Journal 2.2: MUN/WINning

              Back again in our western formals, we were all set to leave after clicking numerous pictures. We discussed on the homework given to us on the way. Early for breakfast we were today, therefore we ended up sharing the content of our draft resolutions and working papers.

            Today, seemingly was bit more  professional and engaging. The chair dispensed a crisis involving Kenya and U.S.A (Thankfully not Germany). The issue: In order to attack, usa sends missiles to Kenya. The Kenyan army had only women troops in the front line, who supposedly died in the attack. With whatever proof they had, both the delegates had to censure the opposite country. Some information here and there was cooked up, nonetheless, they were strong enough.

        

Trust me, this was pure amusement! Kudos to the both of them to speak up so boldly. This was something to learn from. The debate came to an end and we had an unmod again. Working on our working papers and resolutions was the goal for the next 45 minutes.

             Majority of the delegates were for 'empowering women', another four were for 'empowering both genders' and there was a one delegate against 'empowering women' (she was like the one woman army). She seemed to take that choice just for the sake of talking and being recognized. However, that is some guts! The chair cheered all perspectives even though it was faulty. I joined the first bloc, which is 'empowering women' since most of us were like-minded. According to all of us women are being highly discouraged still in many parts of the world and so that must be cut down first.

              Post lunch, heavy lunch, we continued making our resolutions and framing the statements in the required format. After we were done, two delegates read it aloud. This was followed by votes from each delegate; the chair called out the country name, and the respective delegate may agree or disagree. If half or more of the delegates agreed, then resolution is fortunately passed. This took a while. In the meantime, the chair was seen taking note of the resolutions that were accepted and that will be passed to the UN for approval.    Also, he made note of who the award winners will be.

                At the end of it all, the CSW committee sessions's closing chapter took place with a bang! Basically, a pick-up line session it was, but delegates who didn't know any, could simply crack a joke or talk whatever random stuff they wanted to. So I threw some pick-up lines and it looked like they enjoyed it. I got a few compliments, that apparently, made my day. The rest of the time was all funny and so I laughed my heart out! We mingled all the while. Oh how I would miss all this I thought to myself.

 By late evening, in the closing ceremony they gave away the awards. I felt so proud when I witnessed so many students from our school win either first (best delegation) second, third, or the fourth (verbal mention) place. Above all, our school WON the 'BEST DELEGATION' among 8 schools and it gets a chance to directly enter and take part in the MUN in UN headquaters (the city of New York!!!!) So grateful I am to be a part of this frolic-filled episode.

                Of course we demanded for a gala time in return! Our teachers agreed instantly and took us for a long walk by the lake, in the lovely weather whilst doing some window shopping and munching on dark chocolates and a delicious spicy snack. It was such a serene feeling to walk bare feet on the cold ground. Afterward, we went for pizza to dominos, followed by ice-cream at, I forgot where!

                  

We reached our cottages, got into our pajamas and came out for a wonderful wonderful surprise: A BONFIRE! Sitting in a circle, we sang and danced as though no one was watching. Plus played kinder garden games, that was actually a perfect combo of downright liberty and fun fun fun.

Rolf sir taught us the interesting tribal dance! Next, some of the seniors, myself and two of my other friends, played a captivating game of truth or dare. With a 50 50 share of work and entertainment, this chapter closes on a very cheerful note.

Duration: 15 hours

Journal 2.1: Motion to put the conference in motion.

Time period: 11 hours (9 am to 10 pm)

The alarm shrilled and woke us all up at around 5 o'clock. The morning was chilly and traditionals was today's theme! I wondered how I would bare with it.

Colourful we all looked and hoped for the day to be the same too. As usual the photo session began while the anxiety stayed from yesterday. I began practicing my opening speech and then realised that it got me more tensed, so I kept it aside and tried being calm.

We reached, ate breakfast and were off to our committee rooms. I was representing Germany in the UNCSW committee. Everyone were ready (we arrived before the chair and reached to where our country's placard was placed) and our chair entered with a bang!. The committee motioned to begin the MUN. Each session was around two and a half hours long (per day 3 sessions).

