THE INTER-HOUSE QUIZ COMPETITION

The Anthonian Inter-House Quiz competition held on 19^th July, 2013, was perhaps the most challenging contest held so far as it put to test the general knowledge of the Anthonians on various topics of current affairs, sports, films, music, etc. There was a neck to neck fight between the four houses – Griffin House (Red), Phoenix House (Blue), Dragon House (Yellow) and Unicorn House (Green). Although leading the scoreboard till the penultimate round was the Unicorn House, the last breath-taking Rapid Fire Round worked in favour of the Phoenix House taking them to the finishing line first. The standings are as follows:

1. Phoenix House comprising Md. Hanif Ahmed, Md. Asif, Waquar Mehdi and Pradipta Dey.

2. Unicorn House comprising Sarbartha Chakraborty, Faisal Ali, Hadi Buksh and Pabitra Sarkar.

3. Griffin House comprising Abhisekh Ojha, Labeeb Faeeq, Asshar Raza and Naish Haq Amin.

This event was hosted under the banner of the Anthonian Literary Club. The senior section quiz, comprising the students of classes VIII to X, was conducted by Mr. Steve Menezes. He was assisted by the school captain, Tabish Raza, the school vice-captain Adil Ahmed and the Anthonian volunteers. The junior section quiz, comprising of the students of classes V to VII, was no less challenging. This quiz was conducted by Mrs. Kanchan Jaiswal. This session witnessed some wonderful quizzing by the junior boys, who are sure to earn glory for our school in the future. The standings were as follows:

1. Griffin House comprising Farhan Farhim, Arbaz Ahmed, Pravind Thakur, Faiz Akram.

2. Dragon House comprising Md. Asif, Md. Wazib Sadik, Shoaib Ali Mullick and Ejaz Ahmed.

3. Unicorn House comprising Md. Kaif Ansari, Rashid Asghar, Sk. Sohel and Aquil Md. Sarwatul Hasan. 

THE LITERARY CLUB ASSEMBLY - THE POWER OF SPOKEN WORDS

On the 5^th of August, The Anthonian Literary Club conducted a general assembly in the morning. The topic of the assembly was “The Power of Spoken Words.” Words are the building blocks of any literary work and the Literary Club thought it appropriate to focus on them in order to explicate the power words, especially spoken words, have.

The power of words can move us to tears, evoke absolute joy or lead us into action. There are words of encouragement, of sympathy, of love and of admiration. The right words can give us strength, define our faith, and give flight to things that live in our imagination. Words can inspire us, cut us, and even bring us back to life. They can comfort us in our time of need. Words can also nourish our soul. But we need to be careful with our words. Once they are said, they can be only forgiven not forgotten. According to Jodi Picoult, “Words are like eggs dropped from great heights; you can no more call them back, than ignore the mess they leave when they fall.” In our words we create our own weaknesses and strengths. Words can embrace us or strangle us.

The student members of the Literary Club spoke on how words have a tremendous impact on us. Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or evil. The basic tool for the manipulation of truth is the manipulation of words. If one can control the meaning of words, one can control the people who use those words. Blessings or curses can be spoken with just a few mere words. Whether we realize it or not, words affect the children’s future tremendously. We need to speak loving words of approval and acceptance, words that encourage, inspire, and motivate the young people. When we do that, we speak blessings into their lives.

The moment we speak something, we give birth to it. Words are similar to seeds as they are planted in our subconscious minds. They take root, grow, and produce fruit of the same kind. Whether positive or negative, when words are spoken they bear consequences. We will reap exactly what we sow and that is why we need to be extremely careful of what is said. 

MAIDEN EVENT OF THE SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - ORATIO 2013

The first Inter School event to commemorate the 150^th year of the foundation of St. Anthony’s High School was held in the new annex building of the school with twenty schools participating in an overwhelming contest. The elocution contest, that was christened Oratio last year, was the first in a series of inter- school competitions to mark the Sesquicentennial Anniversary celebrations of the school. The topic for the contest was “Conserving our Heritage is as Important as Building our Future”. The conference hall was temporarily converted into an auditorium to facilitate the hosting of the contest. Girls and boys from St. James School, Don Bosco School, Calcutta Boys’ School, Frank Anthony Public School, St. Augustine’s Day School, Birla High School, Loreto Day Schools, Entally, Dharamtalla and Eliot Road, Ling Liang School, Saifee Hall Public School, St. Thomas Day School, St. Mary’s School, St. Aloysius Day School, Meghmala Roy Education Centre, South City International School and Chowringhee High School in addition to the host school participated in the three hour long competition.  Apart from the contestants and Anthonians, a large number of teachers and students from participating schools comprised the audience. H. E. Mr. Sanjay Wadvani, OBE, British Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The judges for the contest were Prof. Tapati Gupta , former Head of the Department of English at Calcutta University and prolific writer and critic, Prof. Sobha Chattopadhyay, the former Head of the Department of English at Jadavpur University, and Dr. Sheila Niyogi,  Associate Professor in the Department of English at Jogmaya Devi College. Mr. Murli Punjabi, an ex-student and benefactor of the school, sponsored the event.

