Across the shores

Updated on: Monday, July 19, 2010

Seven Indian students were pleasantly surprised when they got a letter from the youth affairs ministry. The message said that they would be the fortunate few to fly off to Toronto on June 25 to participate on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. Titled as 'My Summit', these seven students from different parts of the country (Bareilly, Pune, Chennai, Delhi) got to rub shoulders with students from several other G-20 countries like Turkey, South Africa and China, among others.

"Initially, I wanted to make sure that it was not a prank," says Apoorva Gupta, a third year student of English literature from Lady Shri Ram college. Gupta, who has been actively involved in socially relevant issues like autism, AIDS and well-being of geriatrics, is a member of National Service Scheme (NSS). NSS is the common factor among all those who had been selected to represent India at 'My Summit."

Arka Biswas, another member of the NSS, is a physics student of Hans Raj College. "The primary criterion for being selected for this event was the extent of one's involvement in social causes as a student," says Biswas, part of the World Lung Foundation.

The seven-member team was selected by the youth affairs ministry and reached Toronto on June 25. Their stay was organised at the St Michael's College in the University of Toronto, Canada, where they got to exchange opinions and ideas with students from 20 different countries. "Once we reached there, we forgot our inhibitions and mingled freely. The sincerity of the summit was never in question, but it was not overbearingly academic," says Gupta. "This was a great platform for global networking, understanding international relations better and on the whole a more uninterrupted access to other cultures," says Biswas.

Adds VI Prashanth, a BCom student from Chennai's Loyola College, "Initially, I had plans of doing MBA in marketing but this exposure has got me more interested in international relations," says Prashanth.

Mayank Goel from Shri Ram College of Commerce was the only member of the team who got to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A student of economics, Goel says that the two-day interaction has infused in him a deep desire to continue his studies in economics and become a financial advisor in the future.

Times of India

Across the shores

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