Somers White once aptly said, “90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform.”

It is never an easy job to keep aside any misgiving and overcome stage fear. No wonder, The Literary Association of St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad organised an Inter House Declamation Competition “The Outstanding Orators”, on 20^th September 2018 for classes 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th in the College Auditorium, in a bid to make students blossom into confident and powerful orators. The programme commenced with the arrival of our esteemed guests, namely our College Administrator Mr. A. McGowan, our Chief Coordinator Mr. J. Dube along with our judges for the day, Mrs. M. Francis and Mrs. C. Moore, two of our beloved ex-teachers, along with Dr. A. Mehrotra, a renowned physiotherapist of our city. Tanay  Manglani, the President of the Literary Association while extending a cordial welcome to the honoured judges, threw light on their remarkable achievements.

Following the floral welcome of our guests by the management of the Literary Association - Mrs. L. Gaffney, Mrs. C. Wesley and Mrs. D. Raj, Mr. T. Alberts and Mr. S. McGowan invoked God’s blessings with a reading from the Holy Bible and a special prayer, respectively. Subsequently, there was a prayer song by the School Choir and the College Anthem by the assembled gathering.

Suryash Tripathi, the Vice-President of the Literary Association, next introduced the rules of the Declamation Competition to the participants and the judges.

Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing like oratory, it is a skill that can turn a commoner into a king.” The hall reverberated with the applause given to soul stirring speeches of famous men and women, delivered by students of all houses in each category, from class 9 to class 12. A personalized memento was presented to each one of the judges by Ms. A. J. D’Cruz, the Chairperson of the Literary Association, as a token of love and gratitude.

Ms. A. J. D’Cruz, the Chairperson of the Literary Association requested the judges to share their observations and reflections on the art of oratory. Mrs. M. Francis fully appreciated the commendable efforts of all the participants and telling then to utilize all opportunities to be able to speak with clarity, confidence and courage. Dr. A. Mehrotra thanked the organizers for inviting her to judge the Declamation Competition, urging all to remember that each one of us is unique.

After the declaration of the much awaited results by Ms. A. J. D’Cruz, the formal Vote of Thanks was proposed by Eshveer Singh, the Treasurer of the Literary Association, in which he thanked the Principal, Rev. Fr. Rolfie D'Souza for allowing the students a platform to hone their oratory skills. The Literary Association expressed its gratitude to the Vice Principal, Rev. Fr. Joseph Sagayanathan for his support as well as to the Administrator, Mr. A. McGowan. The Association acknowledged the constant help and support of Mrs. L. Gaffney and Mrs. C. Wesley who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help to make the programme a success and helped in the tabulation of the results. Mr. S. Daniel and Mrs. C. Wesley trained the Choir which sang beautifully the hymn 'God will take care of you'. The efforts of the House Masters, Mistresses and English teachers in guiding and training the participants was also greatly applauded. The Association was grateful to the Association of Mass Communication for their excellent coverage of the Event. Mr. A. Arora designed the banner and the Power Point Presentation which was operated by Mr. J. Martin. Mr. D. Sebastian helped with the sound system. It was a concerted effort of each one which brought this Programme together. A huge thank you to one and all.

The Programme concluded with the singing of the National Anthem by the entire audience.

The results of the Inter House Declamation Competition are as follows:

                                                  Class 9

                                                Class 10

                                                 Class 11

                                                Class 12

                                           Overall Results