The Iris 2024 Literary Festival
As we settled into the tranquil chill of the winter, the Goddess of the Rainbows descended to the gates of Shikshantar once again to bathe the school in her innumerable hues. 4th December, 2024 marked the day of the second edition of the Inter-School Iris Literary Festival that transported every individual in Shikshantar into a festive realm of creativity, artistry and imagination.
Alluding to the Greek Goddess of communication and the vibrant purple flower, Iris also refers to the part of the eye that allows us to view colour and honours the beauty in the variety of human perception. Thus, Iris - the Lit Fest was curated in ode to the glory of the varying human perspectives and outlooks that blend to create an enchanting spectrum. Iris 2024 aimed to give to the over 75 participants who joined from schools all across Gurugram a varied selection of 8 extraordinary events- ranging from creative writing, debate, oration, art and theatre.
There were three events held with creative writing - Prompt Parade for Classes VII - VIII, Frames to Fiction for Classes IX - X and Hurdle Havoc for Classes XI - XII. As participants excitedly unfurled their scrolls to reveal their intriguing prompts in Prompt Parade, Frames to Fiction participants gazed upon the interesting pictures provided to them, concocting different narratives in their mind. The venue of Hurdle Havoc was abuzz with anticipation as they unboxed the fascinating objects provided to them as prompts.
The students in the speech writing and oration event for Classes IX - X named Role & Rhyme were all priorly allotted a character who was put into an unconventional scenario on the day of the event, encouraging them to utilise their knowledge of the character to swiftly pen down a speech from that perspective. Along with this, the second event under Literary Performances was History on Stage : the Dramatic Recreate, where talented teams depicted popular pieces of world history in theatre form.
Under Public Speaking, participants from Classes IX - X were given famous fictional and real personalities like Jo March, Winston Churchill, Macbeth and others and made to have passionate arguments on crucial and thought provoking subjects while adhering to the nature of their given character in Fabled Feuds. Simultaneously, a rousing event known as Crisis Think Tank immersed students of Classes XI - XII in working to formulate systematic solutions to real world problems and presenting their proposals in the form of PowerPoint presentations. Further, an art event also took place where Class VII and VIII students were provided with snippets from different books and asked to creatively illustrate the scene to the best of their capabilities.
Additionally, a greatly invigorating Book Sale & Signing Event was held for all participants and for Shikshantar pupils from Classes V - XII. It was attended by eminent authors who had comprised the esteemed panel of judges for the events, namely Swapna Liddle, Saikat Majumdar, Radhika Oberoi, Nilima Chitgopekar, Priyadarshini Narendra, Archana Garodia, Capt. Beetashok Chatterjee, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Pushpesh Pant, Haimanti Mitra, Rrashima Swaarup Verma and Sahana Ahmed, who truly enlightened the ambience of the festival with their presence.
This unusual variety of activities and events propelled all the young minds to challenge themselves further to create something truly unique and helped immerse themselves deeper in the beguiling world of literature.
Shikshantar’s Iris 2024 was an exclusively student-driven event with all students of Classes XI - XII forming a part of the Iris Team and working tirelessly to ensure that it came to fruition. Led by a Core Team of 7 students, the Lit Fest was successfully executed with the earnest help of teams of Student Coordinators, Hospitality, Security, Food, Press & Communications, Registrations and Decor.
The momentous day ended with the students of The Shri Ram School, Maulsari Avenue, securing the ‘Best School Participation’ trophy and with the mark of great satisfaction glinting on the gleeful faces of every member of the Shikshantar family.