The finals of Western Band, and Fashion Show (above) of Sona Chandi The Great TTIS Challenge at Swabhumi on December 17. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

If only I could fly down to receive the trophy,? Navojit Mukherjee said wistfully. It was his teacher who had called him up from Swabhumi, late in the evening of December 17, to tell him that he was the Champion of Champions at Sona Chandi The Great TTIS Challenge.

When the award was announced, most in the audience mistook an exhilarated youngster, screaming and jumping for joy on the dais, for Navojit. ?No, no, I am not Navojit. But we are very proud to accept the award on his behalf,? smiled Sourav Bhanja, the middle-school English teacher, at Methodist School, Dankuni.

?I was participating in my school?s annual day function when I got the news. I was ecstatic,? said the Class XI student. Winning the top spot was not exactly a cakewalk for this all-rounder. He had to slog it out, right from the prelims in early December to the finals of War of RJs, Turncoat, Ad Spoof and Antakshari.

So, what exactly does it take to top a list of over 2,000 participants in the biggest school fest-cum-carnival in the city? ?I am a regular at debates and musical programmes at school. One has to keep trying out different things. Success is sure to come, some day or the other,? pointed out the Tom Cruise and Shah Rukh Khan fan.

 

Other Champions

Asif Khan, Lycee
Alakananda, St Augustine?s, Shyamnagar
Sebanti, South Point
Sayan Chaudhuri, Methodist School, Dankuni
Somrita Ganguly, Calcutta Girls?
Namrata Chaturvedi, Mahadevi Birla Girls?
Rivika Saha, Mahadevi Birla Girls?
Soumyajit Majumdar, South Point
Hindol Bhattacharya, South Point
Diptangshu Dutta, Sunrise
Vishesh Kothari, St James?
Suvayun Chanda, Methodist School, Dankuni

Champion Schools

1st: Calcutta Girls?
2nd: Don Bosco, Park Circus

 

Navojit Mukherjee: The champ. Picture by Aranya Sen

Street Play

1st: St Augustine?s Day, Shyamnagar
2nd: South Point
3rd: Mahadevi Birla Girls?

 

Flower Arrangement

1st: Sneha Das, Methodist School, Dankuni
2nd: Aishani Roy, The Future Foundation
3rd: Aakansha Shroff, Calcutta Girls?

 

Tug of War

(Girls) 1st: Calcutta Girls?
2nd: Mahadevi Birla Girls?
3rd: Loreto, Entally

(Boys) 1st: Bholananda National Vidyalaya
2nd: Don Bosco, Park Circus
3rd: St Augustine?s Day, Shyamnagar

 

Antakshari

1st: Methodist School
2nd: Mahadevi Birla Girls?
3rd: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

 

Sudoku

(Junior) 1st: Megha Nangia, Loreto, Entally
2nd: Hardik Sheth, Vidyanjali
3rd: Varsha Agarwal, Rajasthan Vidya Mandir

(Senior) 1st: Kathrina Banerjee, Loreto, Bowbazar
2nd: Ashish Jain, Frank Anthony
3rd: Somak Ray, Hariyana Vidya Mandir

 

Cartoon Drawing

1st: Krishna Nath, BD Memorial
2nd: Abhirup Basu, Don Bosco, Park Circus
3rd: Smriti Agrachari, Calcutta Girls?

 

Unconventional Instrument

1st: Lycee
2nd: Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ballygunge
3rd: Sunrise English Medium

 

Fusion Dance

1st: St Augustine?s Day, Shyamnagar
2nd: Loreto, Entally
3rd: Delhi Public School, New Town

 

Fashion Show

1st: South Point
2nd: Methodist School, Dankuni
3rd: Julien Day School, Elgin Road

 

Western Band

1st: St James?
2nd: Don Bosco, Park Circus
3rd: AG Church, Park Street

right Remix

Fancy moves and small-screen stars came together at Xavotsav. The three-day St Xavier’s College fest culminated with a performance by the cast members of Star One’s serial Remix (picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya), which had the crowd screaming for more. Xavotsav had 30 colleges from all over the country participating, and creative madness was at its peak. The events that drew the most cheers were Footloose, the western music competition and western dance. Beyond Barriers, which is on Friday, promises to be a fitting end to the festivities.

Beyond Barriers, the annual musical extravaganza organised by St Xavier?s College Calcutta Alumni Association (SXCCAA), in association with The Telegraph, is all set to bring alive the St Xavier?s college grounds on December 23. The event will see Bollywood big names Vasundhara Das and Kunal Ganjawala regaling an expected crowd of 15,000.

Beyond Barriers, which brings the curtains down on the St Xavier?s College fest, Xavotsav, also has a specific mission. All proceeds from the programme will go towards the St Xavier?s second campus, which is coming up off EM Bypass. ?Beyond Barriers has played a significant role in raising funds for our new, state-of-the-art campus. The funds that the previous shows had generated is proof of the solidarity amongst Xaverians the world over,? said Father P.C. Mathew, president of SXCCAA.

The alumni association has roped in Xaverian Sourav Ganguly to unveil the plans for the second campus. ?The support we have been receiving for this initiative has been enormous. People from all over the globe have come down or have extended their support to us in myriad ways,? said Imran Zaki Siddiqui, secretary, SXCCAA. The programme will also see local talents Shayne Hyrapiet and Tritha Sinha belting out some popular tracks.

Over the years, Beyond Barriers has been one of Calcutta?s prominent cultural programmes, besides espousing a number of humanitarian causes. Some of the biggest acts in the country have come down to the city and strutted their stuff on stage ? Strings, Colonial Cousins and even Hari Prasad Chaurasia, just to name a few. The seventh chapter of the programme promises not to disappoint. ?There has been even more interest this year, because of the proposed second campus on the Bypass. We are expecting a huge turnout,? remarked Siddiqui.

With the right mix of past and future, Beyond Barriers 2005 is all set to be a runaway success.

Biswarup Gooptu