Early afternoon on 17th June, about 10 children from Hyderabad, Pakistan and as many from Lucknow, India talked with each other about the need for peace between the two nations, inviting the other to come spend time with them as well as singing songs.

Despite technical difficulties with unstable internet and video-networking through a web-cam as well disturbance over the phone line that was finally used to teleconference the children in, the enthusiasm and sheer joy of speaking to each other was perceptible. Some children participating in the workshop Lucknow had tickets for a film later in the day but decided to forego that to find out about their counterparts in Hyderabad.

Before the call in that eventually occurred at about 5:00 PM India time and 4:30 Pakistan time, these groups of children had separately participated in workshops. These workshops included discussions, singing songs, watching parts of a film on 50 years of hostilities between India and Pakistan, etc.

During the call, the children were very forthcoming, telling each other across over thousand kilometers of space that we needed peace, we needed to work for it. Starting a bit bashfully – talking about the weather, and each other’s health – the children opened up as the session proceeded. They talked about themselves – what they liked to read, sports that they enjoyed.

‘What picture do you see when you think about India’, one of the children from Lucknow asked. ‘We see a place with friends’, came the answer across the phone line. “Can we be friends?’ another voice from Lucknow queries. “Of course’, comes a confident reply.

‘We have been trying to talk to you for so long’, one of the children from Lucknow said – perhaps articulating her frustration at the technical difficulties. She might as well have been talking about the feelings of various Indians and Pakistanis who have been looking forward to better relationships and greater interaction that has been constrained by the insularity of domestic and international politics.

Sajjad, from Hyderabad, who had come to India with a group of young children traveling through and playing cricket with (not against) kids from various parts of India, described his trips to his counterparts from Lucknow, talking about his experiences in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta. ‘But you did not come to Lucknow?’, some one asked.

Shweta wanted to know more about Hyderabad, besides describing Lucknow and what she liked about the city. Pooja in Lucknow wanted to know more about the lives of the children in Hyderabad, wanting to perhaps find out the similarities they shared and if anything was different.

Areeba Javed read out a poem on peace, among other poems and songs sung by a number of the children in Hyderabad. The children in Lucknow also sang a song from ‘Veer Zaara’. Then everyone joined in and sang a song from the Bollywood film “Kal ho na ho”.

The effort was organized by various members of the recently concluded Delhi to Multan Peace march, some of whom were able to participate in the march and others who could not join the march but played important roles in supporting the march and making it a success. Another call with the same group of participants is planned within the next month.

The organizers view this as follow up action from the march, using available technology to increase people to people interaction. Based on feedback and learning from these calls, the organizers plan to start similar interactions between other groups.

- Sanat Mohanty was one of the organizers and participated in the call.

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