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| Participants at the cultural programme organised as part of the annual prize distribution ceremony at Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School at Kala Mandir recently. Film-maker Goutam Ghose and singer Usha Uthup gave away the prizes. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha |
It was back to school for former Miss India and national swimming champion Nafisa Ali. As the chief guest at the inter-school aquatic meet of La Martiniere for Girls, held on July 31, the 53-year-old took a walk on the campus, looked back on her days as a former student and advised participants on improving their swimming skills.
Principal of the school, Hilda Peacock welcomed her “home” as Ali, who passed out in 1973, turned down the offer of a car and instead walked from the swimming pool in the boys’ campus to the girls’ campus.
The participating schools included Calcutta Girls’ High School, Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta International School, The Heritage School and Ashok Hall Girls’ Higher Secondary School.
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| Nafisa Ali with some of the winners at the inter-school aquatic meet organised by La Martiniere for Girls. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray |
A non-competitive section saw special students from Mentaid and Manovikas Kendra swim backstroke and breaststroke with the help of students.
As she saw the girls dive into the pool, Ali recalled: “As a student I would sit here and wonder when the chief guest would stop speaking and I could go home.”
Ali, who gained recognition for her performance as the British girl Ruth in Shyam Benegal’s 1978 film Junoon, admitted that she was far from the ideal student.
“I loved bunking classes and was sent to the principal almost every day. One of the teachers, Miss Chatterjee, would often ask us if we were up to something. We would reply, ‘nothing.’ To which she would say, ‘nothing comes from nothing’. But the principal, Miss Subaya, was very nice to me,” she recalled.
The competition was not without its high points. Students vied for the gold and silver medals in the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly categories. There were a total of 14 categories.
The freestyle relay was the most popular, with the hosts outsmarting their peers . Some of the other winners in this category were Modern High, Calcutta Girls’ and Ashok Hall.
“The breaststroke swimmers should correct their hand stroke,” advised Ali while giving away the prizes to winners, adding that she would be happy to sponsor a Nafisa champion trophy.
“I have been swimming from Class I and we were always reminded of swimmers like Nafisa Ali to draw inspiration from,” said a senior member of the school team, Nikita Belani.
CHIT CHAT
Child rights & entertainment
Underprivileged children will participate in various programmes at the Bioscope Multiplex in New Town and the Star Theatre in Hatibagan for the next six months. This was announced at a press conference organised by Priya Entertainment and NGO Save the Children, India on July 29.
The two organisations have joined hands for six months to spread awareness about child rights.
Bioscope Multiplex has been hosting plays, campaigns, painting exhibitions, essay-writing contests and film screenings since the beginning of August. The events will continue till December 3.
Besides, slides on child rights awareness and their exploitation is also being shown in between films in the multiplexes.
“Schools like Modern High School, Loreto Day School, Sealdah and Assembly of God Church will also participate in the programmes,” said Manabendranath Ray, the state programme manager of Save the Children, India.
Priya Entertainment is providing the venue for the activities. “Some events will also be held at our venues in Bolpur, Burdwan and Balurghat,” said Chaity Ghosh, the general manager of Priya Entertainments. Actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty was also present for the occasion.
Inter-school debate
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| A participant at the debate |
Laxmipat Singhania Academy organised an inter-school debate on July 14 as part of the birth centenary celebrations of their founder Lala Laxmipat Singhania. Six schools participated in an engaging verbal battle, the topic for which was “Mega sporting events are a boon for developing countries”.
Abhishek Ghosh of DPS, Megacity, speaking for the motion, was judged the best speaker. DPS, Megacity, was also declared the overall winner, followed by La Martiniere for Boys.
Among those who spoke against the motion, Neha Jain of Birla High School (Girls) was declared the best speaker. Each participant spoke for four minutes. Abhishek stressed on how mega sporting events generate jobs and also promote tourism. “The competition was a tough one, as every team was very good,” he said after the event.
