The Debating Club of Mody University organised a competition cum-friendly activity called ‘Turn Coat' wherein, the speaker has to flip sides on certain indication by the judges at
regular or irregular intervals. Thus, the speakers had to change their stance by speaking both ‘for’ and ‘against’ the motion. The topics were allotted to the speakers on the basis of chit-
picking, two minutes prior to their turn of speaking, in order provide time to prepare points from both the sides. Some of the topics were: ‘Law of Sedition should be scrapped’, ‘Government should provide free birth control’, ‘Censorship is good for Democracy’, Educational Qualifications should be a must for Ministerial Elections’, ‘Boarding School is better than Day Schooling’ etc. The participants were judged on the basis of Spontaneity (20 marks), Overall Presentation (10m ) and Content (10m). Seventeen Students has participated, of which, Top 5 were declared as winners.
It turned out to be an interesting activity, which involved some active mental exercise and brainstorming, while some found it tricky to change their stance and taking the U-turns. Moreover, the judges also appreciated and gave some good tips for getting better in the art of speaking. The Teacher In-charges of the Club were also of immense support for the success of the event.
The objective of the activity was to make the participants, audience and even the organizers realize that just like a coin has two sides, every issue or topic too, has varied perspectives and
for students, their education is successful when they are able to flexibly think!