Secretary's Report 2003-04

Darshan Celebrations

On April 24, 2003, the Mother's final arrival in Pondicherry for permanent stay was celebrated. Eminent artist Shri Dilip Roy offered a recital of devotional songs. There was Darshan meditation followed by distribution of the message.

On 15th August, 2003, Sri Aurobindo's Birthday was celebrated. The School students presented a Cultural Programme and Shri Abhirup Guha Thakurta offered Devotional songs. There was Darshan Meditation and lunch prasad.

On 24th November, 2003, Sri Aurobindo's Siddhi Day was celebrated and a steady stream of visitors came to pay their homage.

On 21st February, 2004, The Mother's 126th Birth Anniversary was celebrated. The School students presented a Cultural Programme and Smt. Roma Mondal offered Devotional songs. There was Darshan meditation and lunch prasad.

Other Important dates

On 4th April, 2003, Sri Aurobindo's arrival at Pondicherry was celebrated. Smt. Mitali Sengupta offered a Bhajan Recital. 

Sri Aurobindo's Relics Enshrining Anniversary was observed on June 24, 2003. Shri Mohan Singh offered devotional songs.

Special meditation was organised to celebrate Mahastami, Bijoya, Lakshmipuja and Kalipuja respectively.

On 17th November, 2003, the Mother's withdrawal from the physical body and on 20th November,2003, the Mother's Mahasamadhi Day were observed with respect. Meditation was arranged on both the days. Smt. Aparna Majumdar offered devotional songs on 17th November.

On 5th December, 2003, Sri Aurobindo's withdrawal from the physical body was celebrated with respect. Collective Meditation was arranged on that day.

On 9th December, 2003, Sri Aurobindo's Mahasamadhi Day, there was special meditation.

On January 1, 2004, there was Special Meditation in the morning followed by songs by Smt. Aniruddha Singha.

Golden day was celebrated on Feruary 29, 2004. Shri Alok Roy Choudhury offered a vocal recital.

On March 29, 2004, the Mother's first arrival in Pondicherry was celebrated. Smt. Kaushiki Bandopadhyay offered Devotional Songs on the occasion. 

Collective Meditation

Collective Meditation is arranged around Sri Aurobindo's Shrine twice daily.

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture has been a centre for cultural activities since long. Artists from various disciplines have congregated at the Institute at different times to perform and to teach. A home away from home for them, they have not only enriched the lives of the people at the Institute but have come away enriched themselves. At the Institute, cultural activities are seen not only as a means of self expression but also of expressing God in life - a vibrant, colourful adoration of God.

The Institute regularly organizes attractive cultural programmes. Eminent artists of Kolkata and elsewhere offer solo or group performances quite often.

Shakti Centre

Our cultural unit, offering classes in music, dance and painting had 430 students. The dance and music classes are being conducted by well known and talented artists. The faculty includes Kalyani Roy (Sitar), Siddhartha Roy Choudhury (Sarod), Amar Laha (Piano), Ramen Bhattacharya (Guitar), Sujit Saha (Tabla), Saoli Basu Roy (Synthesiser), Shanti Bose (Dance), Malay Bhattacharya (Katthak), Sucharita Sharma (Bharatnatyam and Manipuri), Kamalini Dasgupta (Orissi), Sudeshna Adhikari (Orissi), Kasturi Sengupta (Bharatnatyam and Mohiniattam), Roma Mondal (Rabindra Sangeet), Swastika Mukherjee (Devotional songs), Ajit Dey (Classical), Shyamal Mukherjee (Classical and Nazrul), Moushumi Ganguly (Classsical and all types of Bengali Songs), Alpana Sircar (Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul), Gopa Roy Choudhury ( Theory), Santwana Roy Choudhuri (Recitation) etc. This unit organizes various cultural programmes. 

In the last week of November, 2003, Shakti Centre staged their annual programme. Students of the Centre presented a spectacular show on that date. The show was attended by the parents .

On 11th January, 2003 in the morning, Shakti Centre presented a cultural programme by its students at the open- air stage. It was part of the annual celebration - ASPIRATION.

The Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Dance Competition, Madhuri Mukherjee Memorial Devotional Songs Competition and Maya Mitra Instrumental Music Competition were held on 23rd, 24th and 25th January, 2003 respectively. Many competitors from the districts took part. These competitions were a grand success. 

