Leading the English Debating Society
December 3, 2025
Divij: “Seven years, Ma’am.”
I don’t think I’ll ever forget that exchange.
It all happened in the stillness of the Activity Centre, just moments after we lifted the Ms. Oliphant Memorial Debates Trophy after seven long years. The hall buzzed with applause, but somehow that brief dialogue cut through all of it. It felt like the entire weight — seven years of trying, of rebuilding, of almost getting there — contributed to that single moment.
And for me, as President of the English Debating Society, it was the moment everything came full circle.
People often assume debating is about sounding intelligent on a podium. But leadership in debating? That’s a different kind of challenge. You aren’t just managing a society. You’re managing ideas, egos, insecurities, breakdowns at 1 a.m., arguments over arguments, and the sheer emotional whiplash of winning one round and collapsing in the next.
Yet, for reasons I still can’t fully articulate, I loved every second of it.
When I took over the Society, debating in school was… fading. Before Covid, Welham had a proud legacy. After Covid, that flame flickered dimly — not gone, but less certain of itself. My mission became to bring that legacy back. Not by yelling “We must win,” but by nurturing something deeper: a sense of purpose, of craft, of belonging.
What followed was the most demanding, chaotic, exhilarating year of my life.
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Our momentum began at the Hugh Catchpole Debate at RIMC. It was our first major tournament of the year, and walking into RIMC’s intimidating grounds with the senior team felt like stepping onto a battlefield. Our team broke to the quarter-finals right away, and Ahan won Most Promising Speaker. That early validation lit a flame inside all of us. Something had shifted — we weren’t the underdogs anymore. However, we were still far from succeeding.
Then came the tournament that changed our narrative: The Shri Debates at The Shri Ram School, Maulsari.
We topped the tabs.
We won all four preliminary rounds — the only team to do so.
We broke to the semi-finals.
Individually Ahan and I placed 6th and 2nd among more than eighty national-level debaters. Standing there as our names were announced, I remember thinking: This… this is what we’ve been working for.
Chuckerbutty at Doon affirmed it further — Eshaan and Shreyas ranked 8th and 10th Best Speakers. At Gibson, Ahan swept three Best Speaker awards, because being effortlessly brilliant is just part of his personality at this point.
Every tournament felt like another brick laid toward redemption.
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But nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the Oliphant Debates.
Not only because it was our home tournament, not only because we hadn’t won it in seven years, and not only because the final was so intense that I think collectively we forgot how to breathe…
But because we felt the weight of every former Welham debater resting silently on our shoulders.
Ahan delivered the final speech of his life and walked away Best Speaker.
Tanveer, the youngest, was crowned Most Promising Speaker.
And when our team name was called as champions, I didn’t cheer immediately. I just closed my eyes.
Seven years.
Seven years of waiting.
Seven years of trying.
Seven years of quietly hoping this batch would be the one.
Standing on that stage, trophy in hand, surrounded by people who had become my closest companions, I wasn’t thinking about prestige or victory. I was thinking about the hours spent in Papa Gazebo with Hanumant sir till 2 a.m., reading material in the rain. I was thinking about the internal selections, the breakdowns, the comebacks, the Lafferty matter file carried by ‘Natties’, the mock rounds that went disastrously wrong, and the ones that went miraculously right.
I was thinking: This is what redemption feels like.
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The truth is, leadership is a myth if you pretend you did anything alone.
Ms. Harleen Kaur, our Teacher-in-Charge, carried us through the year with good humour, legitimate belief in us, and that iconic ability to motivate us using equal parts affection and fear. Her faith in our “main 4” after the fiasco at Shri (trust me, we will never speak of it again) is probably the only reason we recovered.
Our coaches from Pratarka Educational Services — Ayush Sir (both of them), Aadya Ma’am, Prachurjya Sir, Suryansh Sir, and especially Hanumant Sir — shaped us more than they probably realize. From online art-motion marathons to conceptual clarity sessions during the holidays, they didn’t just train us; they transformed us through their belief in our potential.
And then my batchmates — Shreyas, Atharva, and Samarth. They were not just seniors to the debating society; they were the backbone. Their critiques sharpened everyone, their experience guided the juniors, and their presence steadied me personally.
This year belongs to every one of them.
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When I look back, what stays with me isn’t the trophies or the rankings. Yes, they matter. But, what stays is:
Leading the Debating Society taught me more about myself than any role ever has. It taught me courage, clarity, resilience, compassion, and the startling realization that some of life’s greatest victories happen not in silence, but in rebuttals.
This year was reason, rhetoric, and redemption. But most of all, it was family to me.
And as I prepare to hand this Society over to the next leaders, namely Ahan and Tanveer, I can only hope they carry forward what I tried to rebuild and carry forward from Atharva Agarwal (President of the English Debating Society 2024-25): a culture of thinking fearlessly, speaking honestly, and learning relentlessly.
Because debating at Welham isn’t just an activity.
It’s an identity.
And this year, we reclaimed it.
Principal, Ma’am Kain: “After how many years, Divij?” Divij: “Seven years, Ma’am.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that exchange. It all happened in the stillness of the Activity Centre, just moments after we lifted the Ms. Oliphant Memorial Debates Trophy after seven long years. The hall buzzed with applause,
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