News & Views 2

Old Martinians

Labore et Constantia

They painted their world in a myriad hues. Mentally challenged children participated in a sit-and-draw competition organised by Concern India Foundation at Sri Sri Academy on July 23. Over 100 special children from NGOs — from Mentaid, Pratibandhi Kalyan Kendra, Care and Counselling Centre, Behala Bodhyan and Tomorrow’s Foundation, among others — participated in the event, titled Splash. Splash has been held in other cities, too. This was the first time it was held in Calcutta. “Here, these special kids also get a chance to make friends with children from other institutions,” said Sanchita Ghosh of Concern India. The theme of the event was “Environment” and there was no dearth of sketches depicting trees, houses and flowers. Artist Wasim Kapoor was the judge of the evening, while actress Papiya Adhikari was the chief guest. Sanjeeb Das from Care and Couselling Centre, Riya Haldar from Mentaid, Kaushik Sarkar from Behala Bodhyan and Debaditta Mukherjee were declared the first prize winners in Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D, respectively. In the end, students of the host school staged a skit on preserving nature.Text by Anam Rizvi, picture by Anindya Shankar Ray.

NEWS & VIEWS 2

True to its aim, the seventh round of the quiz focused entirely on income tax. In this round, students and members of the audience learnt that Augustus Caesar had sent out a decree, saying: “All the world should be taxed”, and that James B. Wilson was the father of income tax in India.

Rajib Sanyal of the income tax department was the quizmaster.

In another round, the students were asked to find a link between the pictures of Lord Jagannath and the book covers of Tagore’s Gitanjali, Munshi Premchand’s Godan and a film poster of Satyajit Ray’s Ganadevta. Don Bosco, Liluah got a quick one as they immediately replied that they were all names of trains in India.

After the preliminary rounds, eight schools — La Martiniere for Girls and Boys, St. Xavier’s Institution, Panihati, Don Bosco, Liluah, Income Tax team (two schoolboys picked to represent the income tax department), Springdale High School, Ramakrishna Mission, Baranagar, and St. Thomas for Boys, Kidderpore — reached the finals.

Actor and environmentalist Sabyasachi Chakraborty conducted the audio round of the quiz.

“I have neither the intelligence nor the education of Feluda. Through acting, I try to show how much I know but in reality, I do not know very much at all.… I am feeling nervous here . Those present know much more than I do,” the actor said.

Abhiroop De of Don Bosco, Liluah, was declared the best quizzard. He won a cash prize of Rs 5,000. His team also clinched the winners’ trophy and a cash prize of Rs 20,000. The first runners-up (La Martiniere for Boys) got Rs 15,000 and the second runners-up (St. Thomas for Boys) got Rs 10,000.

Masquerade and more

Students from eight city schools tried to outdo each other in acting and emotive skills at an inter-school one-act play competition held at GD Birla Sabhagar recently. The event, “Masquerade”, was hosted by South Point High School under the aegis of MP Birla Smarak Kosh.

Mentoring workshops were held for the participants prior to the performance. Theatre director-actor Kaushik Sen gave tips on voice modulation, proper usage of space and on how to use innovative

Some of the participants of Masquerade, hosted by South Point High School

Kaushik Sen gave tips on voice modulation, proper usage of space and on how to use innovative props.The judges for the evening were actress Chitra Sen, writer Dipendu Chakraborty and playwright Soumitro Basu. Birla High School for Boys clinched the winners’ trophy, followed by South Point and Don Bosco, Park Circus. Gautam S. Ghosh of South Point was adjudged the best actor, while Heera Akhtar of St. Augustine’s Day School was crowned the best actress. The competition ended on a musical note with South Point’s band, Dakshinbindu, entertaining the

Whose life is it, anyway?

The taxman has a query JHINUK MAZUMDAR