Honours at inter-school debate

Lotus Valley International School, Noida conducted Battle of Words, an inter-school debate In English, on 14 May, 2018. The competition had the participation of more than 15 schools of Delhi-NCR. Shrey Gogia (XI-A), Gauri Awasthi (XI-A) and Aryan Singh (X-D) were the participants from our School.

The debate was adjudged by Ms. Shatarupa Sen, author and Mr. Ajit Panicker, author and motivational speaker. Ms. Sen worked as a teacher at a school before wielding her pen to write books like Padmavati, Dangle and others. Mr. Ajit Panicker is an internationally certified master trainer-facilitator who can create immense value for his audience by employing experiential learning methods and tools at his workshops. He is an inspirational speaker and a life coach who lives his profession every moment. His motivational workshops are live wire sessions to attend, so to say.

The competition started with the participants pleading one of the following two topics Peasants or Soldiers-What is Indias need of the hour? and Should we get rid of the shackles of the past to charge towards a brighter future? This was followed by interjections by students of the participating schools.

Shrey Gogia spoke for the motion Should we get rid of the shackles of the past to charge towards a brighter future? and Aryan Singh expressed his views against the motion. Gauri Awasthi was Interjector.

Shrey pointed out that India is still following the old penal code, which contains several sections constraining the rights of the LGBTQ community. It questioned the events of the past and present leading to hatred amongst communities. He also mentioned the limitations on the actions of the liberals, by the conservationists, who are bound by the shackles of the past. Aryan contradicted the aforementioned points by citing examples of several sections of the Indian Penal Code incorporated through amendments. He pleaded for the removal of conservationists because they limit the scope of liberal thought. Gauri posed questions to the speakers of both the opposition and the proposition of the opponent- teams, questioning the legitimacy of the facts presented by them and the contradictions they carried.

The questions posed by Gauri were: 1) The ancient texts of India, like that of the Mahabharata depict transgenders as glorified and revered persons. For example, Shikhandi and Brihannala. Considering the wide-scale attacks on homosexuality in present times , should we not get inspired from such texts of the past in the path to a brighter future?

2)The Manu Smriti has texts supporting the harassment of wives by their husbands. How can you justify your stance which states that one shouldn't get rid of the shackles of the past!

The judges were indeed very impressed with the questions posed by Gauri and named her Best Interjector. Shrey and Aryan were commended for their speeches.

Aryan Singh, X-D