Sweet tooth: Love for mithai enables students to solidify cross-border ties

Around 5,000 children from Pakistan and India will participate in the programme.

KARACHI: The love for scrumptious mithais, such as gajar ka halwa, ras malai and rasgullas, is shared with equal passion by the people of both Pakistan and India.

But students on both sides still want to try these sub-continental delicacies on the other side of the border. With the Exchange for Change programme of the Citizens Archive of Pakistan (Cap), around 5,900 students aged between 10 and 14 years from different schools of the two countries have had the opportunity to do so in recent years. Many more will get a chance to experience the same delight in the days to come.



This was shared during the launch of ‘Exchange for Change 2013-2015’ programme on Thursday at Marriott hotel organised by Cap in collaboration with Routes2Roots (R2R), an Indian non-profit organisation working for peace and dialogue between Pakistan and India. Around 5,000 schoolchildren across Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Delhi, Dehradun and Mumbai will participate in the exchange programme.

“What these students have achieved within a matter of months is what nations aim to achieve over decades — change,” said Cap executive-director Swaleha Alam Shahzada, proudly.

Shahzada said the project aims to help students of both countries realise that sustained dialogue is possible, adding that they should be encouraged to formulate their own opinions. “On behalf of the students, I have a clear message to give that dialogue between Pakistan and India is possible. These students believe the neighbouring countries can be friends.” During the project, continued exchange of written, visual and oral histories will take place between the students, she added.



Cap president Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said the project aims to preserve history through education. “It provides an opportunity to learn about the past.”

Pop singer and film actor Atif Aslam was invited as a special guest at the event. He said that people across the border were eager to meet at any forum, adding that such baby steps would strengthen friendship between the two nations. “I felt guilty that I didn’t know about the programme until the organisers briefed me. But now I would be happy to sing a song for such a cause.”

R2R founder Tina Vachani said that it wasn’t an ordinary programme or an extra-curricular activity for the students. “What we value in India and Pakistan is a chance to grow together in terms of culture, festivities and lifestyle. The leaders of tomorrow, our children from both the countries, share the same sentiments for a glorious future.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2013.