TISB at SAY-X – South Asian Youth X-change

TISB students attended the South Asian Youth X-change Conference, where teenagers from all 8 SAARC nations- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka came together to deliberate and discuss solutions to some pressing global issues. There was 6 sessions, made up of 3 Pre-Meetings and the Final Summit, which had 3 sessions of its own.  

One of our students that participated, Shrishti from Grade 11, told us about her experience.

“It isn't just the award that I will take away from this conference. It is also the friends I made - friends from the corners of South Asia. Being on such a platform with like-minded peers who are only separated by borders has shown me that as a youth, we truly have the power to make a difference.” – Shrishti

Shrishti was a part of the Focus Council ‘Future of Environmental Sustainability’, where they were provided with 3 sub-agendas to guide their solutions; ‘Eco-tourism’, ‘Disaster Management’ and ‘Pollution’. “We wrote clauses for each sub-agenda, providing innovative solutions to the aforementioned topics”, says Shrishti. Later on during the meetings, the participants had to pitch their ideas for solutions and engage in constructive debate to improve their clauses. All three of Shrishti’s clauses passed unanimously in the Focus Council, and after the Final Summit, she was awarded the 'Best Advocacy' award along with her co-advocate from India. “The clauses passed by the committee would then be sent to government representatives of all 8 SAARC nations, an honour that is rare for someone our age”, Shrishti explains.

For Shrishti the experience at SAY-X has taught her that peace and cooperation is possible, although you are from different countries – sometimes with age-old differences and political conflicts. “If the advocate of India and the advocate of Pakistan can debate on the same side and fight for the same ideals, who is to say that all of us cannot work together as peers – setting our political leaders' views aside – to make the world a better place?” Shrishti goes on and says: “This was truly an unforgettable experience, and I sincerely hope I get a chance to work on such a global change-making platform again.”

At the end of the conference all TISB students of Grade 11 won awards: 

Shrishti Kulkarni – Best Advocacy Award (India) in the Focus council for Environmental sustainability.
Ananya Ganesh – Best Advocacy Award (India) in the Focus council for Cross-border Cooperation.  
Aayush Manapet - Best Advocate in the Focus council for Technology. 
Thejasvi Sampath - Best Advocate in the Focus council for Healthcare.

For more information about the conference and the platform, visit SAY-X website, or follow them on the SAY-X Instagram account.