The Doon School on Sunday won the 58th Chuckerbutty Memorial Debates. Pulkit Agarwal of the Doon School was adjudged the best speaker for the final round held on Sunday morning. Fourteen teams from all over India participated in this prestigious annual inter-school debate held at the Doon School.
The topic for the finals was “This House would seek justice for Eklavya”. With the Doon School on one side and Bishop Cotton School on the other , the debate at first seemed evenly poised in terms of who the winner would be.
However, as both sides progressed with their arguments, it was the basic definition of the topic, as presented by the proposition (Doon School), that proved to be their greatest strength. The topic, defined as, “The global community would seek equal opportunities” was stimulating both in terms of argument and examples.
The motion for the first round, held in Oxford format with seven schools to one pool, was “This House will not return the Ring to Mordor”. With innumerable interpretations in this rapid-fire elimination round, the debate proved not only to be memorable, but rather insightful as well.While theDoon School topped Pool A ,it was the Genesis World School ,Noida, that topped Pool B.
The top four teams from each pool then advanced to the quarterfinals, which was held on Day 2 of the Debates. The motion brought the teams to the concept of gender disparities and its complications, with the motion reading, “This house will not put women on a pedestal.”
Bringing the plight of women to light; even the adversities faced by women, when put up on an elevated position were discussed. The complications of minorities ruling the majorities and its nuances were further argued, and led to much rebuttal from both sides in all venues. In the end, four schools advanced to Round 3, the semifinals. The topic at hand was, “This House believes that the mandate of the majority prevails.” In one debate the Doon School and Genesis WorldSchool (who had topped their respective pools in the first round), had a face off. With a tight, nail-biting finish and some rather witty statements made through the course of the debate, it was by far the most interesting one to watch. In the other debate was Mayo College Ajmer and Bishop CottonSchool, who fought it out tooth and nail as well. In the end, however, the BCS team emerged victorious, and with that the Doon School and BCS advanced to the Finals held on Day 3.
This debate proved to be intellectually stimulating and quite thought-provoking in terms of definition and interpretation of the topics. It was heartening to see such high levels of debate displayed at a high school level.