Starting off with the introductory part of it that was quite informal, we were to tell a gist about ourselves and make any random statement (mine was pretty cliché though). The Rules Of Procedure was next on the list. I went through it twice before, hence I was thorough when the explanation was on process. The agenda was 'Discrimination against women in the armed forces'. According to the speaker's list (order of delegates who wish to deliver their 90 second speech – opening) delegates gave their speeches; I was first on the list! My speech went a little bit above 90 seconds so got a little worried and I plopped down to my chair, upset! No one raised any contradictory statement so God saved me I thought!

Moderated caucus: A formal discussion about a sub-topic under the main topic, that a delegate wishes to speak upon, for a fixed time limit. Then the rest can shoot questions or comments or any additional information once the chair says so.

For the first few caucuses, I thought I won't speak since I wasn't sure of how to frame my statements and what exactly to speak. I told myself I'd observe first and get an idea, rather than making a fool out there! Later on, I spoke a tad bit under a sub-topic, supporting my country (Germany) and boom! 2-3 delegates pounced on me with their queries. I managed answering one of them and for the other I probably couldn't find the statistical data but fortunately our dearest chair declared that it could be shown later. Phew! I laughed it out with her privately. We breaked for lunch and in an hour's time the session was open again. The chair threw jokes here and there to make it lively and not so serious! Those were the highlights I must say.

Unmoderated caucus: A complete informal discussion wherein we delegates are allowed to move around and discuss with one another about the issue or anything else. Lobbying could be done at any time of the day where delegates entice each other to sign their resolution statements or agree on their opinions.

Two unmoderated caucuses were raised today, by the same delegate. We interacted and shared our opinions.

At around 6pm, sessions shut, as it was time for the socials (2 of my friends and I remained in the traditional dress) Honestly, yesterday was better! However we had frolic time and danced with the same energy as yesterday. Videos and pictures were definitely taken.

Back in our cottages, my roomates and myself, we talked until the peak hours of the night and also tried working on the draft resolutions.

Duration: 9 hours

Journal 2.0: En route Kodaikanal.

Time period: 11 hours (9 am to 10 pm)

             A team of 31 people we were (28 students and 3 teachers), perched on the seats of our school bus for a solid 7 hours with enough amount of chatter, music, food, laughter and basically togetherness.

           We reached a pink dorm and had hardly 10 minutes to get into our western formals (theme for today) for the opening ceremony. After hurrying ourselves up in a span of 15 mins, we were finally good to go. We reached the Kodaikanal International Business School and headed to the auditorium.

The principals, vice chairs and secretary generals shared crisp and motivative speeches and then I learned a bit more about IIMUN (Indian International Model United Nations- one of the India's leading brand in education conference management having organized the Asia's Largest Youth Conference in Mumbai amongst many other conferences) through the video and presentation. 

              Afterwards was the announcement of who our chair is going to be. Apparently, Mr. Vignesh, was the chair for the UNCSW (United Nations Commision On The Status of Women) committee; the committee that I was in. He looked way too chilled out (something that I didn't expect one bit, and I found that out with his hairstyle firstly and then the level of informality in his talk). Happy, I walked out at the end of it and began interacting with the rest of the delegates.

            Next in line was the DJ party awaiting us and vice versa! I danced like I was so full of beans and the entire throng was on fire! It was the first ever time like this with the best teachers and seniors. The TIPS team formed a huge circle and they pushed each one of us in seperately to display our own, weird dance move (I did the shuffle and i was happy to hear everyone roar for it).
           Dinner break arrived. The food was pretty decent. I always love networking with people and so I did just that. Later, a lot of time went in concocting for the big day!

            Together (our school people) we watched the picturesque view amidst the cold-yet-pleasant weather (lights beautifully dotting the entire city!) and got group pictures clicked. On our way back, we heard that they had shifted us to a much better place to stay in: cute cottages and a lot of greenary.




Duration: 5 hours

Reflection 1: What it all felt like..

Pre-reflection:

When I heard of the sports drill being our foremost CAS activity, I instantly visualized the scenario and hoped to be a more flexible person, mentally and physically whilst also enhancing co-operation skills and a better relationship with a group of people the same age as mine. Next is to make our teachers proud and so ultimately we'll be proud too.