Language Classes

The Institute runs language classes in French and English.

The French class, continuing for over 25 years, has met with widespread acclaim. More than 40 students on average per month have attended the French class in the last academic session.

Spoken English classes were conducted as before. An average of 17 students per month attended this class.

Yoga classes

Yoga classes are being conducted by Bishwasri Monotosh Roy. Enthusiasm for participation in Yogasana continues unabated, the student strength in the past year has been around 39 on an average per month. Classes are held once a week (Wednesday). 

Library

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture has a well-stocked library with books on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The library is functioning smoothly. Apart from the Mother & Sri Aurobindo's works, books on religion, literature, philosophy serve as background reading for a better understanding of Sri Aurobindo's writings.Estimated total of these books is more than 8000. The Library has been given a new look for more readers' convenience. Library now remains open the whole day without any break. 

There is a good collection of reference books and a number of rare books. One qualified librarian and two associates see to the efficient running of the library.

The Library has more than 395 members on its rolls with an average of 30 members visiting the library daily. 

Publications, Books and Journals

Basudhara has had a facelift which is widely appreciated and is now published twice a year on 15th August and 21st February.

Eminent geologist and devotee Shri Jajati Bhattacharya is the new editor of BASUDHARA. He has succeeded Shruti Ghosh. His interest and involvement with Basudhara in this very short period has been commendable. 

ASPIRATION - Annual Exhibition and Cultural Programme

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture hosted ASPIRATION in the beginning of the year. An important facet of this event is the Annual Exhibition of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Products and Handicrafts. The products are sourced from Pondicherry and different Ashram Centres in Bengal. Rural artisans also put their work on display. 

The celebrations, held from 10th to 18th January 2004, were inaugurated by eminent dancer Shri Govindan Kutty. Smt. K.C. Mehta, the Deputy Resident Commissioner of Nagaland also graced the occasion. West Bengal Centres' Meet was organised in this period.

The inaugural programme was a folk dance by the Naga Troupe. The other programmes featured Manas Chakraborty, Alokananda Roy, Bratati Bandopadhyay, and Satyananda Baul. The last day of the programme featured spectacular dance recitals by Bivabati Devi, Anasua Bandopadhyay and Asimbandhu Ghose.

Tagore Birthday Celebration

The birthday of Rabindra Nath Tagore was celebrated on May 9, 2003 at 6 p.m. with more than 40 famous Rabindra Sangeet Artists performing on that auspicious evening. 

Smt. Roma Mondal directed the programme.

Regular programmes

Regular classes and discourses were held.

Speaking on Fridays, Prof. Biswanath Roy completed his discourses on 'The Mother' and started on the 'Four Aids".

Dr. Sikha Mukherjee spoke on the 'Gita' on the last Saturday of every month.

Dr. Roma Choudhury spoke on the 'Veda' every second Saturday.

Other programs

Bengali New Year's Day was celebrated on March 14, 2003. There was meditation with the voice of Shri Pradyot Kumar Bhattacharya and Smt. Rajashri Bhattacharjee offered a vocal recital.

The Institute observed for the first time a day of tribute to famous composers Atulprasad and Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendralal and Dilip Kumar Roy, on July 5, 2003. Dr. Gobinda Gopal Mukhopadhyay was the Chief Guest and many renowned artist offered homage through songs. Smt. Swastika Mukhopadhyay directed the programme. Dr. Sudhir Chakraborty spoke on the occasion. 

Srimat Anirban's 108th Birth Anniversary was celebrated on July 9, 2003. Dr. Rama Ranjan Mukherjee and Dr. Supriyo Bhattacharya spoke on the occasion. Shri Aniruddha Singha, Smt. Apala Basu and Smt. Nupur Chhanda Ghosh offered songs.

On September 8, the Birth Anniversary of Mahamahopadhyay Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj was celebrated.

Galerie La Mère

One of the most attractive art galleries in Kolkata, Galerie La Mère is so named to pay tribute to the Mother and was opened in homage to her wonderful artistic sensibilities. An eminent painter herself in the early twentieth century in Paris, she belonged to the famous Impressionist school.

The art gallery situated in the premises of the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture hosts numerous exhibitions of paintings by renowned painters of Bengal, all through the year. The gallery remains open for visitors everyday between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Galerie La Mère hosted various exhibitions during this period. 

