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709 teacher’s battle it out at ‘Unsung Heroes...No Longer’, an event organised by Rustom Irani Foundation
Nirali Dixit
Imagine putting teachers on the other side of the fence, for a change putting them in for a test. It’s for sure that students would love to do this and it might even come true, though only in their dreams. Their dream was however fulfilled at ’Unsung Heroes...No Longer’, an event organised by Rustom Irani Foundation on September 2, 2005 at NCPA, Nariman Point, to acknowledge the efforts put in by teachers to nurture thousands of minds.
"We teachers are not competitive by nature, we are builders," said Parminda Langer of Sriram School, New Delhi, who was declared as the best teacher among 709 participants from the country. She added that this event had given her 14 very precious friends, all of who are extremely learned and ultimately were all winners. Sanjyot Ghanekar of Saint Stanis Laus, Mumbai, who was declared as the first runner-up said, "This event gave us teachers a chance to have a different kind of experience and has completely enriched us. It has also increased our responsibility as teachers." Pratima Rao of Baldwin Girls High School, Bangalore was named the second runner-up and she said, "It feels nice to win. All of us have a feeling of sisterhood among us and each of us wanted the other to win."
The competition, which was organised for the third year, had four exciting rounds, of which the ’Balanced Perspective’ round, was the one most enjoyed by everyone. Here, the teachers had to speak for and against a particular topic, where the immediate change in their ideas had the audience left in splits. The winner was awarded rupees one lakh, the first runner-up rupees fifty thousand and the second runner-up rupees twenty five thousand.
The event was given a bigger highlight by the panel of judges, which included Priya Dutt, Shaheen Mistry, Prof Rupa Shah, Piyush Pandey, Dr Ranjana Kumari, Boman Irani and Perizaad Zorabian. The judges had a tough time judging the contestants. "All of them are winners by themselves," exclaimed Boman Irani, Chairman of Rustom Irani Foundation. He added that it felt really nice to have provided a platform to the teachers to interact and learn from one another.
Also present at the event were Neeta Ganguly (2nd runner-up 2004) and Anuradha Benegal (winner 2004), who said that the event had made them more confident and had boosted their morale to a great extent. "I’m no longer an unsung hero", said Neeta Ganguly. The students of Rustomjee International School added spark to the occasion through their stunning performances.
What can be a better gift for our teachers on Teacher’s Day?
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