North East Youth Festival Rocks Chandigarh; Participants Pledge to be Messengers of Peace

Chandigarh Nov. 22: The 3rd North East Youth Fest (NEYF) held here in St. Stephen’s Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh saw a record number of over a thousand NE youth actively participate in the event. The NEYF held for the 3rd time was organized by a combined team of Don Bosco Youth Centre (DBYC), Itanagar, Don Bosco Navjeevan Society, Chandigarh, Bosco Net, New Delhi and various NE Student bodies of Chandigarh.
Speaking at the inaugural, Liz Ross from the United States of America who is the Chief Operational Officer of Kare Partners, spoke about the unique role that every migrant person has to play well in places other than their own hometown and she said that she has leant it through experience. She emphasized the need of skill training especially soft skills and fluency in English language and basic Hindi, which can provide ample opportunities to the job seekers of North East.  She appreciated the efforts of the organizers and congratulated the youth leaders for joining hands with the organizers and for their tireless efforts in holding the fest.
Stanzin Dawa, Regional Director, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Chandigarh, set the tone of the festival and highlighted the theme of the event “Towards A Culture of Peace, Communal Harmony and National Integration’. Vivek Atray, IAS, former DC of Panchkula, received spellbound attention from the participants while he made a thirty minutes presentation on the role of youth in nation building and spoke about three Ps – Patience, Passion and Perseverance. He also exhorted them to be at peace with oneself by spending some time daily for meditation and prayer.  Dr. Gulshan Sharma, DG of International Chamber for Service Industry, who is also the Director of ITFT College, Chandigarh called the event “Mega and an exclusive opportunity for the Northeasterns to showcase their rich cultural integrity and diversity”.  Fr. Cyriac, Director, DBYC, Itanagar, in his presentation spoke about the beauty and uniqueness of NE especially the youth and their manifold talents. He called upon the participants to keep the ultimate aim of their being in Chandigarh and not to sidetrack in merry making and partying and exhorted them to abstain from all sorts of addictive habits and illegal activities.
The participants from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim enthralled the audience with colorful dances and songs representing the ethnic diversity and uniqueness of every state that makes NE special.
In the valedictory function which was graced by S.K., Setia, former Director of Public Instuction, Chandigarh, as Chief Guest, Karma Zumpa Bhutia, IFS, Punjab, R. K. Basant, IFS, Punjab, Chief Editor, The Tribune Group, Chandigarh and Chief Mentor of ITFT College gave brief messages.
While giving the vote of thanks, Seityajit Sapam of Assam thanked the organizers especially Fr. Regi, Director of Don Bosco Navjeevan Society who coordinated the fest together with his staff and the youth leaders of various NE states.  Harold Carver, Director, St. Stephen’s Schools, who generously offered the state-of-the-art auditorium was specially, remembered all the resource persons who made the event educative as well as entertaining. The organizers specially thanked Pema Khandu the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for encouraging and generously supporting the event.  The Commandant of ITBP unit at Chandigarh who gave transport assistance was also thanked.
A mega cultural costume show by the participants saw the grand finale of NEYF. In a post dinner meeting of the leaders of the various Northeastern states who coordinated NEYF, next year’s North East Fest was tentatively fixed for the first Saturday and Sunday of November 2018.