A# Solo or Special Exhibitions:

#1 Exhibitions of photographs by Shri Amal Sengupta :

An exhibition of photographs of Shri Amal Sengupta was held in the gallery from September 7 to 23, 2003. Shri Sengupta is an acclaimed photographer of our times and had the privilege of taking photographs of many famous personalities in the cultural area. Eminent phtographer Nemai Ghosh inaugurated the exhibition and Pandit A.T. Kanan was present as Guest of Honour.

The famous cultural personalities whose photographs were exhibited were :

Amir Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar, Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Udai Shankar, Alokananda Roy, V.G. Jog, Bahadur Khan, Indranil Bhattacharjee, Purabi Mukherjee, Usha Ranjan Mukherjee, Manas Chakraborti, Ullhash Koswalkar, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Siddheshwari Devi, Kumar Prasad Mukherjee, A. T. Kanan, Jainul Abedin, Amiyo Ranjan Banerjee, Mira Banerjee, Purnima Sen, Joya Biswas, Arun Bhaduri, Sutapa Talukdar, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Amit Mukherjee, Manilal Nag, Girija Devi, Aloka Kanungo, Kaveri Sen, Rani Karna, Bismillah Khan, Malabika Kanan, Bare Gulam Ali Khan, Asish Khan, Maya Chatterjee, Pandit Jasraj, Kalyani Bandopadhyay and Amala Shankar.

#2 Solo Exhibition of Shri Rabin Mondal :

A solo retrospective exhibition of Rabin Mondal, was held in the gallery from October 12 to 26, 2003. The thirty-six exhibited paintings were made in the period of 1956 to 2003. Eminent actor Soumitra Chatterjee inaugurated the exhibition and Shri Tapan Bandyopadhyay, Director of Culture, Govt. of West Bengal was present on the occasion. The exhibition created a stir among the art lovers of the city. Part of the exhibition was also filmed by Shri Buddhadev Dasgupta for the film he was making on the life of the artist.

#3 Solo Exhibition of Shri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay :

A solo exhibition of Shri Ramananda Bandoyopahyay was opened in the gallery from February 2, the birthday our beloved Joyadi and continued till Feb 16, 2004. A total of thirty-six paintings and drawings of Shri Bandyopadhyay, a great master of the Bengal School was exhibited during this period. Ms. Lee Alison Sibley, wife of American Consul General in Kolkata, inaugurated the exhibition. 

B "Parama"- Exhibition by Female Artists :

"Parama", an exhibition of female artists only, was held in the gallery from February 21 to March 7, 04. The exhibition is organized every year to observe the Birth Anniversary of The Mother. It was inaugurated by Smt. Mahasweta Devi. The participating artists were as follows :

Anita Roychowdhury, Anjali Sengupta, Arati Das, Arpita Basu, Arunima Chowdhury, Bageshree Datta, Bandana Nandi Majumdar, Bhaswati das, Chandrima Roy, Dipti Chakraborti, Geeta Maiti, Kabari Banerjee, Krishna Bandopadhyay, Monami Chowdhury, Nabaneeta Banerjee, Pala Sengupta, Santosh Rohatgi, Rupa Rajbongshi, Shakila, Shanu Lahiri, Sheila Kapur, Shibani Sengupta, Shyamashree Basu, Sohini Dhar, Stuti Sinha, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Swati Mukherjee, Tapati Sarkar, Uma Siddhanta.

C. Group Exhibitions :

Group Exhibitions "FREEDOM "(15.8.03 - 31.8.03), "DURGA" (25.9.03-10.10.03) and "La Mère Annual" (7.1.04 - 21.1.04) were held at Galerie La Mère.

