The event was diligently organized. There was a soul to it. A soul that was vibrant, contagious and exuberant.

At the entrance of the building of School of Law, there were huge posters denoting the “International Student’s Cultural Festival – 9th November 2013”. Prof. J.P. Gupta, Vice Chancellor, Sharda University arrived on time along with the Councilor from Embassy of Gambia in India, Mr. Alieu Bah and they were received by the Dr. P. Rathnaswamy, Dean of the School of Law.

The minute one set foot on the second floor in the School of Law, one could feel the vibrancy. Outside the auditorium, as you saw various students dressed in their ethnic best, it set the mood for the celebrations. The tone of decorations was very festive as you entered. The dais had been decorated with national flags of all the representing countries and expected distinguished guests were:

  • Sh. P.K. Gupta, Chancellor and Chairman, Sharda University
  • Smt. Seema Gupta
  • Prof. J.P. Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, Sharda University
  • Mr. Alieu Bah, Councilor from Embassy of Gambia in India
  • Prof. P.K. Mitra, HR Director
  • Dean of School of Law, Dr. P. Rathnaswamy
  • Head of International Division – Ashok Daryani

Soon, Sh. P.K. Gupta arrived too and declared the festival open with the lighting of the lamp and a beautiful ‘Saraswati Vandana’ – a praise to Goddess Sharda, playing in the background.

After this students Akanksha and Diksha sang the School of Law Anthem. Their Anthem let us have an insight into the resolve they have towards becoming responsible and truth loving law protectors of our future.

Then, students welcomed the dignitaries by presenting blossoming bouquets of flowers to them, one to one.

Then was the opening speech by our Chancellor and Chairman, Sh. P.K. Gupta. He encouraged the students with his warm and motivating words. He also expressed that it is his dream to see events like this take place more often, at the campus. He told the students that he would like these cultural exchanges to become a regular feature at the campus of Sharda. And thereby, have us come closer to them and them to us.

Then first came representing students from all fifteen countries i.e. Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh, West Africa, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Nepal, Tanzania, Thailand and Sri Lanka. These young budding lawyers enthusiastically, almost jubilantly spoke about their respective countries. Their love took our breath away. Indeed, patriotism speaks of your character – You can be that proud of your roots only while you are that proud of yourself. And this one trait exuded from each and every student who walked up onto the stage holding their national flags above their heads. Each one thought their flag was unique in the world. And why not.

Our Nepalese contestant, Nischal quoted Hitler as having said that “I would have captured the whole world if I had the Gorkhas with me”. Tanzanian contestant reminded us about Mt. Kilimanjaro of Tanzania as being the second highest peak in the world and of Tanzania being the place of origin of the longest river of the world ‘River Nile’. These two almost argued with each other in claiming their flags being unique in the world and we wanted to lovingly agree with both.

Ethiopian contestant told us that Ethiopia has never been invaded and does not have an ‘Independence day’. Wow!

Chinese representative Wesker apologized about his English but won every heart in the auditorium with amiable and happy speech. Gambian representative could not carry his flag as he was also anchoring the program on stage. But he did tell us that Gambia in its geographical area is smaller than Delhi and Noida put together. And Sri Lankans love cricket, just like us, we all know that!

After the speeches about countries, it was time to discover the art in our International students. The song and dance, you know!

The performances opened with a group dance from Napalese girls, this performance eventually got the ‘best group dance’ prize. Then came the two Nepalese boys Nischal and Amrit who sang for us a Hindi, an English and a Napalese song, on the guitar. And these two took away the ‘Best Group Song’ prize. Even, I thought that they were real talent. Good singing and great guitaring. Then from Nepal, came another boy Sheerish who presented some contemporary and some cultural dance steps on stage.

After which, we got to see real treat from Afghanistan. Attan – group dance by six students from Afghanistan. It was a piece of raw Afghanistan on that stage for us. The music would actually fill you with the native air of that place. Watching that performance gave you the glimpse of the earthiness, simplicity and truthfulness of the Afghanistani people. Thank you boys!

Then we had Jasmine from Nepal with solo dance. Then, Fazal Rahim from Afghanistan with a solo song. Then came Bhutanese dance group – Sonam Pelzom and group. They danced to “Who’s that girl?” The only representation from India was through a solo song performance by Aman Konyak.

Then we had an Afghan group present ‘Karsak’ dance. Then came a solo song by student named Wesker from China and it won a ‘Best solo song’ prize. Three cheers to that. Then, African dance from Tanzanian contestant, Rashwan. And she walked away with the ‘Best Solo Dance’. After that, solo dance by Shobit Thapa from Nepal.  After this Prabhat from Nepal sang a solo song.  Then, Pooja and group from Nepal presented a dance. Then, Nepalese girl Priyanka presented a solo dance performance.

Finally, results were announced by Ms. Kavita Iyer and Ms. Sandipa. In which, ‘Best Solo Song’ went to Wesker from China. ‘Best Group Song’ went to Nischal and Amrit from Nepal. ‘Best Solo Dance’ went to Rashwan from Tanzania. And ‘Best Group Dance’ went to Priyanka and group from Nepal.

And this way, a beautiful interaction reached its logical conclusion. We cannot end this summary without mentioning the commendable effort and meticulous planning of Ms. Rachna Bansal, Asst. Professor, Coordinator M.B.A. Analytics- SBS, Coordinator Cultural & Sports- SOL, Sharda University.