A new high on Indo-Pak front

When the country was celebrating the release of two Indian Prisoners of War by Pakistan last week, a group of students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) were on a week long trip to the country to take Indo-Pak cultural and educational exchange to a new level. A delegation of 12 students alongwith a faculty at the LUMS visited the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in the Capital along with other B-schools in the country.
The assistant professor of mathematics at the LUMS and a faculty patron of the culture society, Ayesha Ali said: "We were interested in having an interaction with students and faculty of B-schools across India for a long time.One of our students, Amber Rahman, who is a co-founder and president of LUMS Culture Society, took the initiative and send letters to different B-schools in India. Quite a few B-schools responded to our call, and IIFT was one of them to invite us for a visit to their campus. Our idea was to have communicate with those who would emerge as future policy makers of the country."
The interaction started off with a presentation by the students of the LUMS about campus life at the LUMS. A senior graduate of School of Arts and Sciences at the LUMS, Kehkashan Beenish Khan remarked, "We have this `Daku Day'' wherein seniors dressed as dacoits try to steal foodstuff or cash that the juniors may be having in a sportive manner." The presentation included details about their adventure club, which had scaled the heights of Nanga Parbat.
The presentation was followed by an interaction with the LUMsians and IIFTians. Replying to one of the queries regarding cultural difference in both the countries, a student of B Sc (Hons), Economics Major at the LUMS Amber Rahman, exclaimed, "We didn''t find any difference in the cultural ethos and the lifestyle of people in India and in Pakistan. In fact, Delhi seemed very similar to Lahore and we are crazy about the typical Indian food, which we have been able to savour here. The choicest delicacies, however, have been south Indian food namely, dosa and sambhar."
The IIFTians too enjoyed the encounter tremendously and according to Suvasis Ghosh, a second-year MBA student, "We never felt that they were from Pakistan. We gelled almost immediately and through all the fun filled activities it seemed that infact they were actually students of IIFT and not from anywhere else."
The president of the student body at the IIFT, Tushar Deepak Verma, a second-year student remarked, "Our friends from across the border were very jovial and carefree. Their camaraderie and bonhomie touched us deeply and I can say for sure that they have left an indelible mark in our hearts."
Speaking to the delegation during an informal gathering, the director general of IIFT Prabir Sengupta said, "This trip would go a long way in strengthening relationship between the LUMS and the IIFT. I am even open to the idea of MBA students from the LUMS spending a trimester at the IIFT and even a student and cultural exchange programme between both the schools. Students from the LUMS are invited to participate at the International Management Festival which we are planning later this year."
When asked about what made their visit to India memorable, Ali who went to Agra and Jaipur along with other members said: "We were simply floored by the beauty of Taj, and this made our visit more remarkable."