While passing by Kilpauk Garden Road, the board outside Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram (BRV) School read ‘Samarpan 2015’. I didn’t pay much heed to the sign, assuming it was just another cultural programme — until I read the line ‘Interschool Culturals for Teachers’, which caught my attention immediately.
Samarpan, meaning dedication, is an interschool cultural programme for teachers from the city’s CBSE and Matriculation schools. Held on September 19, the event was organised by the BRV Alumni Association. “It is a one-of-a-kind event which provides a platform for teachers to showcase their talents in a competitive environment, while also having fun — something normally reserved for students,” said Venky Subramanium, president of the association. “What we are today is because of our teachers. As a token of gratitude and respect, we wanted to do something for them — and Samarpan was born!” added Mathini Viswanathan, an alumna.
As in any other cultural programme, Samarpan has various on-stage and offstage events like dance, cookery, voice-over, adzap, treasure hunt, dance drama and kolam design, among others. The school with the maximum points takes the overall championship. The annual event was launched in 2012, and Ajeeth Prasath Jain, senior principal, BRV, said, “The alumni approached me with the idea as a token of gratitude for their teachers. It is usually the teachers, who escort students to interschool cultural programmes, so I said ‘why not start something for teachers themselves?’”
“It feels like we are revisiting our school days. It is very liberating and brings out the child in us. Every school must come up with something like this for teachers – it’s like a teachers’ day out!” said Aurine Sriram, a teacher from PSBB.
The theme this year was ‘Chennai’ and all the events were based on the same. There were more than 450 participants from over 30 schools. This year, Don Bosco School of Excellence claimed the overall championship, with Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial School coming a close second.
“The event was fantastically organised, ideas were mind-blowing and there was tough competition,” said Ragini Srinivasan, a teacher at Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram. “This is the only platform for us teachers to relive our school life. This is such a stress buster in between the exams. Now I understand how excited and enthusiastic students feel when they participate in different cultural programmes,” added Navneeth Krishnan, chemistry teacher at DAV Boys Senior Secondary School, Gopalapuram.
