Communique 2025

“If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives.”

– Rob Brown

 

Communique 2025 presented itself as the first eye-scorching student affair for the freshers of BESC. The entire 6th floor was adorned with creativity and art on Saturday, 30th August 2025, with enthugasmics from over ten colleges, thrilled to be a part of this Inter-College Literary and Public Speaking Fest, Communique 2025, featuring around twelve different events, curated by the Public Speaking Collective of BESC, Vox Populi.

The Opening Ceremony began at 9:00 A.M. sharp in the Concept Hall of the college, with the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, BESC, Prof. Dilip Shah, gracing the ceremony. The host declared the theme of Communique 2025, revolving around everything eerie, gothic, pixie, and the latent energy of manifestation – “The Alchemy of Manifestation,” following which Prof. Shah officially announced Communique 2025 as open. The Opening Ceremony offered the spectators a melodious, sweet yet short musical performance by the Music Collective of BESC, Crescendo, followed by the adrenaline rush provided by Flames, Dance Collective of BESC, through a dance arrangement of the Flames Western team — a fusion of contemporary and Gen-Z styles sprinkled with pixie dust, set to the spine-tingling theme song of the movie Shaitaan. Right after this, the competitions began, and the judges were felicitated at the end of each event, respectively.

Alchemist’s Dilemma: Alchemist’s Dilemma, also known as the Red Flag Defender, was held from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. in the Society Hall of the college with sixteen participants. Ms. Atreye Das, faculty of the Department of Commerce (Morning), BESC, was the esteemed judge for this unique event. She is a teacher educator, TESOL-certified trainer, curriculum designer, and co-author of the book Value-Oriented Life Skills. Each participant had to pick a chit that mentioned a toxic trait, an unforgivable red flag, or an indefensible quality. Their task was to defend it as if it were acceptable or even a good thing. Participants were given five minutes to prepare and one minute on stage to present their case in English. In Alchemist’s Dilemma, Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration was declared the winner, followed by the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) in second position, and NSHM Knowledge Campus in third position.

Verbal Transmutation: Verbal Transmutation was the Debate competition that took place from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. in the college’s Jubilee Hall, with sixteen teams and Rohit Das as the adjudicator, an M.Sc. Chemistry graduate from the University of Calcutta and an incoming DPhil researcher at the University of Oxford. The theme chosen for the day was the powerful feminist slogan “The Personal Is Political,” where teams of two were given half an hour for preparation, with one arguing for and the other against the motion. Each speaker was allotted two minutes in addition to one minute for rebuttal. References flowed from Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to contemporary issues like marital rape. The Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team) emerged as the winner of Verbal Transmutation, NSHM Knowledge Campus took second position, and Sister Nivedita University bagged the third prize. A Special Mention for the Best Rebuttals was awarded to Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration.

Wordlets: Wordlets was the Micro-fiction event that took place from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. in the Knowledge Adda, with sixteen participants. The event challenged the participants to capture a whole world in just a handful of words and was judged by Suhasini Burman, marketer, author, educator, and founder of SB & Co. and Zero Line Digital. Participants were given four prompts on the spot, which included “Love arrived too late or too early,” “The elevator stops, and you meet someone unexpected,” “A habit you thought harmless has consequences tonight,” and “A small lie leads to a big surprise tonight.” The participants had to choose one of the four topics, and, with only fifteen minutes to craft their entries either in English or Hindi, they had to prove that the smallest expressions can leave the deepest impact. Originality was the key; plagiarism meant instant disqualification, and the writers had to channel creativity while ensuring brevity. The Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team) once again rose as the winner of Wordlets, whereas second and third positions were awarded to MCKVIE (OTSE Team) and St. Xavier’s Autonomous College, respectively.

Spoken Sorcery: Commencing from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. in the Concept Hall of the college, Spoken Sorcery was a Relay Storytelling event with eight teams, each having a maximum of four members. Mr. Aman Aggarwala was the judge, and he is popular as a public speaking mentor. The teams were given a topic and six minutes to prepare themselves, and the story had to be original. They were allotted six minutes for narration. Opening impact, expression, transition, and creativity fetched brownie points for the teams. One of the teams narrated a beautiful story of a girl who suddenly had flashbacks of her college lover once she heard a particular song, while another team excelled with expressions. Spoken Sorcery witnessed the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) as the winner, Loreto College in second place, and NSHM Knowledge Campus securing third position.