The list of participating artists were as follows :

Amal Chakladar, Aditya Basak, Atin Basak, Amit Sarkar, Ashoke Mallick, Amitava Dhar, B.R. Panesar, Bageshree Datta, Biswarup Datta, Debabrata Chakraborty, Dipti Chakraborty, Goutam Chowdhury, Arunima Chowdhury, Hiran Mitra, Kishore Chatterjee, Manoj Mitra, Niranjan Pradhan, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Rabin Mondal, Ramlal Dhar, Sohini Dhar, Paritosh Sen, Parthapratim Deb, Sanatan Dinda, Tapan Mitra, Tapan Ghosh, Sanat Kar, Shakila, SuhasRoy, Shyamal Datta Roy, Siddhartha Sengupta, Munindra Rajbongshi, Nandadulal Mukherjee, Nabaneeta Javed, Dipali Bhattacharya, Ganesh Haloi, Narayan Chandra Sinha, Noor Ali, Ramananda Bandopadhyay, Krishna Bandopadhyay, Samir Aich, Goutam Basu, Bijoy Chakraborty, Panchu Gopal Datta, Isha Mohammad, Santanu Bhattacharya, Bishnupriya Ganguly, Tanmoy Bose, Uma Siddhanta, Shanu Lahiri, Wasim Kapur. 

Providing education to children is one of the most important activities of the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture. Both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother considered education a very important part of life and their ideals can help in the complete education of any human being. Some of their thoughts are given below:

"Education to be complete must have five principal aspects corresponding to the five principal activities of the human being: the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual."

"The mind has to be consulted in its own growth."

"To work from the near to the far, from that which is to that which shall be."

School Activities

The Future Foundation School lays equal stress on academics and co-curricular activities. This helps the child to develop initiative, behave responsibly and achieve poise and confidence. 

Award Winners

This year also our students participated in many competitions, both Inter-School and Intra-School.

Awards in Art ~ Painting

Bharatiya Art Education Society - Group B ~ 1st prize 

Awards in Dance and Music 

Sneha Sen of Class VI received 1st prize in singing at an Inter-School Event at Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur.

Meghalee Dey of Class VI got the 1st prize in singing at an Inter-School Event in Fun City.

The School Band comprising of Ritaban Chatterjee, Ridip Chakraborty, Arnab Chakraborty and Pratibhu Roy Chowdhury won the 1st Prize in Voices-Vibes and at the Lakshmipat Singhania Fest.

Awards in Elocution, Creative Writing etc. 

Rahul Choudhury of Class IV won the 1st prize in English Creative Writing at the Inter-School Event in National Gems School.

Anasuya Goswami of Class V won the 1st prize in Ham- Bengali at the Inter-School Event at the Institute of Cerebral Palsy.

Vaishnavi Seshan won the 1st prize in Hindi Creative Writing at the Sreeleathers Carnival at St. James.

Subhra Roy of Class VIII came 1st in the Bengali Elocution Competition organized by Bratati Bandooadhyay.

Awards for Excellence 

The Future Foundation School was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Better Kolkata Contest, 2003, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The students have worked on the "Baganbari Slum "at Shantinagar, very close to our school. The main aim was to teach them a cleaner and hygienic way of living, of which garbage disposal was a necessary first step. The inhabitants were also given vocational training to make them self-reliant. The good work continues.

Games

After-School Games have been started in school. These include Basketball, Kho-Kho, Volley-Ball, Football, etc. Inter-House Tournaments are also being organized.

Soumya Subhra Basu won the 1st prize in Table Tennis in the Inter-School Mini Olympics.

Soumya Subhra Basu and D. Sinha won the 1st Prize in the Inter-School Bosco Ping Pong Tournament.

Sports 

Annual Sports Day was held on 4th and 5th February 2004 at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. The programme started with hoisting the flag, March Past and drill display by the students. There was no lack of enthusiasm on the grounds that day. The children cheered wholeheartedly for the houses they supported. White House emerged as the victors followed by Blue, Yellow and Green House. Sunit Chakraborty was the Best Sports Person - Male. The mantle of Best Sports Person - Female was shared by Rijula Das and Dipasri Bhattacharya.

This day was enjoyed by one and all. The events in which the students participated included 100, 200 and 300 mts sprint, skipping race, sack race, relay 100 x 4, dribbling the football, hand dribbling, balancing the book, three-legged race, orange race, going to school.

Separate events were organized for parents, teachers and staff of the school.

Fete

The School Fete on 31st August, 2003 was observed with much gaiety on the 98th Birth Anniversary of the founder-chairman - Shri Pradyot Kumar Bhattacharya. It was a Sunday, and the fete continued from 9am. to 1pm. Sweets were distributed to students in the morning. Games and Food Stalls were organized. The students had a lot of fun. 

