22ND DR AMIDAS GORADIA INTERNATIONAL INTER SCHOOL DEBATE IN ENGLISH

You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.

The Indian School hosted the 22nd edition of the Dr Amidas Goradia International Inter School Debate in English on 22 and 23 August 2023 via the Zoom Pro platform.

The prestigious debate saw the participation of six nations, two union territories and 7 states.

A formidable 42 prominent schools from diverse geographies covering all regions north, south, east and west, made their presence felt at the coveted school debating contest. This year, the event welcomed new schools from Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kuwait and Muscat.

Over the years, the educational philosophy of edutainment has been woven intrinsically into the teaching fabric at The Indian School. Undoubtedly, its flagship debate is dedicated to the memory of Indias first allopathic doctor, Dr Amidas Goradia, illustrious ancestor of School Chairman, Mr Prafull Goradia.

This years debate was dedicated to the following landmark commemorations: Centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha and the 125th birth commemoration of Bertolt Brecht; 170th birth commemoration of Vincent Van Gogh and 110th birth commemoration of Amrita Shergill; the birth centenary of Gour Kishore Ghosh, and the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.

The dignitaries present on the memorable occasion included School Chairman, Mr Prafull Goradia, Vice-Chairperson, Dr (Ms) Nayana Goradia and Ms Brinda Shroff, Chairperson of the School Management Committee.

Principal, Ms Tania Joshi, warmly welcomed the participating schools and appreciated their role in helping the debate grow over the years. She announced that being host, The Indian School would not compete for the rolling trophy but would offer worthy competition in the individual categories to participating debaters!

Chief Guest, Professor (Dr) Bijayalaxmi Nanda, Principal of Miranda House, shared a congratulatory note with the virtual gathering lauding the Schools efforts at providing an ignited forum for young minds to promote the cut and thrust of debating.

Mr Parnab Mukherjee, leading alternative theatre person, visual art curator, spoken word artist, and campus public speaking expert, moderated the debate with elan.

The debate was co-judged by the eminent documentary filmmaker and video installation artist, Mr Umang Singh Sehaj, eminent playwright, Mr Partha Banerjee, and Mr Abhishek Pal, independent writer.

The multi-module debate commenced with preliminary rounds of extempore, turncoat and bridge.

The extempore provided a forum for the well-informed participants to speak their minds on diverse topics like crossing the myriad rainbows, seriously and literally funny, But, specifics, to deeper dive or not to, left for somewhere but never really arrived anywhere, in-between the two brackets, etcetera.

The well-read participants convincingly put forth their arguments on the chosen topic. Ekveer Sahoo of class XII A represented The Indian School effectively in this round.

The topics for the turncoat debate covered a diverse range of contemporary issues like This house supports rainbow capitalism, THBT that the word modern is an oxymoron, This house believes that UN, EU and African Union should officially and legally recognise Taiwan should with immediate effect, etcetera.

In the Turncoat round, participants were required to put forth convincing arguments in favour of, as well as against the motion. Indianite, Manan Kakkar of class XII A adroitly constructed the motion This house knows that its only a matter of time when big corporations will weaponize big data.

Each round saw the participants express, articulate and accentuate their lines of thought and perspectives with conviction, confidence and flourish.

For the Bridge round, the topic was This house believes that the appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust. Indianite, Sejal Gupta of class XII A convincingly interpreted the motion. Twenty minutes were accorded to this written segment of the debate, post which the participants mailed their PDFs to the host school.

The dialectics on Day 1 culminated on a note of anticipation with all teams looking forward to the announcement of the results the next day, with bated breath.

On Day 2, Mr Parnab Mukherjee declared the teams who had been successful in booking a berth in the much-anticipated final round. He edified the teams that could not book a place in the semi-finals. He elaborated on the finer nuances of debating where he asked the debaters to work on facts and counter facts, selecting the right words, referring to historical dates and years in their speeches to create a certain image in the mind of the audience. He also highlighted the fact that public speaking is all about presence as it defines the speaker. It lies in the structure, anecdotes, and how he or she engages the audience by picking up examples from their surroundings.

The qualifying teams in the first semi-final included The Indian School (F), Sunbeam School, Lahartara (F), Wycherley International School, Colombo (F), Vasant Valley School (A) and Singapore International School, Mumbai (A).

The second semi-final round witnessed a battle of words between DAV Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati School, Kathmandu (F), Sanskriti School (F), Sunbeam English School, Bhagwanpur (A), Mayo College Girls School, Ajmer (A) and Invictus International School, Amritsar (A).

The semi-finalist teams engaged in a fiery display of arguments in the two rounds on the proposed motions: This house believes that directors of multi-national companies should be personally liable for environmental abuses committed by their companies in the developing world and THBT developing nations should place limits on internal urban migration.

In the war of words among students, all sides stood triumphant. It was a perfect canvas for imagination among the prolific participants which saw four teams emerge victorious: The Indian School (F), DAV Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati School, Kathmandu (F), Mayo College Girls School, Ajmer (A), Wycherley International School Colombo (A) to hotly debate the motion: THBT the world is presently facing a clash of civilizations.

The exciting final round was divided into two parts again a debate (proposition and opposition) and a block-tackle round.

The specific topic for the proposition and opposition round was This house believes that the world is presently facing a clash of civilizations.

The key participants, armed with reliable statistics and accurate data undoubtedly made their arguments more emphatic with their righteous facial expressions and voice modulation. They typically exhibited great oratory skills. They invariably spoke for and against the apparent motion and debated enthusiastically. Their passionate arguments transcended the virtual platform to captivate their online audience.

The Block and Tackle round was an exercise in flustering and tormenting the ebullient speakers. They fiercely and seamlessly presented their motion by switching to the annunciation of block and tackle by the skilled moderator.

The extraordinary session was naturally a kaleidoscope of expressed opinions, independent thoughts, brilliant ideas and unique perspectives that enhanced the content knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the specific topics intentionally given. The notable highlight of the event was the question-answer round with a volley of questions and counter questions aptly answered by witty and vivacious speakers.

At the imminent end of the fascinating debate, Wycherley International School, Sri Lanka, won the coveted Best Delegation (Overall) and The Indian School debating team comprising Manan Kakkar (12 A), Ekveer Sahoo (12 A), and Sejal Gupta (12 A) won the First Runners-up trophy, but being hosts, they declined, and it rolled over to the team from Mayo Girls College, Ajmer.

Manan Kakkar was declared Best Speaker and Sejal Gupta, Best Speech Writer.

Ashwini Prakash (9 C), Manya Arora (12 C), Vansh Sharma (9 C), and Dhairya Bist (10 C) successfully compered the proceedings.

As he announced the winners, Mr Parnab Mukherjee, appreciated the efforts of The Indian School to keep advancing the spirit of debate for a glorious 22 years.

The glorious two-day festival of words naturally concluded on a joyous note with the promise to converge and dazzle, next year too.

THE OUTSTANDING RESULTS