'The cold weather of Delhi was thawed away completely by the warmth of the prime minister,' says Kshitija Desai.
Exhilarating is just one way of describing the experience of any student who was part of the annual programme Pariksha pe Charcha 2.0 where students came from all over India to meet the prime minister and discuss exam-related queries and opinions with him.
Students had to log on to the official Web site of the Indian government and answer a few questions and the best entries were selected for the event at the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi, on the 29th of January, 2019.
One of the two questions was caption-writing on the famous 'Statue of Unity' in about 150 words to which my answer was 'Countless sleepless nights, years of hard work but in the end, standing tall for eons to come'.
The next thing I received was a call from the education department of Gujarat! I had the good fortune of being one of the 2,000 students who was selected for the programme, out of which 28 were from the prime minister's home state, Gujarat.
Students had come to Delhi from all over India, were referred to as 'guests', and resided at the National Bal Bhavan.
The National Bal Bhavan had organised a beautiful programme for our welcome which included puppet shows, storytelling for adults (yes that's right, storytelling for adults) and vocal performances.
A carnival with a plethora of activities such as pottery, folk songs, painting, paper craft, tribal painting styles etc made the National Bal Bhavan buzz with excitement throughout the day.
Staying in Delhi with students from other states truly broke the ice as when I returned, I could brag about knowing at least five people from every state!
This assemblage of culturally and socially different people was truly an experience of a lifetime.
On the morning of the event, the students were up and ready to go as early as seven in the morning!
Reaching the stadium, I saw the response for the Pariksha pe Charcha 2.0 given by the students of schools and various other educational organisations alike.
The cultural programme at the start performed by students practicing various dance styles was a feast for the senses and the session following it? Even more so!
The prime minister had only set foot in the vast auditorium and the audience went up in a loud cheer and cries of "Jai Hind".
Soon, students, parents, and teachers started asking their questions regarding the upcoming board exams.
The cold weather of Delhi was thawed away completely by the warmth of the prime minister during the interaction as he answered questions with the ease of a person our age.
Relating to his answers was no difficult job for me as the answers touched the heart and mind of every student present there!
His answers were to the point and were influenced by an equal amount of maturity and humor and his answers and opinions were wholeheartedly accepted by the masses present there physically or by Web sessions and live telecasts.
The students who attended the programme were interviewed from every aspect by reporters from different perspectives.
I, as a student representing Gujarat, was interviewed by many news channels and it was surprisingly pleasant to know how important the voice of Gen Z was valued by the people of the country.
Many people may see this nation-wide event which involved parents, teachers and students from India and abroad as an election strategy, but many of us, including me, of course, know that if these interactions keep happening, we will never have to worry about the young generation being uninspired ever again!
Kshitija Desai is a Class 10 student at the Global Indian International School, Ahmedabad.