Multiverse Madness: Multiverse Madness, also known as What If, commenced from 12:00 P.M. to 1:00 P.M. in the Knowledge Adda, with twelve participants. Prof. Shabina Nishat Omar was the esteemed judge for the event. She is a professor and head at AJC Bose College, University of Calcutta, and also the recipient of the Global Educator Award. The event challenged participants to combine imagination with writing skills, where they were given four choices out of which they had to choose one to write on. The choices included “What if 3 Idiots had a tragic ending instead of a happy one?”, “What if humans could communicate directly through thoughts instead of language?”, “What if the Berlin Wall had never fallen in 1989?”, and “What if art and creativity became the primary currency?” The writings were judged based on structure, content, language, and impact, within the word limit of five hundred, written in only an hour.
St. Xavier’s Autonomous College secured first position in Multiverse Madness, followed by the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) in second position, and NSHM Knowledge Campus placed third.

Manifestation Centre: Manifestation Centre, popularly known as the Mock-A-Podcaster, took place from 12:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. in the Placement Hall of the college, and the event was judged by Mr. Jimmy Tangree, influencer, motivational TEDx speaker, and Head of 91.9 Friends FM since 2014. Each team had two members, one podcaster and one guest. Teams were given four minutes to prepare their questions and the flow of conversation, after which they had eight minutes to record their podcast interview. The event had a twist, which stated that apart from the roles assigned previously, an additional chit determined whether a participant would act as the guest or the podcaster with another college. The event was judged based on the quality of questions, improvisations, creativity of conversation, and the podcast experience. In Manifestation Centre, EICASA–Podcaster and the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team)–Guest were declared winners, whereas the Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team)–Podcaster and the Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team)–Guest came second, and Seth Anandram Jaipuria College–Podcaster and Loreto College–Guest came third.

Quick Silver: Quick Silver was the JAM and Verteez competition, which took place from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. in the Society Hall of the college with fifteen participating teams. The event was judged by Parnab Mukerjee, a renowned public speaker and a published author across multiple platforms. The JAM segment consisted of two rounds with seven participants competing at a time. The moderator provided a phrase and the speaker had to talk fluently on it without hesitation, repetition, or grammatical slips, while the other participants had the right to interrupt by banging the table to point out a mistake. If the objection was correct, the challenger scored a point; otherwise, one point was deducted. It took place in two different rounds, and every round had two topics for the speakers. For Round One, the topics were “Sachin prefers leg before wicket in cricket” and “I wear glasses but I hardly have vision.” “The sky is partially outcast” and “The clock is perpetually stuck at 12 because it’s noon all the time” were the topics for Round Two. The segment of Verteez included only a single round where each team was given ninety seconds to guess a word the moderator had in mind by asking “Yes” or “No” questions. If the team failed to deduce the answer within the time limit, the question was passed on to the next team. Quick Silver witnessed the Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team) as the winner, Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration in second position, and The Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) in third position. The Best Jammer award was handed over to Seth Anandram Jaipuria College.

Alchemist’s Eye: Alchemist’s Eye, the Literary Interpretation, took place from 1:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. in the Knowledge Adda, with twelve participants and was once again judged by Prof. Shabina Nishat Omar. At the start of the event, a poem was given to all participants, and within an hour, they had to write a critical appreciation on the sheets provided, within two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty words, analysing the poem’s meaning, tone, and imagery, without the use of any electronic device. In addition, each participant had to compose a four-line original verse inspired by the poem. In Alchemist’s Eye, the Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team) was declared the winner, Scottish Church College (Main Team) came second, and Seth Anandram Jaipuria College came third.

The Spoken Spell: The Spoken Spell was the Mushayra event, which took place from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. in the Placement Hall of the college and was judged by Mr. Anubraata Bandyopadhyay, a versatile Urdu poet with two published volumes, a performer, and a visual artist. The event had two rounds, where in the first round, each participant was given two minutes to recite a shayari or nazm, out of which the selected participants qualified for the second round. In Round Two, the judge gave random words like “falsafa” and “aankhein” to the respective participants, and they had to create an original shayari on the spot using the given word without the use of any literary aid. The Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) bagged first place in The Spoken Spell, the Bhawanipur Education Society College (OTSE Team) took second place, and MCKV secured third place.

