Pak students sing a different song

``There is place in your heart; And I know it is love/ And the place is brighter than tomorrow; if you only try; You'll find, there is no need to cry/ In this place, you'll feel there is no hurt or sorrow/There are ways to get there; If you care enough for the living/To make a little space; Make a better place/ For you, for me and the entire human race.''

By singing this popular Michael Jackson number ``We are the World'' here today, school students of both India and Pakistan sent a strong message to their respective rulers about their vision of peace and love in the sub-continent.

``We just need to give it a try for a hunger-free, literate India and Pakistan,'' they asserted, despite the fact that the Vajpayee-Musharraf Agra summit proved inconclusive and, in fact, led to a war of words among politicians and officials of both countries.

But when students of Habib Public School, Karachi, joined the singing students of Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, who had organised a cultural programme in honour of the young guests from Pakistan impromptu, the atmosphere was filled with love and hope.

And when the entire auditorium started clapping to the tune of this ever-green number, it was a singular message they were sending across -- people from either side of the border can work to make the sub-continent a better place to live in, devoid of poverty, hunger and illiteracy.

``Why should we spend so much on defence and in purchasing arms and ammunition to kill each other. This should be stopped now, otherwise it will be too late,'' observed S. Raza, a student of Habib Public School.

A group of 30 students from this prestigious Karachi school are at present in the Capital on a three-week ``goodwill tour'' to various cities of North India. During their stay they are scheduled to play of hockey and cricket matches and participate in swimming competitions at Aligarh, Lucknow, Ajmer, Agra, Panipat and Faridabad.

The enthusiastic students have already lost a cricket match to their counterparts in Modern School Barakhamba Road. ``Winning or losing does not matter, it is playing that is most important,'' said Ali Mehdi, who has come to India for the first time. Sharing his experience, Talha Chotani, his friend, said: ``Here, I find people are more friendly and united.''

Mr. Anwar Abbas, Administrator of Habib Public School, who has taken this student-to-student interaction initiative on his own, said: ``I believe this will help increase people to people relationship between the two countries.''

By Lalit K. Jha

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