Fest

Nirvana - our School fest was held on 10th and 11th May, 2003. The events were ~ 'News N Views', Scribble - in English, Hindi and Bengali, Creative Dance, Folk Dance, Jam, Eastern and Western Vocal, Tongue Twisters, Slogan Writing, Noor-er-Natak, Cartooning, Rangoli / Alpona, Elocution, Original Composition of Songs, Slogan Writing etc . The fest was inaugurated by Prof. N. Viswanathan. The events were judged by eminent personalities like Shri Chandi Lahiri, Ms. Subhamita Dhar, Shri Shanti Bose, Smt Rupa Rajbongshi, Smt Tara Pati etc. Ballygunj Shiksa Sadan and Don Bosco, Park Circus were the Best Performing and the Second Best Performing Schools repectively among the twelve participating schools. 

Training

Teachers participated in twenty-three subject-specific training programmes organized by the Council for The Indian School Certificate Examination at their Kolkata Office between December 2003 and January 2004.

Rina Mukherjee and Krishna Bose, teachers of The Future Foundation and Arun Nursery School respectively and Moneesha Sharma, Advisor went for an exposure visit to Mirambika, a Free-Progress School in New Delhi for two weeks in February-March, 2004. 

Participation 

The students, very enthusiastically participated in the following Inter- School Events:

M.P.Birla Smarak Kosh, South Point, May 2003~

~ Four students from class VIII participated in the Inter-School Open Essay Competition 

and four students from Class IX took part in the Quiz Competition.

Derozio Memorial Extempore Speech Contest ~

~ Hiran Mayee Ramani, a student of class X spoke for "CLOSE CIRCUIT T.V. SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN THE CLASS ROOM" 

Lakshya - Fest, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, August 2003 ~ 

~ Students participated in a number of events.

Utkarshan, Fest - Nature Club and Interact Club of Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan, August 2003 ~

~ Students participated in English and Bengali prose, Extempore, and Eastern medley.

~ Sunetro Lahiri of Class XI won the 1st prize in Extempore speaking on "I WOULD BE THE BEST PRIME MINISTER". 

4th Annual Inter-School Essay Writing Competition on the auspicious occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Saradamoni Devi organized by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, August 2003.~ 

Students from classes V to XI participated . Topics for different age groups were given The competition was conducted in three languages - English, Bengali and Hindi.

Disha - Fest, G.D. Birla Centre for Education, September 2003 ~ 

~ Students participated in a number of events.

Ambience - Fest, Carmel Convent, September 2003 ~

~ Students participated in medley, antakshari and western vocal. 

Srima Saradamoni Devi's 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations, organized by Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur, December 2003 ~

~ Children from Classes V and VI participated in Sit and Draw Competition, Elocution, and Vocal. 

Gemsberoo- Fest, National Gems School, December 2003~

Two students of Classes IV and V participated in the Essay Writing Competition.

Sunetro Lahiri, class XI, delivered an Extempore Speech on "THE ROAD NEVER ENDS" and was awarded the 2nd Prize.

Annual Concert 

Annual Concert of The Future Foundation School and Arun Nursery School, a five day colourful and varied programme, was held on 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th January, 2004, between 6p.m. and 7.30 p.m. The programmes were attended by parents. 

Celebrations 

The Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo and Independence Day was celebrated on 15th August with enthusiasm in spite of the mild drizzle. The day started with the garlanding of Sri Aurobindo's Statue followed by hoisting of the Mother's flag and the National flag. This was followed by March Past, Dance and Drill Display by the students. The junior students filed past in colourful clothes. The "Joya Mitter Memorial Prize"for the Best All-Rounder Students were distributed.

Teachers' Day was belatedly celebrated on 26th September. The teachers were truly made to feel special with the programme that had been set for them by the students and the delicious lunch that followed.

On 26th January, 2003, Saraswati Puja was celebrated with much gaiety. School students presented a cultural programme on the occasion. Special meditation was organised.

2nd February is the birth anniversary of the Founder Principal - Smt. Joya Mitter. A special assembly was held on that day. Moving tributes were paid to her by staff and students on this occasion. A short cultural programme followed, presented by the youngest and the senior-most classes.

The Mother's 126th Birth Anniversary was celebrated on 21st February 2004 with joy and reverence. Early in the morning, the students gathered in school to pay their respects to Sweet Mother on this special day. The day began with the hoisting of the Mother's Flag and salute by the Captains and Vice-Captains. A brief and symbolic depiction of The Mother's life was presented by the students. The drill display was spectacular. Meditation and Prasad followed. 