Ministry of Mayhem: Ministry of Mayhem, also known as the Parody Parliament, took place from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. in the Concept Hall of the college, with sixteen slots, each team having two members, and was judged by Sumit Kadel, a well-known Indian film critic, trade analyst, and influencer. It was an event where satire ruled the floor, but the use of foul language was prohibited. Round One saw each participant deliver a ninety-second opening speech in character, while Round Two turned into a twenty-minute open group discussion. The session had the theme “Nation Revamp Bill 2025,” where the house introduced provisions like the “Bigg Boss Loudspeaker Regulation,” where loud citizens were to be exiled to the Bigg Boss house until the next season, “Celebrity Right of Way,” where celebrities could freely overrun strugglers and commoners in Bollywood, and more. Topics were disclosed just five minutes prior, and the participants were allowed to speak in both English and Hindi. The simulation brought a star-studded chaos to life, with impersonations from Salman Khan and Ananya Pandey to Rekha Ji, Manoj Tiwari, and more. A cold, cutting exchange between “Jaya” and “Rekha” had the audience in splits. Ministry of Mayhem declared Loreto College (OTSE Team) as the winner, the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) was placed second, and EICASA was placed third. A Special Mention for Best Character Impersonation was awarded to the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) and Seth Anandram Jaipuria College.

Vision Alchemist: In Vision Alchemist, the Vlogging event, the screening of the vlogs commenced from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. in the Jubilee Hall of the college, with ten participating teams, each team having four members, and Mr. Suvobrata Ganguly as the judge. The theme for Vision Alchemist was “Alchemy in the Communiqué Life: How to Turn the Ordinary into Extraordinary.” Participants were given the freedom to shoot within the college premises, provided that the videos must be within six minutes, free of foul language, and submitted by 2:30 P.M. in .mp4 format via a pendrive. The event was judged based on the parameters of humour, creativity, editing, and content richness. Teams showcased heartfelt glimpses of campus life and transformed ordinary moments into extraordinary narratives. Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration successfully won first prize in Vision Alchemist, the Bhawanipur Education Society College (Main Team) took second place, and Techno India University took third place.

The Pivot Principle: The Pivot Principle, or the Block and Tackle competition, took place from 3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. in the college’s Society Hall, with sixteen slots. The judge for this high-octane event was once again Rohit Das. The essence of Block and Tackle is conviction meeting contradiction. Participants began by passionately defending a stance, and were then asked to pivot – switching instantly to argue the exact opposite. The format included one participant per institution, each given a fresh topic on the spot. One minute of speaking time was all they had, and with every switch came the test of balance in chaos, proving every “Pivot” a spectacle. Arguments on “Patriotism is just a state-sponsored brainwash” clashed with counterclaims of national pride, while the age-old complaint that “Exams kill creativity” was fiercely defended. The Pivot Principle witnessed Basanti Devi College as the winner, Heritage Law College and Seth Anandram Jaipuria College bagging second and third place, respectively.

The fest came to an end with the Valedictory Session, commencing at 5:00 P.M. in the college’s Jubilee Hall, with Mr. Parnab Mukherjee delivering the closing address. He emphasised the importance of observational anecdotes, enunciation over pronunciation, and the impact of strategic pauses in communication. He concluded with the words of the Punjabi poet Paash: “Mehnat ki loot sabse khatarnak nahi hoti, sabse khatarnak hota hai humare sapno ka mar jaana. Don’t let your dreams die!” This was followed by the announcement of the winners, where the Bhawanipur Education Society College emerged as the Overall Champions, and Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration were the Runners-Up.

To mark the perfect conclusion of the day, a Silent DJ was arranged following the closing ceremony in the Concept Hall, where everyone vibed and danced in joy as the hard work of all BESC volunteers paid off, achieving yet another successful fest — Communique 2025!

REPORTERS – Samriddha Nandi, Koena Chatterjee, Kshitisha Singh
PHOTOGRAPHERS – Gourav Chowdhury, Dev Sinha, Naina Roy, Himanshu Jain, Jagriti Kankaria, Sagar Dey