JUST JOY There are a lot of exciting things to do during the walk from school to home for these schoolgirls. Feeding pigeons puffed rice and leftovers from their tiffin boxes is just one of them. Picture by Amit Datta

The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) 2007, held in January-end at Bagmundi, in Purulia, saw youngsters aged 16 to 22 years from across West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar taking part in a range of activities aimed at building leadership skills and team spirit. The event, organised by Rotary Club of Purulia, also involved students from US and Brazil. The theme for the camp was “Arohan — Aim high, soar high”. Here’s a round-up of all the action at the camp.

DAY ONE

The participants were divided into four teams under houses Lions, Tigers, Leopards and Cheetahs. Stationery kits were distributed among them. Each house selected a captain and a vice-captain. After the lamp-lighting ceremony and the inaugural address, Camp Commandant Rotarian Surinder Singh Sahni elaborated on the dos and don’ts at the camp to the youngsters. After a few more speeches on the history of RYLA, it was time for some music and dance, and a talent hunt.

Being the vice-captain of Lions House, I anchored the dance programme, while participant Chandrima Ray rendered popular Bollywood numbers. After the song-and-dance, a ceremonial cake was cut.

After a quick dinner, the exhausted youngsters retired to their dormitories.

DAY TWO

Morning tea was followed by physical training and karate sessions by armymen. Then the camp participants were taken on a jungle trek. “During the trek, I was terrified when I spotted a bloody skeleton of a goat. It must have been some carnivore’s lunch,” recalled Priyanka Pretti, a Class II student and probably the youngest camper.

Post-lunch, the youngsters were taken on a visit to a hydro-electric project plant at Ayodhya Hills, run by the central government with Japanese help. I was one of the lucky few who got a ride in a military jeep. We were a noisy lot and our loud cheers drowned the cassette player blaring in the background. “Our job requires us to stay away from family and urban settlements. So singing and dancing with the kids was a welcome break for us. It reminded us of home,” said an armyman who accompanied us to the power plant.

Post-dinner, a chhou dance based on the Mahalaya festivities was performed by local artistes. The lights in the dormitories were on till 4 am as we chatted and recounted the day’s events, even though the wake-up call was at 5 am.

DAY THREE

The third day started on a more serious note as we were told about the issue of substance abuse. Then the army officials showed us some of their rifles and other weapons. I got the chance of holding an AK-47 for the first time in my life.

After lunch, a feedback session was held, followed by the valedictory speeches. Some of the participants spoke about their experiences over the three days. Special certificates were given to all the campers.

Soon it was time to wrap up. The teary campers hugged their buddies one last time, and crammed their diaries with addresses and phone numbers. Shelly, Chiago and Emilly, the participants from abroad, took autographs of the friends they had made at the camp on their national flags. They too had wonderful memories to take back home.

Sourendra Das,
Class XII, Salt Lake School

Fun fest, trend talk

The campus of BD Memorial Institute witnessed the culmination of two big annual events of the school between January 19 and 26.

Impulse 2007 was the cultural fest (in picture), while Eduvision was the academic session on the theme “Vanishing values, broken bonds”. While Impulse comprised songs, skits and dances and was held mainly on campus, the Science City auditorium hosted a day’s line-up. Eduvision saw academicians and teachers from across the city discuss pertinent issues and trends in the education sector.