Rotary Sadan: Shreya Maity rehearsed several times every day to perfect the intonations of a hawker's call. The Class XI girl got her reward on Friday when her recitation won hearts at an inter-school cultural competition in Bengali.

The BE College Model School student, like the other participants, was happy to get a platform to showcase her talent. Maitree 2018, presented by the Rotary Club of Calcutta, is a fest with a difference as it seeks to create a platform for students of Bengali-medium schools.

"When we began, only three or four schools would take part but this year there were 16 schools, four more than last year. More schools are keen to join," said professor Krishna Sen, the former director of Rotary Club of Calcutta, who is the force behind this fest started in the Nineties.

Shreya chose her favourite poem Keda banaibo Rajhongsher mukh by Somnath Sarkar for the recitation competition and impressed the judges with her intonation. "I would practise three or four times every day. I had to mimic the voice of a pheriwala (hawker) in a local dialect and that needed some practice. But such opportunities help one shed inhibitions," she said.

Fellow contestant Debjita Ghosh of Tarasundari Balika Vidyabhavan recited Basanti by Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Students of classes IX to XII of such schools as Paddapukur Institution, Hindu School, Santragachi Kedarnath Institution and Jadavpur Vidyapith and Howrah Ramkrishna Adarsha Balika Vidyalaya took part in recitation, extempore and quiz - all in vernacular languages.

For the extempore competition, the students were shown an image on the screen for 10 seconds and asked to speak on the topic.

From the image of a tiger that made a student talk about poaching to how rice is extracted from paddy or Netaji and the freedom struggle - the speeches reflected knowledge and confidence.

The fest was inaugurated by Heena Gorsia, the present president of Rotary Club of Calcutta, and professor Bharati Ray.