for the purpose.

“While there are many management institutes offering specialisation in finance, there are few that offer a separate degree,” said Bikram Dasgupta, CEO, Globsyn Technologies.

In the first year, students will be taught the management basics with additional papers on finance. In the next year, they will focus only on finance.The second year will be divided into three sessions. In June and October, professors from FSB will fly down to take classes. The last leg of the course will have students travelling to Tulane for a module that will include ‘live’ trading at the simulated NASDAQ trading room in Tulane’s New Orleans campus for 10 days.

The cost of travel will be included within the Rs 7.5 lakh course fee. The institute will take in 25 students for the course. The students will receive a dual diploma from Globsyn Business School and Tulane University.

Those taking the course can aim at placements in financial analysis and equity rather than in financial marketing and financial products.

Chandreyee Chatterjee