Shillong, March 16: The delegation of 40 youths from Meghalaya accompanied by five NEHU staff were bid adieu by the team of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow and the irctc team from Benaras on the evening of 15th March 2023. The team reached Shillong in the late evening of 16th March 2023 after being received by the irctc team at Guwahati Railway Station.
The intercultural exchange programme is the initiative of Ministry of education, Govt. of India under the aegis of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat mission’s Yuva Sangam. The Meghalaya youths were also accompanied by a ministry official observer, Shri. Surinder Naik who was with the youth from day one.
Speaking about the tour, Dr. Davidson Pyngrope, Public Relations Officer, NEHU who accompanied the students sated that the intercultural exchange was a success as it provided the platform for the students to not only learn about the cultural of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The exposure to the institutes of higher learning in Uttar Pradesh like various CSIR labs like Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and the century old Benaras Hindu University in Varanasi. The educational tour of these institutes is certainly going to inspire our students to pursue higher education in institutes like these.
The students visited many historical and educational sites like the Imambara, the Rumi Gate, Raj Bhawan of Uttar Pradesh, Clock tower, Kukrail reserve forest, CSIR-CIMAP lab, the SAI NCOE complex, the Gomati River Front Park in Lucknow. The trip also included the visit to the holy cities of Ayodhya and Benaras (Kashi).
During their stay in Benaras, the students visited Benaras Hindu University, the Dashawamedh Ghat, the Kashivishwanath temple and the Sarnnath to witness the site of Lord Buddha’s first sermon after enlightenment. The students also enjoyed shopping for the Varanasi Sarees in the streets of ancient city of Varanasi.
Ibansara Khongjoh, a student of economics from St. Anthony’s College mentioned that “she has returned with wonderful memories of Uttar Pradesh. To learn about the culture of UP was good. She also stated the people of Lucknow were very embracing in nature especially the students with she is always going to be in touch.”
Another student, Yowanka Lyngdoh of NEHU expressed her gratitude to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi for giving the youth of Meghalaya such an opportunity to learn about the culture of Uttar Pradesh where the youth visited various places of educational importance.
She said “The Yuva Sangam scheme gave the students an opportunity to learn about the working atmosphere of the Rajbhavan. The visits to Ayodhya and Varanasi make them learn about the faith of the people of Uttar Pradesh.”
She also expressed her gratitude towards the BBAU, Lucknow and BHU, Varanasi for their hospitality, the SSB forces for their security and the UP police for their support in escorting the students in crowded places.
Marysha T Sangma, a student of English from NEHU said that she had never travelled by train before and that this scheme provided her an experience of travelling by train for the first time.
“Although the travelling was hectic and tiring, the journey gave her an opportunity to make many friends both from Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh as I am an introvert person” she said. Miss Sangma also mentioned that the tour has given an opportunity to learn a lot about the life, culture and educational opportunities out the state of Meghalaya.
