In a recent event celebrating the spirit of National Integration,18 students from Modern college, Piphema, along with two teachers embarked on an educational tour from Nagaland to Ahmedabad. This was part of the NIT, organized by Indian Army. The event is designed to foster unity and understanding across different regions of the country and it’s an ongoing project of Army to create brotherhood and oneness amongst the people of North Eastern region.
Today I talked to Ricky Das, an Assamese boy and student of the Modern College, Piphema, who was a part of this NIT.
“This initiative is really a good one as it allows the young minds of Nagaland to explore the outside world at that level where we don’t have to make any payments and the only thing we have to do is just make ourselves available and open our minds without holding ourselves back just try to gain as much knowledge as possible and learn many things about the outside world.”
According to Ricky this great initiative of Assam Rifles at the behest of the Indian Army is an eye opener for that region.
“Being from a remote state this tour definitely acts as an eye opener for all of us.It certainly displays how the world beyond the horizon moves, how people survive and how big cities welcome ideas with actions.Well, the west is definitely bigger and make us enrich by learning about their multiple-culture too and honestly my experiences were grand, be it the places we visited,the food we tasted,the people we met, the things we bought and everything including the lodging and other essential transportion that were beyond our expectations”..
“Words cannot sum up my experience”, he added.
“Assam Rifles’ personnel who accompanied us ensured that no harm could be done to us and personally I should say that the Army & Assam Rifles went beyond their comfort zone to take enough care of us and make us feel safe at every point so that we could enjoy.”- This young lad delightedly expressed his thoughts.
Ricky was excited while talking.Then I asked how he feels about his visit from a far flung area of Nagaland to Western part of India, he said…
“On a general note the tour was an exposure to the west and being a common boy from the North east, this exposure was something which I never thought of till date, especially the amazing and unexplainable experience which almost left me in awe.”
Being able to visit the India Gate was something he dreamt of and this tour made it possible for him..Ricky’s reaction was something like that.
“The great gigantic Red Fort stood strong with its long walls which seemed never-ending as I walked around hoping to find its end or was looking for the entry gate.”
Visit to the National War Memorial thrilled him.
He further added…
“The War Memorial at Delhi was peaceful and the environment was calm with some people paying tribute to those heroes and some telling tales of how being ordinary humans like us they did extraordinary things for us; which make us very proud and he also felt a sense of shame at the same time for he was forced to think how the world would be without the so called human species.”
He was very inquisitive about his visit to Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition Center.
“Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition Center fulfilled my thirst for knowledge about the Indian space launch vehicles and how my mobile gets network connectivity. I have also learned how the weather channels predicted the weather and I was able to use various applications just by the touch of my finger!” he said.
Meeting with GOC and Senior Officers of Army at Ahmedabad Cantonment added extra flair in his tour..Ricky shared with sparkling eyes.
He went on saying…
“A visit to the Ahmedabad cantonment was filled with honour and meeting the GOC and various other high ranking Army officials was a privilege for me .I should say having an interaction with them, l understood that sometimes the magic lies outside the books. The most amazing thing of this tour, I should say was being given an opportunity to ride a tank.I can bet, billions don’t even get a chance to touch one but I was able to ride one.”
According to Ricky Das OP Sadbhavna could be a territory binder.
“The Sadbhavana Project will pave a way for unity and National integration there is no doubt about that.
However it will be great if major steps such as interaction or interactive sessions are conducted where in students could get more time to spend with the locals there,have a vivid understanding about the outside world unfiltered and then I can say, definitely this project can be a territory binder for the whole nation.”
Well, it’s rightly said that in India you expect the unexpected.. Ricky’s thought is similar to that.
“I can definitely say that whatever may be be the objectives of this tour, be it cultural integration, educational improvement or an exploration event, this tour was everything for me.”
I, as a student understand that this National Integration Tour has helped me to grow and as an individual to rethink about my own life’s choices.- he concluded.
(With Inputs from Army Authorities)
(Author is a Senior Journalist working for British Media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and National media awards for Journalism)
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