Post-reflection:

Indeed, we as a team were triumphant at achieving a good name for ourselves (made our staff proud and happy). On the first day we were all excited to showcase something for the very first time in TIPS history. After the other 2 days, my self-confidence boosted and it was unbelievable to see myself and the rest on the team performing with complete dedication and later feeling the pride.

Now we have faith that we can work together with synchronization!

On the whole, these three days satisfied me because it was the time I got outdoors after long and I really needed it. Besides, it added a little spice to the school hours since it was something different and something that taught me new yoga skills and co-operation and reinforced my relationship, not only with my fellow classmates but also with every staff involved.

Journal 1.3: Post Republic day celebration

               

               It was a big day today as we were to perform in front of our entire school! Proud that the introduction of these new activities are going to be done by us, we were all very excited, but edgy also. Our coaches gave us ribbons (saffron, white and green) according to which row we stood in, to tie to our wrist, in order to signify our Indian flag.

           



               As the drumbeats were heard we jogged to the field in the order that was decided. Congruently, the drills went on whilst the yoga asanas and formations followed (I successfully did and maintained the position of the challenging asana for 12 seconds: something I thought I wouldn't do!).Beaming at the crowd that gave us a huge round of applause and cheer, all of us bowed down and then jogged back to the gallery (where we were first sitting). Everyone felt that we did a great job so most came to us personally and appreciated.

      
Duration: 15 minutes

Journal 1.2: Yoga Yoga everywhere!

                   Perfection was today's goal! For the betterment of our skills and co-ordination, we practiced, practiced and practiced. Today I somehow failed to stay in one of the yoga positions (Padhmasana on another girl's shoulders, who's also in Padhmasana). This got me nervous and so I thought I'll keep in mind another asana as a backup. Mr. Prem and Mr.Soundhar, our coaches, gave me the confidence and said I would do it after warming up rightly.

                     The reason for proper team-work was that these activities are going to be displayed for the first ever time in our school. Once we were done with the drills for an hour, we went to the yoga and human pyramid part of it (which took another hour). Together we finalised all positions and arrangements and practiced the entire sequence, first by commands, then by ourselves.

Duration: 2 hours

Journal 1.1: Skill in drill!

                         Resuming our drill practice for the Republic day, we gathered on the field around afternoon. Like the first day, today we practiced the same four exercises, with much more co-ordination this time. In addition, we were asked if we were interested to join for displaying some yoga poses as well (for the same occasion). Well, most of us were! So, Mr. Soundhar, our coach and few other coaches instructed and helped us throughout the session; at what beats we go to what position and so on. Basically, there were asanas (postures) like Chakrasana, Dhanurasana and padmasana. The bridge, the bow and the lotus. It wasn't something new or difficult for me since I practice yoga at leisure.

                        In a sequence, our plan of what is supposed to be done was over. We trialled all of it: forming the right positions and staying in one particular posture for at least 15 seconds! Every minute just got funnier. Then came the pyramid (the human pyramid, what everyone calls it). The girls were all sporty to involve in it (it was only the boys who were doing it before) and so we created groups for the formation. Keeping still and controlling our giggle were the tough parts, at least for me. We managed, however. At the end of it we were happy and jumping about as it was exhilarating even if it was exhausting.

Duration: 3 hours

Journal 1.0: The very beginning..

         

  I had been longing for 'this' hour of the day to come and was more than excited to see what our CAS co-ordinator, Mr.Rolf, had kept in mind for us. Today we had our fresh commencement of CAS with a 'Sports drill'! One of our coaches, Mr.Soundhar took initiative to display four hand exercises done in different ways, whilst expecting us to maintain co-ordination with the whole squad, as we follow him.
                  Promptly, we arranged ourselves in four rows on the soccer field (two for boys and two for girls) and were all ready to follow the coach and repeat the movements to develop practice, as this is to be done on our Republic day on January 26th. We were initially beckoned to execute each movement as he counted (one exercise took about 16 counts!) and then it was with drum-beats.
                Next, we were told to perform all four exercises together (the fourth one including a clap was the best one for most), one after the next, almost five times! It was a scorching day, so it kind of knackered us all but at the same time it was a lot of fun. He declared to us that he was impressed with our group (that consists of around 40 students) and called it the best IB-DP batch for CAS, till date, because he observed and appreciated decency and team-work.

Duration: 1 hour