We have all felt patriotic after watching movies like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Shershaah, Gunjan Saxena, Lakshya and so on. But, what is patriotism? Is it just devotion to and support for one's country? Is it something that is experienced and it cannot be taught in a classroom?
This is precisely why thirteen government school students from Tamil Nadu were taken on a tour of border areas of India and the trip was fully funded by NGO Nallore Vattam (The Circle of Good People), retired defence officers and teachers of government schools. “While most schools and education institutions turn to entertainment trips and tourist spots, we organised the programme Thyagam Pottuvom (Let’s Praise Sacrifice) to take the students around the Indian border to converse with the military forces of the country. This helps students appreciate and realise the sacrifices that the military makes for our country,” said I Vennila Maran, teacher at Government Higher Secondary School, West Mambalam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Six beautiful days
Thirteen students from government schools across the state and six teachers travelled to the areas of the India borders for six days from October 30 to November 6, 2022, where they had the opportunity to visit Amritsar, JCP Attari Border, Hussainiwala Border, Jallianwala Bagh, Saragarhi Memorial, and so on, and meet a number of military officials from the Border Security Force.
There were over thirty schools from fifteen districts with over 50,000 students in total from the state that were considered for the Thyagam Pottuvom programme. Each school selected a few students based on their performance in school and a school-level examination followed as well. After that, the students were selected based on their good characteristics, sense of commitment and physical and mental stamina. “The purpose of this trip is to make every student a patriot and a visit of the Tamil Nadu students to the border areas of the country like Attari-Wagah, Hussainiwala and Longewala will have a positive impact on their education and life, and help them realise the importance of the warriors of the country,” said Killivalan (full name?), a soldier in Border Security Force (BSF), who accompanied these students in the border tour education about the military forces of India
Did they achieve what they expected?
“This was my first trip to Northern India, I have never travelled around the country. It was educational for me. I was ten metres away from the Pakistan border and heard Indian soldiers converse about their life. This trip made me realise how I have been lazy all my life while these heroes work 20 to 22 hours straight for our safety sacrificing everything else," said Shriram D (18), a student of Government Higher Secondary School, West Mambalam, Chennai.
“This trip changed my life. Especially when we went to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Temple in New Delhi. All of us together, without giving importance to our caste, race, religion, class, gender and so on, had to stretch out our hands and receive food which made me believe that everyone is equal,” added Shriram, who one day hopes to go one step higher than Elon Musk and contribute as much as he can to this country.
“For our country, our soldiers are protecting us by leaving their families. They devote their life and body to the country by working hard 24x7, throughout the year. Their sacrifice is one we should fully recognise. The main aim of this tour is encouraging our youngsters to appreciate the sacrifice that our soldiers make for our country, and after talking to these students, I feel like this has been achieved,” said M Pungulazhi, Coordinator of Thyagam Pottuvom. She also added that, “We have just taken the first step towards what we hope is going to be an immense journey.”
First, definitely not the last
“This is the first time ever that students from a government school or any other school in India travelled across the country to meet military officials and gain awareness about our country’s forces. These students had the opportunity to meet and converse with heroes. I am a teacher and I have always been proud to say I have made doctors, engineers, scientists and so on, but now I am honoured to say that my students are more patriotic than ever,” said Vennila.
The teacher also added from Nallore Vattam, a number of professionals from different fields such as doctors, scientists, teachers, and so on, funded the students as this trip cost over Rs 10,000 per person. Nallore Vattam is now planning to take students every year on this particular trip which will not only be a learning experience but also make them realise that the fights and petty arguments we have among ourselves are completely unnecessary when compared to what they see happing at the borders. “This programme is our first step towards world peace,” she added.
