How would you feel when you get to know that principle has summoned
you at his/her office?? There will always be a curiosity until you
rush there and find out thinking what did I do again… I felt the same.
The words that came out of her mouth were magical.
She said “The Samiti wants to send a student from our school to Japan.
Since you scored well in the previous exams would you like to be that
student? ”. I had to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming.
Getting the passport was really dramatic as I was a minor and I had no
birth certificate. (Moral: keep everything ready,
It might come handy).
It was a youth exchange program organized by Japanese government. The
purpose was to learn their culture and exchange our views about peace.
The days were passing very quickly and I was busy reading about them.
The briefing session in Delhi was where I made friends. I talked to
almost everyone and half of the people said with pride that they were
from different JNV’s.
They divided us into three groups according to the places we were
going to visit. And luckily I got to go to Hiroshima. The city which
was burnt down to ground.
When I got the flight ticket first thing I did was to check the
airfare and one way ticket had cost 64k. The words that came out were
WOW. The air hostess was pretty and the Japanese dress made them look
prettier. They asked me if I had ordered special food which I later
found out that special food meant vegetarian food. The mini TV’s with
cut short movies were fun. As soon as we landed they took us in a big
AC bus to the Tokyo King’s castle. The place was picture perfect and
very clean. The guards were still like a statue. The guide said if we
disturbed them, we would get kicked out of the country.
They had given us the identity card and in case if we get lost we were
supposed to show the lines written behind it. I went and asked our
instructor to translate it for me. She read “ I’m lost. I don’t know
the language. Please contact the number below.” And she also added
that Japanese people are very hospitable, cheerful and helpful. Later
I found out that there were no words to describe them. The best part
is every person respects every other person equally.
The punctuality of the people over there is remarkable. Even the train
doesn’t come a minute late. The technology they live with is amazing.
The super fast trains, robots, computers, automatic cars, etc.
The trip to Hiroshima was the best part of the program. It is a place
I would want to visit once again in my life. The city is full of sky
scrapers surrounded by beautiful landscape. There was the Miyajima
where the deer’s ate foreigner’s passport. (We were warned well in
advance). The island is full of temples and the structure is a mixture
of Indian and Chinese architecture.
We went to a girl’s high school where we met our host sisters… It was
the family we were going to stay while we were in Hiroshima. The girls
over there were fascinated by our clothes, bindis and bangles. We
could see the curious eyes peeking out of classrooms. I met Ayako
chan there (chan is a word used as a respect to the person) the
loveliest person I've ever met and her cute pet Choko. The Japanese
houses are the most comfortable ones to live in. They are totally made
of wood and a beautiful garden surrounding it. Ayako’s mother prepared
Indian curry for the first time and asked me to check if it was
alright. I regretted that I never learnt to cook. All the time the
words that came out of our mouth was arigatoh (Thank you) and all they
said was “do itashi mashite” (Most welcome). All were in tears on the
day of farewell. I’m still in touch with her and the days I spent with
them are memorable.
The school has its own history. It had survived the bombing and the
stories of their victims were published as a book. The Hiroshima peace
memorial left a lasting impression on us. When the bomb fell, only
ashes were left of a person who was standing right there. The
blackened stone was there on the display. A mother gave a statement
“My son was exposed to the bomb, he came home and ate nothing. Next
day I tried to comb his hair and all the hair came out as if he was
wearing a wig. He died two weeks later. Let this hair be a tribute to
his memory. He was 10”.
According to the eye witnesses the skin was melting as if it was wax
and the worst part was everyone was helpless…
A Japanese girl suffering from radiation believed that if she folded
1000 paper cranes she would be cured but alas she died before she
could complete her project. The children from all over the world send
paper cranes all the time.
All the people coming out of the museum were in tears and with a
determination that they would to anything for Hewa (World peace). The
Japanese pose to any picture holding their hands with a “V” sign which
according them stands for peace. I decided that I would try my best
for world peace.
On the day we returned we had to give a talk on how the experience was
and I got the privilege to stand before the Indian ambassador in Japan
and talk about our group’s experience there. I had never felt so
important before. The stage fear in me was gone.
All this was possible because of Navodaya. The dedicated, encouraging
and hardworking teachers who work harder than students make everything
possible. The world follows Darwin’s rule i.e. Survival of the
fittest. And I can say that you won’t find people fitter than
Navodayans. The school changed our lives and shaped our future.
“I miss all those thousands of rules,
The butler kanglish with funny accent,
The all kinds of fancy dresses,
Hiding in the library and reading novels during exams,
The Sunday chapati making with the flour all over floor,
Trying desperately to make an excuse to get out of the school,
Finding excuses to skip morning exercise,
All I’ve to say is I miss those good old days”
- Doyal Zenim Saldanha(2002-2009 Batch)