Students observed Rabindra Jayanti on 7th May and paid homage to Tagore through songs, dances, plays and recitation. 

Career Counselling

The Career Counselling Programme has been started in the school for three years now for students of Classes IX to XII. It has helped them immensely by giving them a chance to identify their aptitudes correctly and eventually have a bright and successful career. Between April and December 2003 the students attended a number of seminars, workshops, individual and joint counselling sessions with parents. The courses were mostly conducted by Ms. Mala Mukherji of Institute for Career Studies. The students have expressed their gratitude for conducting this programme. The school bears the entire cost of this programme.

Co-Curricular Activities 

Saturday School is being continued fro 9 a.m. to 12 noon with focus on Co-Curricular Activities from Class III to IX ( options are Western Vocal, Synthesizer, Photography, Clay Modelling, Public Speaking, Chess and Quiz).

A display of the CCA activities was organised in May 2003.

On 1st November 2003, Grand Master Dibyendu Baruah played with more than 120 students simultaneously . The match was won by 3 students and 5 students made a draw.

Project Method of Teaching

Project Work, an important part of our curriculum, is meticulously planned based on the skills that need to be inculcated in the students, and is multidisciplinary in nature. 

For the first term the 1st Project was done by the combined effort of the students of Classes I - IV. The subject was COLOURS. Thereafter it was done separately by Classes I, II, III, IV. The subjects were MY HOME, MONSOON, SAFETY and DESERT respectively. The topics for classes V and VI were FOLK TALES and ANIMALS.

In the second term, the topics for classes I, II, III, IV, V, VI were FOOD, RAILWAY STATION; POLLUTION; OUR ENVIRONMENT - FOCUS : KOLKATA; PEOPLE AROUND US; SPECIAL CHILDREN AND PEOPLE respectively.

Projects of the students of Classes I - VI were displayed on 12th July 2003. The effort and talents of the children were greatly appreciated by the parents and guests who came to see the exhibition.

A number of Mathematics projects were undertaken by the senior students such as computation of Income Tax and Sales Tax including filling up necessary forms, Banking, Shares and Dividends and Representation of data in matrix form.

Multimedia 

Teaching through multimedia is being carried on in a major way, from Class I to V with the help of SCHOOLNET (a constituent of IL & FS). 

The relationship with Schoolnet over the last three years has proved to be beneficial for both the students and teachers of our school. The teachers who had started with a 10 day Foundation Course which had initially equipped them with various teaching tools developed with the help of the computer, have joined the Intermediate course after completing two years. This course is going to make our teachers even more self-sufficient and will enable them to design their own teaching aids and tools and develop their own lessons. All the teachers consider themselves fortunate to be a part of this programme. The cost of this programme is borne entirely by the school. 

Newsletter

School Newsletter is being published regularly every quarter and is sent free of cost to parents. It carries information about all activities carried out during that quarter.

Scholarships 

Merit Cum Means Scholarships are offered to deserving students. There are seven students who are full-free and seven others who pay half of the fees. The session fee has been waived for one student.

Other scholarships that are offered by the school are:

Bandana Sen Memorial Award ~ Rs.2000/-

This award has been instituted by Dr. Sankar Sen in memory of his wife. It is awarded to girl students with good academic record coupled with good conduct and who have been in this school for a minimum of three years.

Krishnabandhu Das and Sushilabala Das Memorial Award~ Rs. 600/-+Rs. 600/- :

This award has been instituted by Shri Soumen Das in memory of his parents. These two awards are received by a boy and a girl who have scored the highest in Maths in the ICSE exams .

Dyumanbhai Memorial Award - Rs. 1000/-

This award instituted by Shri Chamanlal Gupta and Smt Shipra Gupta in memory of Dyumanbhai . It is awarded for integral excellence to the most deserving outgoing student.

Pradyot Kumar Bhattacharya Memorial Award ~ Rs. 1000/-:

This award has been instituted by Shri Rathin Mitter in memory of the Founder Chairman for the student topping the ICSE Exams. 

Binapani Memorial Award - Rs. 1000/-

This award has been instituted by Smt Bithika Guha in memory of her mother for the student topping the ISC exams. 

