Honour at Inter-School Debate at Sunbeam School, Lahartara

The Inter-School Debate at Sunbeam School, Lahartara was held on 15 and 16 December 2019. Aryan Singh, Divijaa Sahni of class XI-B and Ekveer Sahoo of class VIII-C represented our School at the event.

The event kick started with a heritage tour on the Ganges. The tour was guided by Mr Parnab Mukherjee, guide and curator of the debate. As soon as we settled into the boat, we were introduced to the history of Benaras turning into Varanasi. It was interesting to know how Benaras in its literal form means a particular kind of weave! Throughout the three hours of tour, lots of analogies and metaphors were used to make the discussion lively and enriching. It was explained how the 181 Ghats of the city represented the four life events-starting from birth to occupation (weaving and dyeing) and from marriage to death (Panchkoshi Ghat). We took a tour of around thirty ghats- Assi Ghat, Dashashwamedha Ghat, Mira Ghat, Scindia Ghat, Harishchandra Ghat, Manikarnika Ghat to name a few. The tour of these triggered discussions ranging from the co-existence of modernism and tradition in a single landscape to the harmonious interaction between the Hindus and the Muslims in different forms of architecture.

The last part of the tour was a visit to the Gurudham Mandir, a tantric cave, now taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India for the purpose of restoration. The tour ended with a play enacted by Mr. Gautam, a keen interest seeker in theatre and drama. The play highlighted the issues of gender and poverty through Premchands story Kafan. To wrap up the day, the members of the theatre society of Gargi College, Delhi, performed a play written by a Singaporean playwright emphasising the need for constitutional rights.

The debate event began with the registration procedure. 10 teams from different schools and colleges participated in the event. Four of these teams were from schools in Varanasi, two teams represented colleges in Varanasi and the remaining four teams represented schools from Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

The preliminary round witnessed students expressing their thoughts, skills, and opinions about education, politics and gender relations in the Extempore format, Turn coat and Bridge rounds. The students displayed their knowledge and debating skills on topics like This house believes that success is a cubicle employee stuck in a cube; This house chooses suprastructures over infrastructures and This house believes that marriage is becoming a legal construct, legal contract and a legal bond.

The semi-finals witnessed 4 teams from Lahartara, Bhagwanpur, Kolkata and Pune compete against each other in the parliamentary debating format, followed by interjections from the audience. The motions were based on education and the political activeness of citizens.

The motions for the semi-finals were This house chooses oral and not written medium as the primary and secondary pillar of education and This house believes that the majority of the Indian subcontinent chooses strategic silence over active protests.

The finale was held between the host school and its sister branch, Sunbeam Bhagwanpur. The topic for the debate was This house believes that embedded patriarchy trickles down from myth to current times ranging from Shroopnakha to Asifa. After a round of fiery and stimulating arguments, Sunbeam Bhagwanpur emerged as proud winners of the event. Our Aryan Singh of class XI-B won the Best Speaker (Interjector) award.

The debate was an enriching experience for the participants.