Rolling Trophy at inter school debate

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....

Noam Chomsky.

Keeping the spirit of debate alive among todays youth, a debate was held on 18 July 2018 at Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar. The event was the Sarla Birla Memorial English Critical Thinking Conclave and it witnessed the participation of as many as 12 schools from across the country. Our team comprising Avantika Chodha (12-D), Aatif Husain (12-B) and Shrey Gogia (11-A) participated in the event.

The jury included Mr. Parnab Mukherjee, Mr. Abhishek Pal and Mr. Sehaj Umang Bhatia. The debate followed the conventional multi format pattern wherein teams were given a concept 10 minutes prior to their speaking time and were expected to draft a motion based on the said concept. The first round saw two speakers from each team speaking for and against the motion that they drafted. The Bridge round involved the third speakers from each team to writing down their views on the motion given to them. In the subsequent rounds the third speaker was required to respond to interjections and present a summing-up speech on behalf of his/ her team.

Of the 12 teams that participated, 6 teams qualified for the semi-finals. The topic for the first semi-final was: This house believes that the next century belongs to South Asia. The teams that made it to the first semi-finals were: Bluebells International School, Birla Vidya Niketan and Step By Step (NOIDA). The second semi- final was a contest between the teams of Springdales (Pusa Road), Mayo College for Girls (Ajmer) and The Indian School. The topic on which these schools debated was: This house fails to understand the non-violence of Bhagat Singh.

It was a treat to see the students vehemently and creatively present their defence and handle the oppositions questions skilfully. The high moment came when our Schools name was announced as one of the finalists and we were pitched against Bluebells International School for one last but pressing round! The topic for the final round was: This house needs more Edward Snowdens. The debaters crafted and carried their arguments to their logical conclusions. The speeches delivered in the final round reflected a very robust ability to think and articulate with evidence.

It was an exhilarating moment for us when our team was named the winner of the Rolling Trophy!

Ms. Suhina Roshangar.