Waxing Eloquent

On 15th June 2023, the finals for the much-awaited Annual Inter-School English Elocution competition took place. Five students beat the competition in their respective categories during the preliminary rounds to get to the finals. Girls were allowed to participate for the first time in TMS Waxing Eloquent history, achieving nothing short of excellence.

At 10 am we were introduced to our esteemed judges: Dr. Cezina D’Souza, who has more than 20 years of experience in the education field and is the director of the Cezina Educational Consultancy, and Melanie Potgieter, who has 12 years of experience in the education sector.

The Sub-Junior category was opened with a recital of the poem "Lessons of Nature" by Rimsha Sulthana of Gems Our Own High School, Dubai. She was followed by Our Own English High School Sharjah Girls’ Maiza Mirshad, who delivered "Nature’s Crew". Next was Hosanna D’Souza reciting the poem "Get 'Booked' with Nature". From our very own school, we had Ethan Thomas interpreting the poem "How to Tell Wild Animals". Last but not least, we had Ohanna Kumar from Gems New Millennium Al Khail with "Nature’s Environment". The first place in the category was awarded to Rimsha Sulthana for her stunning performance.

The Junior category commenced with Gems Our Own English High School, Dubai’s Avyukta Rahul reciting "Nature Has a Voice". Philip Thomas from Our Own English High School, Sharjah, followed with his interpretation of "The Big Tree". Zuhayr Khan of Gems Our Own Indian School recited "Nature’s Comedy Club", and Angelin Bijoye from Our Own Sharjah narrated a beautiful self-composed piece called "Wonder of Wilderness". Finally, Tharun Karthick of TMS, Dubai executed a powerful reading of the piece "On Killing a Tree", earning him the gold medal for his category. Nedha Riaz from our very own school graced the audience with a musical interlude, performing a beautiful pianistic rendition of Blue Moon by Lorenz Hart.

A creative new format was introduced in the Sub-Senior and Senior categories, in which participants had to do a live interpretive reading with only a 45-minute preparation window, and create and deliver an original extempore speech within 15 minutes. Jehan Ibrahim of GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai was the first to perform in the Sub-Senior category, followed by Raphael Rusten of the GEMS New Millennium School, Dubai. Our Own English High School Sharjah-Girls was represented by Dhriti Saraogi, and proudly representing our school was Pranati Srinath. Last but not least was Samford Sebin of Our Own English High School Sharjah-Boys. Raphael Rusten of GEMS New Millennium was awarded the first position for his exemplary performance and technique.

Finally, the much-awaited Seniors Category was started with a bang by Rishit Goswami of GEMS Modern Academy, followed by a captivating extempore speech by Breeklyn Hannah from The Millennium School, Dubai. GEMS Our Own English High School, Girls’ Aabidah Rakhange went up next, after whom was Malavika Nair of GEMS New Millennium School. The final performer from this category was Dyuthi Vasupal of Our Own English High School, Sharjah. Rishit Goswami of GEMS Modern Academy won first place, and GEMS Our Own English High School, Girls secured the rolling trophy. The event was concluded with a moving rendition of the song "Roar" by Katy Perry by the talented members of the TMS choir.

Sarah Koshy

11-C