Mumbai/Hyderabad, 23 January 2023: The Hyderabad Public School (HPS), one of the most reputed education systems in India, as part of the year-long centenary celebrations witnessed a spectacular musical by the Symphony Orchestra of India at its newly build Open Air Theatre marking an end to the 3 days India Science Festival. The 45-member orchestra is India’s only professional symphony orchestra and was established by the National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai in 2006. The mesmerizing hour-long performance, SOI’s first in Hyderabad, was conducted by British conductor Maestro Mikel Toms. Some of the popular melodies included Mozart – Overture of The Magic Flute, Beethoven’s – Symphony No. 6, and Schubert – Symphony No. 5 among others. The orchestra even performed The Hyderabad Public School Song which was composed by former principal Mr. Arnold Brown. The audience comprised members of The HPS Society, the Board of Governors, alumni, staff, parents, students, and special invitees.
The evening also saw the release of the centenary celebrations school song video created by 3,800 HPS students and staff by Lord Karan Bilimoria, an alumnus of HPS and Member of Parliament of the UK, virtually. The school also paid a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Dennis Powell, a former music teacher who recently passed away.
Speaking on the occasion of the SOI’s performance Mr. Gusti J Noria – The President of the HPS Society said, “I strongly believe that school education is best enhanced by a robust co-curricular routine, and what better way than to have India’s premier professional orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of India perform as part of the centenary celebrations at the newly-built Open Air Theatre, which is a part of many new infrastructural developments for the school. I am sure the enchanting performance has really given the students & audience the will to learn and promote classical music”.
Dr. Madhav Dev Saraswat, Principal further added, “It is a proud moment to see through the successful completion of the India Science Festival at The Hyderabad Public School which attracted august participation from students and enthusiasts. The interesting fireside chats, panel discussions, and various exhibits proved that Indian students are at the forefront of innovation. Having the Symphony Orchestra of India perform today as part of the year-long centenary celebrations was exhilarating and I thank the members of SOI & NCPA for coming to Hyderabad and putting up such a great show.”
Glimpses of the Day 2 of The Indian Science Fest
The closing day of the science fest showcased a tandem of events from Talks to Fireside Chats to Panel Discussions. A panel discussion on what India’s science ambition should be took off with Mr. Varun Agarwal (FAST India), Ms. Deepanwita Chattopadhay (IKP Knowledge Part), Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan (NCBS Bangalore), and Mr. Thomas Barlow (Barlow Advisory Group). Other panelists namely. Ms. Subra Priyadarsini (Nature India), Mr. Anurag Aggarwal (Ashoka University), Mr. Subhash Lingareddy (MapMyGenome), Ms. Debjyoti Chakravarty (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi) discussed on ‘Gene Editing – Playing God or Saving the Planet’. A few other topics for other notable panelists included ‘The Bollywood Spotlight on Scientists’, ‘Future of AI: Big Models or Smart Models’, ‘India, where are your books on science?’, ‘Living in the Metaverse’, and ‘Space Startups galore: Can they help India realize its space dreams?” as the panelists shared their erudite thoughts.
The Fireside Chats had conversations going between NASA engineer Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya (Astrohub, USA) and Ms. Sandhya Ramesh (The Print) while yet another segment was held between Ms. Siuli Mitra (CMC Vellore) with Mr. Arjun Srivathsa (NCBS, India) and Mr. Rohan Chakravarty (Green Humour, India) had a discussion on ‘Art and Humour to the (wildlife) rescue. Mr. Thomas Barlow (Barlow Advisory Group, Australia) had a fireside chat with Ms. Anjana Seshadri (FAST India).
Thought-provoking talks were delivered by Ms. Jyotsana Dhawan, CSIR-CCMB on ‘The Secret Lives of STEM Cells, Mr. Udayan Ganguly from IIT Bombay on ‘Size doesn’t matter: How nanomaterials are shaping our future’, Dr. Manjari Tripathi, AIIMS New Delhi on ‘Brain in Seizures: Decoding Epilepsy’. An interesting talk by Mr. Lewis Hou, Science Ceilidh, Scotland on ‘Supporting science engagement through traditional arts was followed by a special violin performance.
There was a beautiful film screening of ‘The Astronaut and the Parrot’ followed by yet another fireside chat between Ms. Arati Kadav (filmmaker) and Mr. Ali Fazal (actor). An interesting ISF Booth Talk showcased ‘Genetically Modified Democracy’ by Ms. Sayantan Datta (Korea University) and Mr. Aniket Agha (Author, Ashoka University). The event closed with a Prize Distribution and fusion of storytelling and soulful music by the MaaHaa project.
