GYLC Pictures

Hey people...
Here are some pictures from my trip to the GYLC...

Dhruv (2nd from right) and me (extreme right) getting ready for a conference session at manhattan college , NYC.

The USA group aboard the farewell cruise .... miss u people...



With some friends of the USA group in the United Nations conference room for the final summit.

Will add more pictures later..

cheers
Sparsh

GYLC (2)

Here is the first of many to come detailed posts on my experience in the GYLC. Am trying to give a very honest picture of the conference, including the very few shortcomings that I found as well. Hope you find the post useful....

Day 1 : Well after a long and really tiring flight , it was a great relief to finally arrived at the Dulles International Airport in Washington DC and not being bothered by the excessive American Airports security. As I stepped outside , the lush green and extremely clean surroundings really impressed me. Well people DC does not have the huge skyscrapers everyone imagines while thinking of America . There is a rule here which states that none of the buildings in the city can be taller than the Washington Monument , which though is very tall but cant exactly be classified as a skyscraper.
The hotel in which we were accomodated was good. Unfortunately the food really sucked , literally even for the non vegetarians and you can well imagine what it would have been for a vegetarian like me.
We were then informed about our groups which had already been assigned randomly for each one of us. I happened to be a part of an amazing group of people and we were representing USA at the conference.

Day 2: Well there were a total of 360 people at this conference so the people here had made 16 country groups of about 20 people each. The whole process was quite interesting. It would be really difficult to explain it completely, however I can say that these country groups would go on to participate in a Global summit on the last day of the conference in a manner to how a summit actually takes place in the United Nations. The best part of it is that the Global Summit of the GYLC actually took place in the United Nations Headquarters Auditorium in New York city. We got a chance to listen to Mr Craig kielburger from an organisation called Free the Children. It was amazing to hear the accomplishments of the speaker (including a nomination for the nobel peace prize) who was just 22 years old. More on him can be found at the organisations website http://www.freethechildren.com/aboutus/craigmarc/craigkielburger.htm

Day 3,4,5 : Saw lots of monuments in DC , and I must say there are really a large number of them in here. To name a few interesting ones were the Lincoln memorial , the Thomas Jefferson memorial , world war 2 memorial etc. etc..... One really remarkable place was the American National Holocaust Museum. It was really a pain to walk through the entire museum and feeling the plight of the people who were there at that time. There were some real videos of the incident and trust me they were really moving. I even had nightmares during sleep that night. Also visited the American Air and Space Museum and it was the coolest place I have ever seen till now. There were actual space capsules that were used during the earlier years of the US Space program .There were loads of aircraft , of all types from commercial to military fighter jets. Then there were some really cool Flight Simulator games within the museum which one could play sitting inside of models of various super cool aircraft and unfortunately due to lack of time I could not make use of it...... :( I could write a whole page about the Space Museum but I realise that I might just be boring you guys.
By the way there is this huge place in Washington DC called the national mall where all the memorials and the museums are located . The White House , the Washington memorial and the Senate lie in one straight line at the center of the mall in a similar fashion of the India Gate and the Rashtrapati bhawan in New Delhi . It is a really beautiful place. But one drawback was that it was really really expensive. For an example a bottle of water on the national mall costed arounf 2$ . I also got an opportunity to get photos clicked in front of the White House. It is a really small building compared to the Presidents House in India..... Hurray !

More in another post....
Cheers
Sparsh

GYLC

Hey people

Looking at visitor statistics I realised that a post on GYLC is probably the major portion of all the traffic to my blog. This post is for all those people who are looking on some information on what the Global Young Leaders Conference or the GYLC is all about.... This also goes in dedication to the most wonderful group at the GYLC 2006 conference - USA ... really miss all you guys...

This is a short version which I also happened to send as a student feedback for the official GYLC website (http://www.cylc.org/gylc)

Having crossed half the globe to Washington DC, I had very high expectations from the Global Young Leaders Conference, and I was pretty excited to meet up with all the interesting people there. The conference was a great intellectual experience especially the briefings in the World Bank and the United Nations. I must confess that the charm of the whole thing was a bit overwhelming. Never before I had brainstormed myself in regard to world issues and thought in the way a diplomat would. It is no wonder that my entire perspective about world issues and globalisation has changed forever and the entire credit goes to the GYLC.

I also made strong friendships with some amazing people in my peer Group (which happened to be USA) and also with many other interesting people. I am studying away from my motherland (India) here in Singapore , and I am thankful to the GYLC for preparing me in the most subtle way to interact with people from so many different cultures, communities, who thought in such a different way and had a completely different way of life other than my own.

Having been through it myslef I can confidently say that GYLC is something that every global citizen must experience.

Cheers
Sparsh

Going home... Finally !

First of all..
yohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

This is the best part of the year. After 2 weeks in the US and 4 months in Singapore , I finally get to go back home for a whole month.. yipeeeeeeeee !
Just cant wait to get on the JetStar flight now . Just 5 more days to go ...Unfortunately 4 of those 5 days happen to be examination days... but no worries :)

To all those ppl going back home for a great holiday ,a high five.........

Enjoy urself ppl..
Cheers
Sparsh

To my alma mater...

Hey ppl..
This post is dedicated to the place I love the most.... St. George's....
Am a manorite at heart .. forever....