Deepayan Dutta Memorial Award - Rs. 1000/-

This award has been instituted in memory of Deepayan Dutta, an ex-student of this school by his parents. This is received by the student topping the ICSE exams.

The Future Foundation School (Classes I To XII)

The outgoing students have obtained admission in various prestigious colleges including : Medical Colleges and Engineering Colleges - Jadavpur University and Kolaghat, Presidency College, Lady Braboune, Gokhale College, Techno India Ltd., Heritage, Sikkim Manipal.

From the 2004 ISC batch, 19 students are studying engineering, and 2 students are in medicine.

Trips

On 26th November sixty students from Classes IX and XI along with seven teachers visited Ushagram for four days to see their unique approach to school education in a rural setting within relatively minimal means. 

Clubs

It is mandatory for all students of classes VIII to XII to be members of any one of the following clubs :

• Nature Club and WWF 
• Spicmacay 
• Interact Club 

Nature Club and WWF 

The Nature Club of the school has joined hands with WWF to work for a better global environment. 

April 4, 2003 ~ "Earth Day" observed. Awareness generated to discourage the use of plastic carry - bags in order to arrest the degradation of soil and drainage system.

August 18, 2003 ~ Joined hands with an NGO called "Friends for The Trees" for sapling distribution.

September 26, 2003 ~ Organised an audio-visual show for the students on "Biodiversity of Calcutta."

September 2003 onwards the club is working at Baganbari Slum to generate environmental awareness. This includes proper garbage disposal, sapling plantation, making compost from vegetable and fruit peels, use of medicinal plants, making paper bags and selling them for income generation, reducing the use of polybags, using mosquito nets. This was a part of the "Better Kolkata Contest".

October 2003 ~ Organised and conducted Inter-House Nature Quiz for Junior, Middle and Senior School.

November 11, 2003 ~ Participated in the district level seminar at Bible Society, organized by WWF. Topic - "Action Plan to improve environmental awareness in your locality". The school won the 1st Prize and got a cash prize.

November 19, 2003 ~ Participated in "Poster" and "Eco - Club Diary" contests organized by West Bengal Pollution Control Board.

December 2003 ~ Door to door campaigning in Shantinagar area to spread environmental awareness. Visited 26 houses, distributed leaflets and took signatures of the residents.

December 31, 2003 ~ Took part in the state level Seminar organized by WWF at Moulali Yuva Kendra .Our school won the 1st prize out of 22 schools. 

January 1,2, 2004 ~ Took part in a camp at Sunderbans, organized by WWF.

February 2004 ~ Malaria awareness campaign.

February 22, 2004 ~ Vermicompost started in school. 

Spicmacay

The school joined hands with Spicmacay (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Dance), to spread the movement, and since then some enriching cultural programmes have been organized for the benefit of the school students.

July 19, 2003 ~ State Convention at Mahadevi Birla Girls' High School. Our school was appreciated for its interest and involvement in the movement of SPICMACAY. 

July 28, 2003- a programme of dance, music and skit was staged by Spicmacay members of Classes VI and VII.

August 4, 2003 ~ Sarod Workshop by Sri Anindya Banerjee accompanied by Sri Abhijit Bhattacharya on tabla.

August 25, 2003 ~ Workshop for underprivileged children under Better Kolkata Project was held. The guest children very eagerly learnt to dance and sing from the students of VII and XI. Snacks were served at the end.

September 15, 2003 ~ Virasat 2003 - Padma Bhushan Smt Uma Sharma enthralled the members with her Kathak Recital.

September 17, 2003 ~ Virasat 2003 - Manipuri Dance and Martial Art performance by Mrs. Priti Patel and her troupe.

September 22, 2003 ~ Doll's theatre - Mr.Sudip Gupta and his group.

December 6, 2003 ~ The Spicmacay Club of FFS performed at G. D Birla Centre for Education as a part of the Inter-School Spicmacay meeting . 

February 16, 2003 ~ The last club day of the session 2003-2004. Members from Class VI presented a beautiful programme, which was organized by the senior members of Class XI. This was a day of evaluating the year's work.

Coming Session : The school received and accepted the invitation to the National Convention at Mumbai.

Interact Club

The school has joined hands with the Rotary Club to carry on different social projects through the students for the mutual benefit of both, Society and students.

