On the occasion of the 202nd birth anniversary of Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, better known as Vidyasagar, one of the pioneers of Bengal renaissance, Durgapur Adda Young Association (DAYA) organized a day-long program to nurture the thoughts the great man. The programme was held on 3rd October 2021 at the auditorium of NIT Durgapur.
About 160 students from 18 schools in Durgapur, under the West Bengal Board, participated in the programme. Students of each of the participating 8 schools presented their ‘Vidyasagar Bhabna’ through songs, poems and words. Every school’s were given 8 minutes for the presentation.
The students of Durgapur Adda Young Association’s Sinchon Project presented two songs.
The members of Durgapur Adda Young Association, through a collage of lectures, highlighted Vidyasagar’s uprightness of character and his contribution to social philosophy and science education, urging the students to practice Vidyasagar’s characteristic qualities in their own lives.
Eminent historian, researcher and essayist Dr. Kanishka Chowdhury shed light on various aspects of Vidyasagar’s life, his philosophy, his works on social reform, his religious thought and science consciousness.
An essay competition was organized on a topic which was setup on the spot based on the discussion of Dr. Kanishka Chowdhury. The topic was: “How should we worship our Ishwar, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar?” or “After listening today’s discussion how your knowhow about Vidyasagar changed?” The articles were evaluated later by a two-member team and 20 best articles were awarded later, during “Marie Curie – Meghnad Saha Science Conference” held by DAYA on 14th November 2021.
The Shilpayan theatre group of Durgapur presented a play, “Benchay Thaak Vidyasagar”.
Memorial gifts were handed over to all the schools for their presentation ‘Vidyasagar’.
Dr. Samir Ranjan Bhowmik , a retired doctor at DVC-DTPS and Durgapur Chemicals, presently working as a teacher at Gauri Devi Medical College was awarded this year’s “Vidyasagar Smarok Samman”. The Durgapur Adda Young Association has been providing this honor since 2019 to those who are working to build a society free from superstition by spreading science rationale in the society.
There was also an arrangement of luncheon for the students and teachers of the school.