Round Square International Conference 2011

By: Aditi Nettar, Ayushi Gupta, Palak Mistry, Purav Shah, Shivam Jumani And Yash Dalvi

Eagerness and enthusiasm swept us as we six students set off to be a part of one of the greatest challenging and life changing experiences, or in other words, the Round Square International conference 2011, Wellington College. We had the responsibility to represent our school in the forthcoming global conference, extend friendship around the world and ‘reach beyond our limits’ physically, mentally and socially. With this determination and outlook we along with Mr. Basu and Mrs. Divya Singhal embarked on our journey to Berkshire, UK.

As we landed, our hearts were filled with various kinds of anticipations. How are the people going to be? How and where will we be saying? Sitting in our first bus ride in the UK, we began making friends from across the globe. This was the moment we had been waiting for since 3 months and we were finally there, attending the conference.

We were awe struck when we entered the school. It was a glorious architectural beauty. Its massive driveway and gigantic arches instantly transcended us to the majestic and historic British lifestyle.  What then enhanced the appeal was the unbelievably warm hospitality of our British hosts. Right from attending to our every need to just being great friends, it was shocking how we were so comfortable 100s of miles from home. We were all allotted different houses and slowly people started filling in. this truly brought out the spirit of internationalism; living with people from all around the world, sharing our cultures and realizing just how similar we truly are. And then on the very first day we wore our school pride; uniform and blazers and set out on the infinitely long walk through the massive school to the inaugural ceremony. We were addressed by HRH queen Elizabeth, a once in a lifetime experience. Hundreds of flags waved as her majesty and her cavalcade made their exit. It didn’t matter what flag we held in our hands. This conference was all about being ONE. And when those flag flashed unanimously at the gate, we had already begun embodying the philosophy of Round Square. Even though the cold temperatures persistently sent jitters through our bodies, nothing mattered except the fact that we were there, together!

On day 3 everyone set out for his or her service activities. We engaged in activities like beach cleaning, bird ringing, shrub land clearing helping the elderly and many more. Each activity was a unique and interesting experience. The vast choices of activities spreading from serving the environment to the people highlighted the immense thought put in by the host school to offer everything they possibly could to enrich our experience during this conference.

Right in the middle of the conference, we had Adventure Day. All of us delegates were given four exciting adventure options – Military, Challenge, Monarchy and Knowledge - from which we had to choose one as our adventure activity. Delegates who chose Military had the option to enjoy a wide range of exhilarating team building and entertaining activities. They had to Battle through mud and scale walls to overcome the famous Sandhurst assault course and develop leadership skills. The Challenge option involved fun lakeside and nature activities that included raft building, dragon boating, mountain biking and lots of team races. The delegates, who chose Monarchy as their adventure option, saw a more sedentary mix of British heritage and culture. They Visited the Royal Windsor. The final adventure option of Knowledge gave delegates the opportunity to explore one of the world's most prestigious institutions through a visit to Oxford and explore the historic city.

As we enjoyed the brilliantly organized week participating in the tiring yet exhilarating service and adventure activities we also got the opportunity to be inspired by the amazing keynote speakers: Karen Darke, Jasmine Whitbread and Colin Jackson. They spoke of reaching beyond 'their' own limits in their respective fields yet touching and motivating every soul in the audience.

Jasmine Whitbread was the Chief Executive of Save the Children UK from 2005 – 2010. She is an inspirational figure who in her life has made a great impact in society by helping impoverished children around the world and improving their living conditions. She followed her heart and began working in the social sector and continuously stressed on the importance of learning, having confidence in yourself and having the courage to have a go at things, things beyond your comfort zone. She was undeniably an exceptional speaker who motivated our young audience.

Colin Jackson is one of Great Britain's most successful athletes and undoubtedly the favorite speaker. His warm and charming personality had the audience mesmerized and his interactive talk had all of our hearts pacing as he revisited his successes and failures of life. His motto of dare to dream had a lot of meaning to us DAIS students and his advice made us understand the secret behind learning to excel.

Lastly, Karen Darke was simply the most inspiring personality one may ever come across. She is a paraplegic athlete who’s philosophy is that to have the most impact in life we should challenge our constraints, adopt a positive mindset and support each other to be the best we can be. The pathos she created in us all was just amazing and she encouraged us to always make the most of life.

The diversity in culture, thought, ideas seen among the delegates present from around the world lead to a grand display of each individuals belief, thought and emotions. The barazzas, or the discussion groups after the keynote speakers, gave us a platform to express our opinions and discuss topics that we would never have come across in India. Collaborating knowledge to give solutions to the enigma of various aspects of life was a brilliant experience for the youth.

Drifting in the flow of this conference we had a surprising and a different event planned for us. It was the Musikskool. An idea brought out to the delegates of this conference to collaborate music, dance and service. During this event, 600 delegates prepared for a song written by a group of Wellingtonians to be performed and to be recorded all in just 3 hours. The concept of continents coming together displaying internationalism whilst sticking to the theme of the conference, emerged beautifully through this act. Further this music video was made available on the Internet to raise money for charity, with an expectation of a sum total of 50,000 pounds to be raised.

Another highlight of the conference was our performance in which we showcased our Indian culture to all the delegates present. Our carefully planned performance was definitely worth the effort, as everyone was full of praise for it. Dancing on the Ganesh Vandana with diyas, was truly delightful for us as performers and was definitely a treat for the eyes of the audience. Gelled in with it, was the ‘Indian cliché’, Vande Mataram; yet its synchronized and rhythmic movements depicted the unity and diversity in our country. Our enthusiasm and spirit was rewarded by the undying applauses we received. Apart from that, the showcase of the other cultures from around the world was simply stunning. From the Peruvian dances to the Kenyan tribal songs, the talent and diversity was entertaining and beautiful.

Throughout the week, artworks of several delegations were displayed in the common social cafe of the College. Each illustrating a unique interpretation and perspective of the theme, the motley personalities reached out to many visitors and delegates to placed their bid in order to buy the painting and to donate to the Round Square fund. To bring out the best in each of these artists, an art competition was announced with an array of judges selecting the best. The first position was bagged by a student from Assam valley school, where as the painting by our DAIS student, Ayushi Gupta received the fourth place.

Although, undoubtedly the Wellington Race was the best aspect of this entire conference. With it being 10 °C outside, all the 1000 students raced through the campus facing steep 45° slopes and ice-cold lakes to finish the race for charity. It was that feeling of victory in finishing what you set out to do and surpassing every limitation that made all the efforts worth it.

This conference was something people believed in, they believed in us and that every one of us 1000 delegates was capable of making change! And we then finally very reluctantly bid farewell the people, memories and experiences we had gotten so attached to. But this is just the beginning, a beginning of a very long journey that invites every DAIS student to be a part of it. To embody the philosophy of Kurt Hahn and the Round Square family. This conference was the kindle to the fire within the six of us to make a difference from a personal level to even a global level. To take up responsibility and spread the fire.