  

THE CHIEF GUEST WITH THE HEADMASTER AND THE SPONSOR

The program was begun on a solemn note with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the Headmaster, Fr.  

Devraj Fernandes, the Chief Guest, the judges and the sponsor. The Chief Guest, Mr. Wadvani eloquently addressed the audience and the participants in particular about the difficulty posed by public speaking, but at the same time emphasized the importance it holds in today’s world. The Headmaster encouraged all the participants and impressed every one of the young speakers of the importance of participating rather than considering victories and losses. The students passionately spoke about the balance between the need to conserve our heritage while maintaining sustained development for the future. It was very heartening to hear so many young people taking the dais to speak vehemently on conserving the glorious past of our country and doing all we can to keep its traditions and culture intact. The maturity displayed by the speakers belied the tenderness of their age. In the final analysis it was difficult to make a judgment to determine the best speakers.

THE JUDGES

Before announcing the winners Mr. Murli Punjabi expressed his pleasure at hearing the young orations speak so eloquently on a topic of such gravity. He congratulated the speakers as well as the school authorities for organizing such a wonderful contest. 

THE WINNERS

The first prize was awarded to Ujaan Ganguly of St. James’ School. The second and third places went to Oishik Bandhopadhyay of Calcutta Boys School and Sparsh Agarwal of Don Bosco School, Park Circus respectively.  The Championship Trophy was lifted by St. James School. All the participating schools were thanked for their role in making the contest a success and were also invited to participate in the next Inter- School contest, The Groove, in June. The programme was concluded with the school anthem.

THE ANTHONIAN SPELLING BEE

The second Anthonian Spelling Bee contest was held on 5^th April 2013 at the School Hall. The Inter- House contest was organized by the Anthonian Literary Club and conducted by Mr. Steve Menezes. The program was attended by the Headmaster, Fr. Devraj Fernandes along with other senior teachers and students from classes 8 to 10. Several rounds of spelling were held before the final four were determined.

The winners in order of rank were:-

1^st- Pradipta Dey (10A) Blue House

2^nd- Kushal Kumar Manna (9B) Yellow House

3^rd –Md. Muzzamil (10B) Yellow House

INTER-HOUSE ELOCUTION CONTEST

The Anthonian Literary Club’s first event this year, the Inter-House Elocution Contest took place on 8^th February, 2013. There were two categories: one category comprised students of Classes 5 to 7, who had the topic “Man is the Architect of his Own Fate” to speak on and the other category comprised students of Classes 8 to 10, who spoke on the topic “Peaceful Coexistence”. Two students from each house participated in each category. The judges of the contest were Ms. Ria Saha, Mr. Shon Anderson and Dr. Amit Shankar Saha.

THE WINNERS (in order of ranking according to the Judges’ markings)

CLASSES 5 TO 7

1.      FARHAN FAHIM (Red House)

2.      MD. ASIF (Yellow House)

3.      ARBAZ AHMED (Red House)

4.      AQUIL MD. SARWATUL (Green House)

5.      NEERAJ KUMAR SHAW (Blue House)

6.      MD. ASIF RAZA KHAN (Blue House)

7.      MD. WAZIB SADIK (Yellow House)

8.      RASHID ASGAR (Green House)

CLASSES 8 TO 10

1.      PRADIPTA DEY (Blue House)

2.      LABEEB FAAEQ (Red House)

3.      MD. AQUILUZZAMAN (Red House)

4.      MD. SAQUIB MOBEEN (Yellow House)

5.      PABITRA SARKAR (Green House)

5.   HANIF AHMED (Blue House)

6.      AASHIQUE AHMED (Yellow House)

7. SK. HAIDER ALI MOLLAH (Green House)

 JUDGES

Ms. Ria Saha

A second year English Honours student at Maulana Azad College, Ria has always been a bright pupil ever since her schooling days at Pratt Memorial School, Kolkata. She has participated in dramatics and dance at school level and is an avid fan of Hindi Cinema.

