Maurya Kala Parisar Kuwait organized Mind Spark: Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Debate Competition 2014 for Indian School students of Class VIII to XI on December 19 2014. The event received huge response from students. Over 100 students participated in the competition out of total 124 entries received from students from 13 Indian schools. The event witnessed by over 200 members of audience was held in scenic “Rezayat Villa”.

Ms Asama Khanam Patan of Class IX, Indian Educational School (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) was declared the Best Debater by a seven-judge panel after 8 winners and runner-ups from sessions spoke extempore on “School Examinations should be open book.”

In the first round the Participants contested in four categories for based on class and topic. They spoke on pre announced topics 1. “Internet & Social Media are making people less intelligent” 2. India needs Presidential form of government. Due to the large number of entries, a special session was held one day before for the participants from two schools at Indian Central School Hall.

The competition was organized to commemorate the memories of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India whose birthday falls on 3rd December. “An examiner once wrote a note on his answer book “the examinee is better than the examiner”. First in the entrance examination to the University of Calcutta and a gold medalist in Master of Law examination, there cannot be a better role model for students than Desh Ratna Dr Rajendra Prasad. President of the Indian National Congress, President of the Constituent Assembly to frame the constitution of India, President of India for two terms, and a Bharat Ratna recipient, he went on to live in his thatched hut after leaving Rastrapati Bhawan” Maurya Kala Parisar highlighted in its announcement for the competition.

Reactions of the participants were both of joy for doing well or for having participated in the event and sorrow for some who could not do well as per their expectations. But a large number of parents who were present on the occasion welcomed such an event.

The following were winners from different categories and special session:

Category I : Standard VIII ( Session 1 Topic 1 & 2)

Winner (First Prize): Cherryn Bijoy, Integrated Indian School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (second Prize): Samiha Shakeel, Integrated Indian School, Kuwait

2nd Runner-up (Third Prize) : Heba Anna Philip, Indian Community School, Kuwait

Category II : Standard IX (Session 4 Topic 1)

Winner (First Prize): Asma Khanam Patan, Indian Educational School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (second Prize): Neethu Susan Joy, Integrated Indian School, Kuwait

2nd Runner-up (Third Prize) : Sara Ijaz , Integrated Indian School, Kuwait

Category III : Standard X & XI ( Session 2, Topic 1)

Winner (First Prize): Manar Asad Khan, Indian Community School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (second Prize): B.V. Srividya, Indian Educational School, Kuwait

2nd Runner-up (Third Prize) : Divya Kumari , Indian Community School, Kuwait

& Vijay Anant, Gulf Indian School, Kuwait

Category IV : Standard IX, X & XI (Session 3 Topic 2)

Winner (First Prize): Amulya, Carmel School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (second Prize): Mohd. Mishal, The Indian Community School, Khaitan

&Amala Maria Saji, Indian English Academy School, Salmiya

2nd Runner-up (Third Prize): Hanan Hashim, The Indian Community School, Khaitan

Special Session E Satndard VIII to XI : Hindi

Winner (First Prize): Taiyeba Alamgir, Indian Central School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (Commended): Jamila, Indian Learners Own Academy, Kuwait

Special Session E Standard VIII to XI : (English)

Winner (First Prize): Tanveer Nasrin, Indian Central School, Kuwait

1st Runner-up (second Prize): Afrah Ashraf, Indian Central School, Kuwait

2nd Runner-up (Third Prize) : Naymah Rahman, Indian Central School, Kuwait

While the event was an open event and entries could be registered by the participants individually, Integrated Indian School, Indian Central School, Indian Community School, Khaitan and Indian Learners Own Academy sponsored the participants and submitted a number of entries coordinated by the school. They were felicitated for Best Participation. Teachers from the above schools Mr. Jeldo Kollamkudy, Mr. Anthony Noel, Ms. Ambika Shivprasad and Ms Madhuri Jha were also recognised.

Students also from ICS Salmiya, ICS Senior Branch, ICS Amman, Gulf Indian School, IES (Bhavans), Indian English Academy Salmiya, Indian Public School, FAIPS & Carmel participated.

Elite panel of judges who evaluated the participants were Dr. Sabiha Bilgarami, Dr. Rupali Bahal, Ms Nandini Biswas, Mr. Alok Nigam, Mr. S. Ritwik, Mr. Anand Prakash, Mr. Sunil Sonsi, Mr.Ajay Sahay, Mr. Vivek Shrivastava, Mr. Umesh Sharma & Mr. Harish Saxena from the fields of Literature, Education, Engineering, Management and Business.

Speaking on the occasion President Maurya Kala Parisar, said that Maurya Kala Parisar is a cultural and social association of people connected to the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, active since 1995. The organization takes it’s name from the Maurya dynasty of Patliputra of ancient India. While Maurya has organized successful events like Ethnic Food Festival & Maurya Manch a variety entertainment program for its members this year, it also started out reach programs for students from the Indian Community like Dinkar Poetry Awards an original poetry & recitation competition and Incredible India: Bihar & Jharkhand an online quiz competition. However, the success of Mind Spark: Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Debate was the first of its kind for the association and one of the largest competition even for the students considering the number of participants. Event Coordinator Abhay Kashyap while thanking the participants, urged the students to prepare and return next year for the competition. He also told that based on this year\s experience and input from participants and judges, the format would be further improved.

The support for the event was provided by Arfoz Alam, Braj Gupta, Ramesh Kumar, Samir Ranjan, Abhay Kashyap, Rohit Deo, Sabir Ansari, Shahnawaj Mirza, Vivek Sinha Sujata Kashyap, Ashok Jha, Ruby Jha, Suchitra Deo, Rajesh Kumar, Sayed Shabih, Zafar Siddaqui, Santosh Chauhan.

As such the competition has already become a rage on social media and the clips of participants in action is being circulated on YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook.