The Hindu : New Delhi News : New Routes 2 Roots programme launched

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New Delhi

New Routes 2 Roots programme launched

Staff Reporter

To encourage friendship between school children in India and Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Attempting to bridge borders and scale boundaries, a programme called “Exchange for Change” was launched here in the Capital on Friday to encourage friendship between school children in India and Pakistan.

“There is a certain mindset about the neighbouring nation in both the countries. There is a need to bring in new thought through children,” said Indian Council of Cultural Relations Director General Suresh Goyal, who was present at the launch.

The programme was conceptualised by a non-government organisation Routes 2 Roots, which works “to make peace between the SAARC countries, focusing on India and Pakistan in particular”.

“Exchange for Change” involves 2,400 children from 10 schools from Delhi and Mumbai in India, and from Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan. The programme will be executed in four phases: students in both countries will first communicate through written postcards, followed by an exchange of pictures of the children's everyday lives, then an exchange of pictures of monuments and finally DVDs with recorded audio messages from the children will be mailed across to the neighbour country.

“We should not be consumers of commercial interest,” said Pakistan High Commission Counsellor Irfan Ahmed, referring to the existing prejudices regarding the “other nation” in both countries. He expressed the hope that the programme will act as a fillip between the two societies and help clear misunderstandings.

The participating schools are Sanskriti School, St. Paul's School and B.R. Mehta Vidya Bhavan from Delhi, and Shishuvan School and Gandhi Memorial School from Mumbai. The schools from Pakistan are City School, Links, ILM School, SMB Fatimah Jinnah, and Saving Group School.

Children from participating schools were evidently excited about the exchange. “I have already written my letter. It is like having a pen friend.

Interacting through the internet is fine, but writing will definitely mean a long- term friendship,” said Benazeer Hena, a Class VIII student of St. Paul's School. The parents of the students also appreciated the effort.

Calling it a significant initiative, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Manish Tiwari said it was important to have a “continuous interaction” to realize there is a “lot of shared civilisational strength” between the two nations.

The principals of the participating schools from India also agreed that “Exchange for Change” was an important step towards bringing the children from today's generation closer to their roots.

“Peace does not happen overnight. It needs to be nurtured, the correct values to be instilled right from formative years,” said Routes 2 Roots founder Rakesh Gupta.

The first phase of the 16-month-long programme will take off from January next year.

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