A SAARC baby arrives!
Cyrus Dadachanji & Mohit Midha
3rd April 2007
Today is not just the 20th day of our rally; it's a red letter day for the SAARC community. At the third SAARC Summit commencing in Delhi today, the SAARC family grew by one member, to number eight countries in all. Please welcome the new SAARC baby - Afghanistan. A nation torn apart by strife, lawlessness and political uncertainty, Afghanistan is slowly but surely clawing its way back towards a realm of stability, peace and prosperity. By accepting Afghanistan into the SAARC fold, the seven existing members have endorsed their support for a country that is willing to make every effort to regain its lost glory and stability. Three cheers for the extended family. Let the celebrations begin!
Talking of celebrations, that's where the SAARC Rally 2007 plays a vital role. To commemorate this momentous event, the SAARC Rally was flagged off on its onward journey by the Prime Ministers of all eight SAARC nations. At precisely 10.22 a.m. today, sixteen country cars rolled passed the assembled leaders near Parliament House. Waving their SAARC flags, the respected Prime Ministers wished all the teams well, as they continued on their goodwill journey through India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Due to security reasons, some of us lesser mortals had to contend with watching the action live on TV and waiting for the heroes to return.
After the ceremonial flag off, we set forth for Jaipur, 250 odd kilometres away. WE now have four Afghans as part of our contingent. Most of them do not understand Hindi or English, so communication is expected to be quite a challenge. As expected, the highway was cleared for us, and we made good time towards the Pink City. At the lunch halt en route, I witnessed the SAARC effect at work. 20 days ago, each members from each country only fraternised with their own folk. Today, there did not seem to be a single table that had members from only one country sitting at it. The integration was complete.
The composition of our contingent has also changed. Hari Singh and a few others have decided to stay back in Delhi. We now have new members in the India team as well as in the Media team. As the new entrants were getting comfortable, we sped across the land towards Jaipur. Imposing forts loomed overhead as their history tumbled out over the radio. Every few kilometres a group of village folk would happily flag us down, and offer us what they could - the sweetest ranges you ever tasted.
We reached Jaipur just before dusk. The moment we entered our rooms in Jaipur, we spied large gift boxes from the local Tata Motors Dealership. Each box contained a gaily coloured turban, which many of us wore to dinner. It was quite a sight to see Sri Lankans and Bhutanese in turbans, as if they had been wearing them all their lives. The Afghans excitedly captured everything they could on film, wondering what all the fuss was all about. This evening, the 'Cultural Show' was a smash it. The Rajasthani folk musicians and pretty Rajasthani dancers won the hearts of the crowd, and ended up posing for at least a dozen photographs.
The evening ended on a pleasant note, as we received even more gifts on the way back to our rooms. As they say "It's the thought that counts". Considering that a new baby has just arrived, one could expect a lot of 'thoughtfulness' in the days ahead.
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