That the PeaceWorks Kashmir project was happening hadn’t still sunk in when I walked into the classroom.

The students were in the midst of an ice breaking session with the Play for Peace facilitators. I sat in a corner, watching them carefully. Earlier in the week, I had briefly met the Chowringhee High school students of Calcutta, so I began searching for the new faces in the crowd. The next few days felt like a blur, as we packed a lot of work-shopping and sightseeing into a few days. Often we felt guilty because of the heat and how it can tired everyone, but we wanted to give them as much exposure as possible. In retrospect, the heat, the tiredness, the trivial things gone wrong are going to be forgotten, replaced by fond memories and new ideas. In a wonderful gesture, Philips Peacock from Bishop’s College (which was hosting the students and the workshop facilitators) organized tickets for an Indian Premiere League cricket match in the Eden Gardens. Now attending a cricket match in any city is a feast, but to have an opportunity to go to Eden, the most famous of all cricket stadiums, was going to be a real treat. We’d heard about how all the students from Kashmir were cricket crazy, but it was only when I saw them dancing on the chairs, waving props, cheering when a batsman hit a sixer, I realized how seriously they took their cricket. They knew the names of all the cricketers, all about the nature and format of IPL, and who was playing whom in the tournament. Looking at them dancing, I realized how easily they blended with the crowd. How the simple joys united them all. In the next few days, we visited several historical sites such as Belur Math, Victoria Memorial, watched a show at the Birla Planetarium and made a short trip to a large city mall as well. They were extremely fascinated with the gallery and exhibits in the museum at Victoria. Put teenage boys in a room full of swords and cannons from another era, and they are hooked! On the way back from the visit to Belur Math, people began playing music and chattering. It was suffocating with the heat, and no ventilation at the back of the car where we were all sitting cramped. We needed some distraction. One of the Kashmiri kids sitting right beside me in the Sumo turned towards me, and without any prelude, started talking of his childhood memories. It had only been three days since his arrival, but he already missed his home. Despite Calcutta’s cars, malls, and swanky spaces, he preferred his green pristine village. We all listened in respectful silence, no one probing any further than what he offered. There had been a lot of unintended forays into discussion about the problems they faced in Kashmir, but this was the first time I was listening to someone from their group talk at length about happy memories. The bonding between the students from Calcutta and the Kashmir was visible. Despite the cultural differences, both groups embraced each other wholeheartedly. Curious about each other, I overheard discussions about future career plans, about local customs and rituals, about their schools. Neither the Seagull staff nor the Play for Peace facilitators had prompted the introduction of these topics, but in fact we lingered in the background overhearing some merry, some intense chattering. I don’t know what will be the real impact of the workshop or this visit to Calcutta, it’s very hard to measure human interactions of this sort. But I am hoping that all the students who were part of the whole process have gone back thinking of possibilities. The possibility of living together despite whatever differences you may have, the possibility of being hope even in a situation of conflict, the possibility of change for the better. Kavitha D.