Salt Lake Shiksha Niketan, the school that overlooks the beautiful bheris behind Sector V, celebrated its 14th foundation day with a colourful performance by students. Among the audience were Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and MLA Sujit Bose.
“This school was started with the aim of providing education to all and to remove social evils and I’m proud to learn that more than 2,300 students are enrolled here today,” said the governor. “School is one’s second home and it’s good that along with studies, students also engage in outdoor activities here. Previously girls would get discriminated against and deprived of an education but in the 21st century that is no longer the case. Girls and boys now contribute equally to society.”
Students from classes VI to X then presented a cultural programme titled Unity in diversity, in which they showcased folk dances of states. Dressed in colourful costumes, they danced to Tunak tunak tun to represent Punjab and A ra ra for Rajasthan. Other songs brought out the flavours of Assam, Kashmir, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Bengal.
“It was fun dancing to uncommon songs of different languages. We even learnt the lyrics of a few of these songs so we could perform better. I love dancing and always look forward to performing on stage,” said Sumita Nayak of Class IX, who performed tusu, songs sung on the occasion of the tribal harvest festival in Chhotanagpur region. She also received an award for attaining 100 per cent attendance in class.
Shyam Sundar Beriwala, chairman of the school, said that though the governor was slated to leave after one song, he enjoyed the performances enough to stay back and watch almost all the dances.
The cultural programme had been choreographed by Ashique Reheman of the group Dancing Maniac. “We had chosen dance forms that one does not come by easily and rehearsals were tough. While some students were trained dancers, others were naughty. But finally, they did a great job and everyone liked their performances,” smiled Reheman.
Academic achievers
Prizes were distributed among students for year-round performances. Aarohi Gaurisaria of Class X got the first prize in general proficiency for her performance through the year. “This prize is motivating and shall make me work even harder in future. It is all the more special as I received it from our governor. I shall always remember this moment,” Aarohi smiled.
School staffers recalled their journey down the years too. “When I joined this school in 2006 we had only 100 students,” said Usha Subba, principal of the Mahisbathan school. “The approach road was bad, parents were apprehensive about sending their kids this far but we’ve come a long way since then. Now the roads have been repaired and we have around 2,500 students coming from as far away as Sinthi More.”
“When we started this school our mission was to provide proper education to the underprivileged without thinking of profit,” said Biswanath Bhuwalka, secretary, Salt Lake Sanskrit Sansad, that runs the institute. “Now our students are excelling in all fields. We also have Bhagwad Gita classes so they can learn our culture and values.”
