The annual parliamentary debating tournament of Hansraj College was held from 17th-20th March, 2013. The festival is seen as one of the most awaited debating festivals in the Delhi University debating circuit because of the quality of debaters and adjudicators it invites, while the prize money is an added perk.
The tournament saw the participation of 24 teams from across colleges that are active in the debating circuit and it also saw cross teams that included some senior debaters. After a course of five preliminary rounds, eight teams broke into the quarterfinals that included teams from the colleges- SRCC, KMC, HINDU, JGLS and two cross teams. The finals were held between Tarand and Nouman from Hindu, competing for the Shanti Narayan trophy with Siddhartha Thyagarajan (ex-RAMJAS)and Aishwarya Iyer (Hindu). The topic of the debate was “This house believes that social movements should discard the use of euphemisms.” Tarang and Nouman successfully defended the motion and won the trophy. The adjudicating panel of the finals included some of the best adjudicators in the debating circuit, such as Anirudh(Hansraj), Shaurya(Hansraj) , Tarun(Hansraj), Shuvam(Hansraj), Shachi(ex-Hansraj), Abeer(Hansraj) and Navin(ex-KMC). The best adjudicator prize went to Rijul from Hindu and best speaker went to Aashay Sahay (ex-RVCE).
Shachi Seth and Navin Kumar were the Adjudication Core of the tournament. The tournament got a lot of positive response in terms of its smooth running, efficient administration, and running on time, the latter feature being something mostly absent in debating tournaments.
The tournament was also an interesting one in terms of the unique strategies implemented to decide proposition and opposition in the post breaks round. Ditching the conventional coin toss, the Hansraj debsoc decided that proposition and opposition will be decided through means of rock-paper-scissors, tip-top, arm wrestling or dance offs. Particularly interesting was the dance off between Vardhan from KMC and Tarang from Hindu in the quarterfinals.
The tabs team was highly praised for carrying out the fastest tabbing in the history of debates, with the tabs being ready for the next round within 5 minutes.
Overall, the 6th Shanti Narayan was very efficiently run, stuck to time rules and provided an unforgettable debating experience.
Photo Credits: hansrajdelhi.batchmates.com
Siddhi Goel
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Siddhi Goel
[email protected];I think my life would be much better off if I’d make as much effort in reading books as much as I do in buying them. A bibliophile through and through, I possess a keen interest in the history of art and museums and I believe that walking with oneself is the best form of adventure. On a more random (a.k.a siddhi) note, my dream destination is the Rann of Kuttchh, because I find it oddly displaced in time, an entirely different story, and that’s how I truly want to be.
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