Borders melt as India, Pak students meet

Virtual meeting busts myths, forges ties

When two dozen students at DLF Public School in Ghaziabad interacted with students in Pakistan, one of the students from India spoke about Mahatma Gandhi using non-violence as “a weapon to mobilise the nation”.

To this, a student from Pakistan replied, “Gandhiji practised non-violence as a ‘tool’ and not as a weapon.”

All the Indian participants in the interactive group — divided only by a giant screen and not by any geo-political border — were stunned.

This was a session which took place recently between six schools from India and Pakistan to promote cross-country harmony. Students from Delhi-NCR interacted with students in Pakistan in a bid to dispel pre-conceived notions about each other.

 A student from Pakistan said the youth in both countries should focus on stories of hope and harmony. Recounting one such incident, he said: “A group of Sikhs in India had once allowed hundreds of Muslims to pray in their gurdwara when the space in mosque was falling short during Eid. We shouldn’t forget such incidents.”

Navya Gupta, a Std XI student, described the interactive session as “unique”.

“There may be many differences at the political level but at our level, we must forget the past and embark on the path of peace to improve our future relationship,”
she said.

“I have a few cousins staying in the US and my father travels abroad frequently. I know so much about other countries but I am clueless about life in Pakistan. After this interaction, I realise there is hardly any difference between us,” Navya added.

Anjali Mittal, English teacher and programme co-ordinator at DLF Public School, said the students were encouraged to ask those questions which “can never be answered by Google”!“We ensured that the dialogue was enriching and fruitful,”
she said.

“Over the past two years, we have been interacting with students from Australia, the UAE, Scotland, Lebanon and Pakistan. Our students rate their experience with the children from Pakistan schools as the most enjoyable one till date,” Mittal added.

Arish Mudra Rakshas (15), from DLF Public School, said: “We like the same movies; we enjoy the same shopping experience; we relish reading the same kind of books. The only difference is in the matter of faith, perhaps. So, why should that make so very different from each other?”Answers, anyone?