Students from various institutions came together to start a conversation around religion and to find ways to embrace their differences.
‘We should try to accept, embrace our differences’
“Why do I have friends from just one religion?” “We should be free to marry someone of our choice from any religion”, and “The kind of leaders we want are ones who can accept people from different religions and yet not differentiate between them” – These were some of the issues that the students and others attending the event attempted to address. Members of Rubaroo and Pravah, one of the youth organisations that also participated in the event, interacted with the audience on topics related to interfaith dialogue. The audience were given a charter on interfaith harmony, which focussed on the theme of the discussion. During the last session, the audience were asked for their inputs regarding the points they would like to add to the charter.
“I will try to make friends from different religions so that I can know about their beliefs as well,” said Anisha, a student. “As youngsters, we can at least start a dialogue on interfaith harmony. At a time when people are not ready to accept their differences, we should try to embrace them and live peacefully,” said Reshma Khan, a student of JMI.
(L-R) Rubaroo Executive Director Hema Khatri, Co-founder & CEO Monisha Vemavarapu, Co-founder Neha Swain, and Director (programmes) Shubhi Dwivedi 
Members of the band Manzil Mystics perform at the event
Musical performance highlights the issue
The interactive session concluded with a musical performance by Manzil Mystics, a band and an NGO that uses music as a tool to talk about the underprivileged sections of society. Monisha Vemavarapu, co-founder and CEO of Rubaroo, said, “The Interfaith Week is a part of the Interfaith Network in the UK. When we started, our intention was to bring young people together from diverse identities so that they could learn from each other. We also organise small public events in which people can come together and talk to strangers from different faiths and communities.” 
(L-R) Astha Agarwal, facilitator at the youth group Pravah, Pradyumna Bora, Senior Political Programme Manager, British High Commission, Srijan Prabhakar, Campaign Manager, British High Commission 
Words matter: Audience participate in an interactive session
