When Aditya Kedia and Diya Tantiya of Class VIII stepped up to the edge of the stage to touch the school flag and take oath of office as head boy and head girl on behalf of all their peers standing in a semicircle behind them, the moment got etched in their memories forever. It was The Newtown School’s first foundation day and the investiture ceremony for the first students’ council was taking place on the occasion.

Facing them was an auditorium full of guardians, including their own families, governing body members and guests. At the far end of the stage, principal Satabdi Bhattacharjee was reading out the pledge for them to repeat.

“I never felt so nervous and scared in my life. It was not stage fright. Such is the weight of the responsibility bestowed on us that I was worried about letting my teachers and friends down,” said Diya. “Actually, every moment in school seems different ever since I have been informed that I have been chosen the head girl,” she added, with a beaming smile. The teenager from Kaikhali was delighted to be following in the footsteps of her elder sister who was a prefect at Sushila Birla High School. “Now there are two of us in the family,” she said, fondly glancing at the bright orange sash wrapped over her shoulder. 

All 20 members chosen for induction in the council — the youngest and cutest of them belonging to Class II — had been thus anointed with sash and badge a while ago by the principal and the chief guest Abhinav Chandra, additional secretary, labour department. 

Chandra urged students not to join the rat race to be the best in studies. “To reach a consumer base of five million, radio took 34 years, colour TV took 11 years, internet took four and half years, Facebook took four years and now ebay has taken just two years. E-commerce is now the single largest employer in the country. Technology is changing so fast that the job that you are being trained for may not exist by the time you pass out,” he said. The message, interpreted by most students and teachers as a signal not to take studies seriously, left the former amused and the latter bemused.

The architect of the school Abin Chaudhuri was one of the guests who handed over the prizes. “A school depends not just on infrastructure but on the quality of the teachers and students. This is the seventh school I have designed. The experience was pleasant as all my ideas were accepted by the authorities,” said Chaudhuri, whose son Turya studies in Class IV of the school.

Parthasarathi Ghosh, the curator of Eco Tourism Park, and Sujata Mitra, a teacher at Basanti Devi College, also took turns in doing the honours alongside Sunil Agarwal and Sanjay Khemka, the founder-directors.

The students also put up a dance item, choreographed by Rupa Das.

After the investiture ceremony got over, the head boy and girl got to work immediately, keeping an eye on students who were coming out of the auditorium. “This is the toughest part of the job. Friends don’t take us seriously when we try to discipline them,” grimaced Aditya, who had to clear a written test and an interview to become head boy.

Aditya was not alone in his predicament. Junior school prefect Saurya Tripathi was facing the same problem. The Class V student might be having his mother Smaranika as the school counsellor but he sure seemed in need of counsel about dealing with “friends who don’t listen” to him.

A paper she presented on astronomy earned Jyotsna Bhageria the literary captain’s badge. “I have to handle events connected to literature and represent the school in cultural  events,” she underlined her duties solemnly.

Vaibhav Chirania was a natural choice as sports captain, being adept at four sports, including roller hockey. “I learnt it all in my earlier boarding school in Mussoorie.” Vice-captain Aryan Sharma turns out for a Salt Lake coaching camp in the under-14 tournaments of Cricket Association of Bengal.

Those who take classical dancing to be more of a girls’ thing need to meet Devarshi Mallick, the school’s cultural captain.
The Class VIII boy from GC Block has learnt Bharatanatyam for eight years and Bihu for six years. “I also attended an Odissi camp for two months,” he says. “I am not a good dancer yet. I sing well, though I am not trained,” admitted his deputy Om Sharma, clearly impressed by his senior’s credentials.