Students from 20 countries unite in Delhi for a tranquil planet

When the cultural cauldron of energised ebullient students from 20 countries and 25 international schools start wafting the aroma of fraternal feelings and mutual trust, one can vouch that the world is going to be a ‘Planet Peaceful’!

Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, is organising its ninth International Summit on ‘Community Development & Leadership’ (CDLS 2014) till November 23. The topic this year is, ‘It starts with us: The power of one!’

The opening session had experts like Mukul Rohatgi, the Solicitor General of India; Pankaj Vohra, eminent journalist; Maroof Raza, defence analyst; Pranab Mukherjee, the celebrated quizmaster and Ashok Pratap Singh, president, Board of Trustees, Modern School. Kiran Bedi had a very absorbing session with the students.

Mukul Rohatgi, India’s Auditor General and an ex-Moderni’ite, stated, “The main aim is to create global citizens who will look beyond the geographical boundaries and look at the world as the global village it is now becoming. ‘Cultural shocks’ at such a summit give way to cultural assimilation.”

Schools from Russia, South Africa, Italy, Germany, UK, Nepal, USA, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia, Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, India etc have been interacting with each other at Modern School in purposeful activities.

Principal Vijay Datta stated that the summit aimed at inculcating leadership qualities and a sense of social responsibility towards the community amongst the youth of today for giving a better tomorrow to the world.

“Living, learning and immersing yourself in another culture will widen your prospective and give you a competitive edge in this inter-reliant world. Experiencing a completely new culture, making new friends and doing new things, enjoying different food, knowledge, skills, and insights about other people and other countries that will prepare you for an international career,” he added.

James Cafferky from Australia exudes that his presumption about India was that it was a country of snake charmers, magicians and backward people. However, on arrival to India, the impression had completely changed. “It’s a nation on a fast track!” says James.

Veronica Harkins from Italy has almost fallen in love with India and sees similarities between India and Italy. “May be that we both are backed by history and civilisations,” she stated. It is expected that the ideas exchanged during the summit will empower students to understand the role of leadership in community development.

Pakistan’s Ismail Khan Afridi was of the view that India and Pakistan can be the best of neighbours only if politicians let people interact in a peaceful ambience. However, he quipped, “Why do you have paneer in everything? Paneer in sandwich, roti, daal and almost everything? Also, the food here is a little spicy.” Ismail’s teacher, Iqbal Haider stated, “I’ve come to open the door to Indian students.”

Before coming to India, Canada’s Julianna thought that it was a land of black magic but having arrived here and seen massive malls, designer hospitals and state of the art metro, her view has taken a u-turn and now according to her India is numero uno!

According to Ashok Pratap Singh who had floated the idea of this summit about 10 years ago, “The world today is in need of a new set of leaders. The youth of today needs to step up to the challenge. The future rests on their young shoulders.”

To set the ball rolling the students will have interactive sessions with eminent political leaders, social workers, industrialists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, quiz masters, journalists, artists and celebrities. A fun filled day of leadership through experiential learning will bring out the leader in each one of them.

To sensitise the students to different aspects of community development, the summit includes field visits to Gandhi Samadhi, a session with the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, SOS Village, Prayas (an NGO), the Taj Mahal, and The Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) besides many other places of interest in Delhi. The multimedia session will give students an opportunity to express their views over global concerns such as terrorism, global warming and world peace. A cultural evening will culminate the CDLS 2014.