“ Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm”. A very wise quote by the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Winston Churchill.
Jim Corbett-Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Annual Young Ideator’s Conclave-2021 was hosted by
Birla Vidya Mandir, Nainital under the remarkable guidance of their Principal, Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma. The event was named after their alumnus and a distinguished co-founder of the campus. It’s main aim was to inculcate critical thinking and imbibe oratory skills amongst the young students. A plethora of activities were organised viz:
1. Multi format Debate Competition.
2. Radio Play
3. Visual Art Installation
4. Creative Writing
5. Quiz
The event commenced from 26th to 27th May 2021. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee coordinated the event systematically and guided all the participants through the various activities. This momentous event was attended by around 23 schools from all over India.
Some of the schools that graced the event were:
- Mayo Girls College, Ajmer.
- Singapore International School, Mumbai.
- Sunbeam School, Lahartara, Varanasi.
- The Indian School, New Delhi.
- The Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.
- Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
- Mayo College, Ajmer.
- Daly College, Indore etc.
The Conclave was addressed by the well-known educationist and philanthropist Mr. Vijay Datta, The Principal of The Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi. Mr. Datta has been awarded with the “Most Instructional Leadership Excellence Award” for the year 2019. In his motivational speech, he encouraged all the participants to actively participate in the events without worrying about the results. He motivated the students to participate in various activities organised for them to improve their communicative skills and enhance their creativity. He expressed his views on effective teacher- student collaboration for higher student achievement.
Keeping the current pandemic situation in mind, the event was held on the Zoom platform. The various competitions were being conducted simultaneously in the assigned breakout rooms. The topics for the related activities were given to the respective delegates before the beginning of the competition. The multi format debate competition consisted of three rounds namely: the preliminary or the elimination round, the two semi-finals and the final round. Each school team consisted of two students. The preliminary round consisted of both the Turncoat Debate and the Extempore. One of the participants had to go for the turncoat debate whereas the other had to participate in the extempore. The time limit for the Turncoat and Extempore were 3.5mins and 1.5 mins respectively. The individuals were judged separately in both the competitions and were selected for the semi finals based on their joint scores.
The top 4 schools were selected for the semi-finals. The semi- finals consisted of a face -off between both the teams i.e. the proposition and the opposition. Both the opening speakers had to speak on the assigned topic for 3 mins followed by their partners who had to speak for around 1.5 mins. The debate ended with the opening speakers giving their respective closing statements within 1.2 mins. Moving on to the finals, the two finalists now used all their skills and talent to accomplish their goal.
The finals again consisted of a face- off between both the teams as in the semi- finals. Instead of the closing statements, interjections (questions from the audience) were encouraged. The finals concluded with the Block and Tackle format in which whenever the nominated speaker heard the word “Block” (s)he had to propose for the given topic and when instructed to “Tackle” (s)he had to oppose the motion. The topic for the final round : “This house believes that Mahatma Gandhi is a living reminder of what we could be and what we are not and will not be”. This educational debate was won by Mayo Girls College, Ajmer. RKK was also a part of this enriching YIC Conclave. The participants express their sincere gratitude to all the teachers for their constant support and encouragement during the entire event.
Navya Kothari of Class XII won
First Prize in Art installation.
The participants who put their best in the competitions were as follows:
- Art Installation: Navya Kothari and Avni Jain.
- Debate: Zaina and Lauren.
- Creative Writing: Gauri and Sheetal.
- Quiz: Jaya Sankhla and Anvi Mehta.
- Radio Play: Niharika Pamnani and Soumya Joshi.
