Stage of superheroes

Superheroes without the blue cape descended on the Science City stage at The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2015, presented by Adamas University in association with Parle-G, on Saturday morning. More than 80 of them, from across Bengal, shared the spotlight while over 2,500 students cheered them on at the 20th edition of the awards.

“The Telegraph School Awards is a marvellous thing because over the years it has inspired children and also found out the most obscure people in some faraway village that nobody knows about but who have been working quietly,” said Sister Cyril, who was one of the early entrants into The Telegraph Education Foundation Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame 

Rita Sengupta is a founder member of Prerna Educational Centre, a project of North Bengal Council for the Disabled. The council was started 25 years ago by, among others, her husband Captain Jayanta Sengupta after he lost his vision at war. She was inducted into The Telegraph Education Foundation Hall of Fame by Sukanta Chaudhuri. “A teacher and a mother cannot choose her children. A teacher has to equip and train herself to be able to understand her children,” said Sengupta, who works for children with disabilities.

Prescription for courage

Saira Banu would help her father roll bidis in a village in Murshidabad and yet she secured a rank of 238 in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination. The first year student of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital received The Dr Amiya Kumar Bose Memorial Award, instituted this year by his daughter Geetasri Mukherjee. 

MA at 82 

Pabitra Kumar Ray completed his Master’s in English at the age of 82, fighting cancer and odds along the way. The retired foreman received a special honour and handed over The Award for Excellence in Academics (West Bengal Board) to South Point. “My achievement is nothing compared to what most of these young boys and girls are doing,” said the octogenarian from Uttarpara.

Caring school

Howrah South Point Vidyalaya, Baksara, does not charge any tuition fee and the parents pay a token amount annually. And anytime is admission time here, from January to December… no wonder Howrah South Point won The Addlife Caring Minds Award for A School That Cares, from Minu Budhia.

Little big man

Syed Asim Wazi suffers from mucopoly-saccharidosis that has stunted his growth. He is not even 3ft tall but that has not stunted his spirit. “It’s very nice to receive an award and be applauded. I love school and making friends was never a problem. Nobody made me feel left out,” said the Class XI student of Apeejay School Park Street. Syed received The Surrendra Paul Memorial Award for Courage from another courageous person Parvati Jana, who was born without arms and whose parents had initially tried to starve her to death. But Parvati went on to excel and win awards for making jute and straw craft with her two feet. She won a special honour at the Awards.

Keep calm and study on

Uttara Mallick, the niece of Chuni Kotal, the first Lodha woman graduate in India, received a special honour for her struggle to complete her education despite poverty. “After my mashi (Chuni), who was my inspiration, committed suicide I had stopped studying. Finally I took it up again… and completed my higher secondary and then graduation,” said the lady from West Midnapore who runs an NGO and is “trying to fulfil my aunt’s dream of educating our community”. She gave away The Award for Excellence in Academics (CBSE) to Birla High School and Hemsheela Model School, Durgapur. 

From special to brilliant

Apurba and Sanjukta Ray were previously known as parents of a “special child” in the neighbourhood, which has now changed to “parents of a brilliant child”. Aritra, who has cerebral palsy, passed Madhyamik ‘15 with 86 per cent from Siliguri Boys’ High School. He received The Surrendra Paul Memorial Award for Courage and won his parents The Abhirup Bhadra Memorial “Thank You Baba-Ma” Award. “When we discovered Aritra had cerebral palsy we decided to concentrate whole-heartedly on him. My wife left her job and trained as a special educator,” said father Apurba Ray, a banker.

Twin talents

Raghav Daryanani (left) has represented and won accolades for St. James’ School in public speaking and Model United Nations, but felt humbled by the feats of several other students who took the Science City stage. “I was overwhelmed by their achievements,” said the first-year student of St. Xavier’s College who shared The Balrampur Chini Mills Award for Outstanding Talent with Arkaprava Karmakar, a Class XII student of St. Xavier’s Institution, Panihati, and a painter. The Jamini Roy fan first won an international award when he was in Class V and has gone on to win many national awards.

Take a break? No way

Arna Mondal, Class III student of Calcutta Public School, Kalikapur, was diagnosed with Lymphoblastic lymphoma a few days after her seventh birthday. “After eight months of intensive treatment we thought we would let her take the year off. But Arna insisted on not dropping a year and studying,” recalled her father Biswajit Mondal, a shopkeeper. Arna received The Surrendra Paul Memorial Award for Courage and then told her father that she wanted to “do better” and “work harder”.

Dada’s teacher

The Dr Mrs N.B. O’Brien Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award went to Ashok Samajpati of St Xavier’s Collegiate School, often referred to as “Sourav Ganguly’s teacher”.  Samajpati joined the school in 1970 in the Sanskrit department and retired from the Bengali department in 2005. But it was while accompanying students to cricket tournaments that the Sourav connect happened. “I had a role in his grooming and I would escort him to the playgrounds. We are still in touch,” said the schoolteacher, who dedicated the award to his late wife Chhaya.

No to marriage, yes to school  

Kalyani Chakraborty of Panchiram Nahata High School had escaped from her family and impending marriage to continue her studies and pass her HS ’15 with 72 per cent. “I am very nervous today. This is the first time I have received any recognition,” said the gutsy 19-year-old after receiving The Kalipada Chakroborty & Nimai Krishna Halder Memorial Scholarship from braveheart Shubham Kumar, the 17-year-old who lost two arms and his right leg to an accident.

Dumped in train, now on fast track

Koyel Debnath landed up in Anubhab Homes of Jalpaiguri as a three-year-old after being rescued from a railway station in North Bengal. Her father had dumped her in a train toilet, bolted the door from outside and fled, to get rid of the girl child. Today, the Class VI student of Suniti Bala Sadar Girls’ High School, Jalpaiguri, is a singer and a dancer and has scored 80 per cent marks in her last examination. “I am feeling very happy today…. I love dancing and singing and I want to become a singer,” said the Arijit Singh fan after receiving The Indu Basu & Pritish Chandra Basu Memorial Scholarship from Shubham Kumar.

To Ma’am, with love 

Sister Ursula Darcy of Loreto House, who was the principal in the ’80s, was one of the recipients of The Honour for an Educationist. “I don’t deserve this,” said the 78-year-old who arrived in India from Ireland in 1957, even as her ex-students flocked around her. “This award ceremony motivates students and brings to the fore not just city schools and students but also those from far and beyond that many would not have otherwise known,” said Mallika Roy (right), director of Adamas International School, accompanied on stage by principal Mittra Sinha Roy.

 

Chandreyee Ghose, Jhinuk Mazumdar and Samabrita Sen
Pictures: Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Arnab Mondal