First IDU debate set for 22nd May; BookMyShow becomes official partner
The IDU is India's inspirational new platform for public debate.
Tweet-- Mumbai, April 2010: The Indian Debating Union's first debate will take place on the 22 historic Nehru Centre in South Mumbai. BookMyShow.com, India's largest online ticketing services provider, is the exclusive ticketing partner for this and all future IDU audience debates. The thought-provoking and somewhat controversial motion for the first debate is 'This house would repeal all constitutional amendments in favour of reservations'. This motion, however, may change in the weeks preceding the debate should another topical issue be more relevant at the time of the first debate.
Whilst aiming to thoroughly entertain its audiences with lively and interesting topical debates, the IDU also seeks to inspire them to greater engagement in public life. "We all enjoy a good debate, especially if we're engaged intellectually and emotionally," says Abhaey Singh, the London-born President and one of the principal debaters of the IDU. "But once one is sensitised to a particular subject or cause within a debate, it is also likely that one would be more inclined to partake in that cause in some way. And that's one of the things that we hope to achieve.'
The IDU's debates will be focussed mainly on Indo-centric issues and current affairs covering any area of mass interest, from popular culture and society, to national development and geopolitics. Its debaters have been trained in a specially refined variant of the parliamentary style of debating, as used in varsity and professional debating tournaments around the world.
"For less than the cost of a drink at a posh bar, one can have a hugely stimulating and entertaining evening watching an IDU debate," adds Singh. "If you think about it, there's not that much happening around us, in the broader context, that engages the mind and entertains at the same time to this extent. So we're particularly proud of this effort - to bring such value to our audiences.'
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