May 16, 2003 ~ Fund Raiser - Canteen Sale, 28 Interactors.

July 1, 2003 ~ Celebrated "Rath Yatra" with socially backward kids of Atma Vikas School.

July 20, 2003 ~ 30 Interactors visited "Navanir" to share an afternoon with our senior citizens by entertaining them to dances, songs and recitation.

July 22, 2003 ~ Fund Raiser- Craft sale.

August 3, 2003 ~ Literacy camp started every week where interactors taught slum children.

August 12, 2003 ~ 25 Interactors celebrated "Raksha Bandhan" with the inmates of 'Cheshire Homes'.

September 21, 2003 ~ Nabadisha Project - 6 Interactors assisted the Rotarians in the distribution of medicines to the underprivileged children at Charu Market Police Station.

October 21, 2003 ~ Lotus Project - Interactors helped 6 families in the slum at Shantinagar.

November 17, 2003 ~ Donated old clothes to Mary Ann Dasgupta of Share House Charitable organization.

November 24, 2003 ~ 19 Interactors celebrated Christmas with children in Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital.

February 15, 04 ~ Nabadisha Project - 5 interactors joined the campaign.

Upcoming Projects : 

Visit juvenile jail to stage "Karakahini" of Sri Aurobindo and present each inmate a rose and a food packet.

Collection of a cup of rice and a cup of daal from each member, weekly, to donate the whole amount to a family living on the streets.

Collection of one old blanket from each member to protect pavement dwellers on a very cold night during winter.

Competitions

An inter-school competition in English, Hindi and Bengali of quiz, elocution, extempore speech, declamation and essay on Sri Aurobindo was organised by Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture on 27th August 2003. Renowned schools of Kolkata such as G.D. Birla Centre for Education, St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Narmada School, South Point High School, The Modern Academy, St. Joseph and Mary's School, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Kamala Girls, National Gems Senior Secondary School, Mahadevi Birla Sishu Vihar, La Martinere for Boys participated. The total number of participants was 365.

Personalities, eminent in their respective fields, were invited to be the judges.

School Library

The Future Foundation School has a well-stocked library with books on all subjects including those on and by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. There is a huge collection of reference books and a good number of text books. The library is functioning smoothly. One qualified librarian is there to see to the efficient running of the library.

Estimated total of these books is more than 4000. Library now remains open beyond school hours also. 

A separate junior school library has been started in the first floor of the school building, which is looked after by the Junior School Librarian. The junior students are free to choose books in English, Hindi and Bengali. The books are coded with differently coloured tapes according to class e.g. red taped books for Class I and so on. Some books have combination tapes which are available to students of two classes. If the students finish reading the easier books they are given the choice of books from the next level. A new corner has been made within this library notwithstanding the space constraint where students are encouraged to write stories, poems, book reviews and make cut-outs of the story book characters. Casettes are played in the library for the children. Both teachers and children come to the library for reference books mostly required for project work. Donation of books is received by the library from insiders and outsiders

Special Honours for the School

Mr. Francis Fanthome, Chief Executive and Secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations praised the school results, when interviewed by a leading daily regarding the ICSE and ISC results. The Council also offered to pay all fees for Sonu Swaika who passed ISC from our school and was finding it difficult to do her engineering from BITS, Pilani for want of money.

Anasua Chakraborty, Bula Paul, Indrani Chakraborty and Sreeparna Bose, teachers of this school were faculty for a workshop on Computer Applications organized by the Council's Kolkata Office and attended by 25 schools.

Principal of The Future Foundation School has been re-nominated as a Member of the Standing Committee of Examinations by the Council of Indian Certificate of School Examinations. 

Mr. Ranjan Mitter, the Principal of the school was entrusted by the Council for preparing a programme for Comprehensive Training for In-Service High School Teachers. This programme has been launched successfully. It is on presently in the Council with a student strength of 130.

The Principal was also a member of ASISC, Executive Committee, West Bengal Chapter, in the year under review.

Principal of The Future Foundation School has been appointed by the Council of Indian Certificate of School Examination as Inspector of Schools for Schools seeking affiliation to the Council.

The Principal was invited as the Chief Guest for The Frank Anthony Memorial Debate, East Zone, held at La-Martinere for Boys. He was also requested to be the Moderator of the Inter-Martinere Debate also held at La- Martinere for Boys.