Reaching across, building bridges
Chintan Girish Modi
A large number of Indians felt deeply moved by the suffering of Pakistani families that lost their children in a bloody massacre by the Taliban last November in Peshawar. On the invitation of Friendships Across Borders: Aao Dosti Karein, some teachers in India initiated a conversation about this painful tragedy with their students. It is heart-warming to see the wonderful messages of strength and solidarity these children came up with. Here are a few examples from Tulika Bathija’s class of sixth graders at Ecole Mondiale in Mumbai, and Sudarshana Srinivasan’s class of fifth graders at a Delhi Municipal Corporation school in Sangam Vihar. We thank them and their students for this thoughtful initiative.
The author enjoys working on projects that bring together education, arts and peacebuilding. He runs Friendships Across Borders: Aao Dosti Karein, an initiative connecting Indians and Pakistanis through storytelling, social media and interactions with students. He can be reached at chintan.backups@gmail.com. He tweets @chintan_connect.