Dr. Amit Shankar Saha

Amit is an ex-student of this school and has completed his doctorate in English from Calcutta University. He is currently a Guest Lecturer of English at PG level in the Institute of Advanced Studies, Kolkata. 

Mr. Shon Anderson

Shon is music teacher at St. Mary’s School, Kolkata, and a musician of no small accomplishment. He is an active worker for all good causes and plays for musical shows in the city.

THE KOLKATA LITERARY MEET 2013

The second edition of the Kolkata Literary Meet or KaLaM, as the acronym goes, was held from 30th January 2013 to 3rd February 2013 by the sidelines of the Kolkata Book Fair. Inaugurated by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Amitav Ghosh, the meet was bigger and better than the inaugural year’s event. Primarily it was so because the literary event has managed to grab a place for itself in the minds of readers and writers as evident from the participation of a plethora of writers from around the globe. Decisively it was so because, unlike the previous year, the event did not require prior audience registration. Thereby most of the sessions saw good attendance by enthusiasts and book lovers.

Sukanta Chaudhuri and Amitav Ghosh

Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak and Chinmoy Guha

No doubt the quality of the writers like Samaresh Majumdar, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Pico Iyer, Bharati Mukherjee, Javed Akhtar, Ali Sethi, Jeet Thayil, Ahdaf Soueif, Shashi Tharoor, Kunal Basu, Farah Ghuznavi, Sugata Bose and the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen was a great attraction. The last literary session of the event was by none other than Thomas Keneally, the Booker Prize winner for Schindler’s Ark. The range of writers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Egypt, China, Arabia as well as from Europe and USA was ample testimony to the rapid status and popularity that this literary meet has gained.

Thomas Keneally and Sandip Roy

Of course there were certain disappointments like Philip Hensher not being able to attend the event because of an accident, Murong Xuecun not being able to attend due to visa problem between India and China and Salman Rushdie being actually debarred from attending the meet by the State government. Rushdie’s absence hung like a spectre over the whole meet especially in the session by Rahul Bose introducing Deepa Mehta directed movie on Rushdie’s memorable novel Midnight’s Children. The special attraction of this meet were the AfterWords sessions at the end of each day celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema attended by luminaries from the film world like Rituparno Ghosh, Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore, Madhabi Mukherjee and others.

Neelanjana S. Roy and Rahul Bose

Sandip Roy and Pico Iyer

The event, organised by Gameplan, had a number of interesting sessions in the Google Dome and the Adda Zone at Milan Mela ground and one at Trincas of Park Street. Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay spoke of the presence of ghosts in his stories in the opening session. In the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial session Prof. Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak discussed with Prof. Chinmoy Guha about her work on subaltern studies. Narayan Debnath, the creator of Nonte Phonte and Batul the Great, spoke about his cartoon creations. Pico Iyer was eloquent about his fascination with Graham Greene and Dalai Lama. Bharati Mukherjee spoke of the racism prevalent in the West when she migrated there and the internal migrations taking place in current India. Thomas Keneally expressed his views on what it means to be an Australian writer and what attracts him towards characters who are apparent sinners but with a redeeming quality. Kunal Basu waxed nostalgic about the Coffee House Adda culture and Amitav Ghosh explained that the British Empire was nothing more than a  massive drug running cartel. Amish Triparthi elaborated his views on mythology and Sourav Ganguly disclosed that he does not want his daughter to be a cricketer. The underground filmmaker Q expressed that film is dead and he is like a film DJ churning out tracks from the archive to keep his audience spellbound for a couple of hours.

Rituparno Ghosh, Aparna Sen, Madhabi Mukherjee and Sharmila Tagore

Shashi Tharoor

The inimitable Shashi Tharoor said that there is competitive intolerance shown by various factions of society, especially political ones, when the need of the hour is to show competitive tolerance. He also spoke about being subjected to female fans’ gaze which he embraces without embracing them. He even graciously obliged one who called herself his devotee to take the mineral water bottle from which he was sipping. There was also a panel debate on whether capital punishment should be given to rapists. In most of the sessions when the floor was open to audience’s questions it was, as Javed Akhtar rightly pointed out, that the first two questions were difficult to come but after that every person had two questions of his/her own. The whole experience was engrossing and exciting. We can hopefully look forward to an even more enriching experience the next year round. 

Sharmila Tagore, Sourav Ganguly
and Suresh  Menon

Ali Sethi, M.A.Farooqui
and Javed Akhatar

Jeet Thayil, Mridula Koshy, Arunava Sinha,
Amitabh Bagchi and Ruchir Joshi

Corban Addison, Bharati Mukherjee
and J.R. Schmidt