Home of our childhood, our boy hood, our youth,
Where there is courage and honour and truth,
Where we are taught how to seek for the right,
Struggle and conquer in life's great fight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

`Virtue and Labour'. Our motto we'll strive,
Ever to follow and keep alive.
Ideal and aims that it teaches us here,
True to St. George, our patron dear.

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God bless St. George's! Let this be our prayer,
That he always have our school in His care.
Ever our banner we'll keep flying high,
For God and the truth we'll live or we'll die.

The Race

Hey ppl.....

This is the most amazing piece I have ever come across.. This one dedicated to St. George's .. Love that place...

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.


The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.
As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.


But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.
He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”


But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
“There’s no sense running anymore!
Three strikes I’m out! Why try? I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought.
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”


But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.
“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”


And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”


Cheers
Sparsh

Life goes on....

Hey....

well its been over 3 months in Singapore and honestly its started to get kinda boring. Yeah you do the same things over and over again (sleeping with increased intensity :) ).... Its a small place so not much to see either and the worst nightmares are yet to arrive - the exams... dont know why but this vicious cycle of examinations never seems to get away from life... just cant wait to get out of university and do something real for a change...

Well on a more optimistic note.... Computer Science definitely turned out to be my cup of tea. Java classes are real fun.. (not kiddin.... ) and the labs give you the feeling that you are doing something worthwhile.. not like the kiddy things we used to do back in the bad school days in 11th and 12th (yes I still remember them with regret... :(

Well people.. finally i wish you all a very happy Diwali ... have a great time.. I publicly declare that I envy all of you who are back at home for the Diwali holidays.. missing home like hell.. cant wait to get on the Jet Star flight on the 2nd... wait ! havent I told you my flight plan yet ???????????
I am coming home for one full month in December ..yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... since I decided to save on some cash this time I am travelling low budget (probably youve never even heard of Jet Star before...it takes you to Bangalore.. even though I want to reach delhi... lol.. catching a Deccan flight from there...i know it couldnt have been worse... but thats what a shortage of cash leads to.... Low cost airlines... :(

Anyways....
Looking forward to your replies.. Makes me feel good that atleast someone is reading this blog :o
Cheers
Sparsh

Long time indeed

Hey people….

Nice to see you wasting your precious time reading my blog.. But since you have already done that I hope you would not mind reading on… Just kidding… Thanks for coming here….

Well life has been really on a roll since the past one month. Was in the dilemma of college admission which unfortunately every Indian has to undergo. (Wish I could change that) Finally after a lot of mental stress and trauma :) I finally decided to land up in Singapore - Nanyang Technological University.

But there is something really interesting that happened in the middle of all this … I will write a separate post for that.. I think it is just too vast…. Singapore is a really nice place and I think it deserves another post as well….
For the time being thanks again for visiting my blog. Hope you come back again …………
Cheers
Sparsh

Long time indeed

Hey people….

Nice to see you wasting your precious time reading my blog.. But since you have already done that I hope you would not mind reading on… Just kidding… Thanks for coming here….

Well life has been really on a roll since the past one month. Was in the dilemma of college admission which unfortunately every Indian has to undergo. (Wish I could change that) Finally after a lot of mental stress and trauma I finally decided to land up in Singapore - Nanyang Technological University.

But there is something really interesting that happened in the middle of all this … I will write a separate post for that.. I think it is just too vast…. Singapore is a really nice place and I think it deserves another post as well….
For the time being thanks again for visiting my blog. Hope you come back again …………
Cheers
Sparsh

GYLC... Here I come

Well to all those who are hearing this term for the first time....

GYLC stands for the Global Young Leaders Conference (sounds impressive isnt it.... :)
Me and Dhruv are going to attend the July 23rd to August 3rd session and am really looking forward to it. Have loads of topics to prepare and really interesting ones too.... Some of them include human rights, weapons of mass destruction , free trade ... whoa these things do interest me... (Am wondering what am I doing in the engineering stream... LOL )

Well for all the readers of my blog... heres a small media release by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (the people who are behind the GYLC )

YOUNG SCHOLARS JOIN INTERNATIONAL GATHERING OFLEADERS
Global Young Leaders Conference Tackles International Concerns
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This summer, outstanding high school scholars from around the world will participate in the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC), a unique leadership development Conference that takes place in Washington, DC and New York and in Vienna, Budapest and Prague. The theme of GYLC is The Leaders of Tomorrow Preparing for the Global Challenges and responsibilities of the Future. Students will interact with key leaders and newsmakers with powerful influence over politics, finance, culture and diplomacy, and will take part in a carefully designed curriculum, which includes thought-provoking simulations that build leadership skills.

"The Global Young Leaders Conference aims to provide scholars with the opportunity to collaborate with their peers from around the world to both study and resolve global conflict," said Mike Lasday, executive director of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), the organization that sponsors GYLC. "When ideas and points of view are shared, the true results of the Conference are realized."

GYLC culminates with the Global Summit, in which students apply what they've learned throughout the Conference as they debate, negotiate and build coalitions dealing with issues such as foreign aid, global warming, co-operative efforts in space, terrorism and human rights. Past highlights of the program include welcoming remarks from a variety of young leaders who make and leave their mark on the international community, a briefing at the U.S. Department of State, an address at the United Nations and site visits at financial institutions on Wall Street, among several other events.

Hope you find this interesting.
Cheers
Sparsh