The Debate Thread: Events, clubs, forums for debating in India

amithar · 05:07 PM

Debating is an activity that opens minds. This thread is to discuss Debates and debating-related events, clubs, societies, workshops and the works in and around India.

The purpose of this thread is share information on any / all of the following:

1. Debating Clubs, Societies, Groups existing in India: Could be ones existing inside your organization / company, college, B-School -- The idea is to get to know the structure of such societies and how they function.

2. Debating events: Information on topics / speakers (Celebrity speakers if any perhaps).

3. Debating Rules: (Generic) -- Rules vary but this would just give us an insight as to what the prevailing standards are: with respect to allocated time, rules of rebuttling, etc

4. Prospective Topics: If we have a good strong community going here.. maybe we could decide on a topic once every few days and share our views FOR or AGAINST it. It is important to note that debating involves taking sides.

So, which side are you on?

aniina_8

Hey,

Cool job bro.... its a gr8 thing to start... lets c if MODS allow then v can have good discussion and Knowledge sharing...

ranjit_2007

I am have been waiting for a thread like this for a long time....come on, bring it on....

Apurv

Quote:

Originally Posted by aniina_8

Hey,

Cool job bro.... its a gr8 thing to start... lets c if MODS allow then v can have good discussion and Knowledge sharing...

Of course this will be allowed

. But ONLY IF we can all debate meaningfully and respectfully. People shouldn't be insulting, fighting or being sarcastic and disrespectful to others. As long as we are a nice happy bunch and can agree to disagree, bring it on.

Cheers,

amithar

Good to see the initiative appreciated by some.. Hopefully it will catch on..

I am really passionate about debating and upon Googling I found that there are no SERIOUS Debating Clubs in Kolkata in particular and in India in General.

There are some toast-master's clubs.. but these are by-and-large company-specific. I havent seen a "generic" debating society, per se. I am a part of the Debating and Oratory Clubs at the workplace.. but it's not the same. So if therez anyone reading this who happens to know about debating societies in Kolkata (or INDIA for that matter!) who meet up regularly and conduct debates for its members.. that would be nice!

thebornattitude

Quote:

Originally Posted by amithar

Good to see the initiative appreciated by some.. Hopefully it will catch on..

I am really passionate about debating and upon Googling I found that there are no SERIOUS Debating Clubs in Kolkata in particular and in India in General.

There are some toast-master's clubs.. but these are by-and-large company-specific. I havent seen a "generic" debating society, per se. I am a part of the Debating and Oratory Clubs at the workplace.. but it's not the same. So if therez anyone reading this who happens to know about debating societies in Kolkata (or INDIA for that matter!) who meet up regularly and conduct debates for its members.. that would be nice!

Grt initiative man!!!!! I m uo for it,...even I was a member of the debating society in my college and unfortunately in my firm,,,,,its always 'makhanbaazi' to please the boss ......nobody dares to speak the truth......PLS LETS DO IT!!!!!

amithar

I attended a debate at Calcutta Club... it had some awesome speakers.. and a topic worth discussing!

The participants were:

FOR

Ms. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi
Mr. Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, Minister - Parliamentary Affairs
Mr. Rupen Roy - Head & MD, Deloitte India
Mr. Sanjeev Goenka - Vice Chairman, CESC and Head, RPG Enterprises

AGAINST

Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad - Former Minister of Information & Broadcasting
Mr. Salam Khurshid, Former Minister of External Affairs
Mr. Kunal Sarkar - an eminent cardiologist
Mr. Sougata Roy - Senior MLA from the region

It was a very very entertaining debate and the topic was:

"Coalition Government is a reflection of Indian Society"

Find the review on my blog here.

puresunshine

Quote:

Originally Posted by amithar

Good to see the initiative appreciated by some.. Hopefully it will catch on..

I am really passionate about debating and upon Googling I found that there are no SERIOUS Debating Clubs in Kolkata in particular and in India in General.

There are some toast-master's clubs.. but these are by-and-large company-specific. I havent seen a "generic" debating society, per se. I am a part of the Debating and Oratory Clubs at the workplace.. but it's not the same. So if therez anyone reading this who happens to know about debating societies in Kolkata (or INDIA for that matter!) who meet up regularly and conduct debates for its members.. that would be nice!

Well, the debating activity is quite good at the undergraduate level. There are some prestigious competitions like the LN Birla Debate... Loreto, NUJS and Presidency also have active debating cells. But yes, for workin pros there is nothin much!

kss2609

Hi mate,

It was really thoughtful of you to start this thread. Let us spend some time together and involve ourselves in some constructive criticism.

Regards,
Sudi

pravzmad

Hi Friends,

A very useful thread! Hope it realizes its potential of being a hot thread on PG.

Some prospective topics for a debate:

1) Justice delayed is justice denied? (Context: recent Nitish Katara murder case, where a judgement has been given after 6 yrs. Many other similar cases where justice has been delayed for a number of yrs.)

2) Is caste-based reservation the right approach? (there have been many threads discussing this issue, so may be, we can skip this one on this thread) Context: Gurjar protests asking for ST status.

3) Women's reservation bill? (Pros and cons)