A UN meet right here

Over 600 delegates are attending OAKMUN 2015 and the meeting rooms are absolutely buzzing with chatter.

 

For an event organised by youngsters not more than 18, it is hectic and high profile — it’s one of the largest high school-organised “Model UN” meets worldwide.

 

“Just yesterday (Thursday), we were here for 17 hours, going over the final details,” says Abhiram Reddy, the secretary-general for the MUN.

 

Meanwhile, Ahalya Rajagopalan, the under-secretary-general, public relations, adds, “The Committee was organised last November...we have been working continuously ever since.”

 

Talking about how they tried to make this year’s event different, Abhiram says, “We kept the theme, ‘Fire’. It works as a metaphor as we want to ignite a change. We have 14 committees, while 11 are the normal UN committees, we also have three special committees, called crisis committees.”

 

The topics up for discussion are quite interesting too — they include legends and historical events. “We have a committee that will be representing villagers in France who had to come up with solutions on how to control the beasts of Gévaudan.” Gévaudan is a province in France, which was terrorised for several years apparently by a rare dog-wolf hybrid. It’s estimated that there were over 200 attacks. Ask them about the preparation behind the scenes and they laugh, “We would meet at school and talk about this the whole day, then go home and talk over Skype or Facebook. Basically, the only time we were not talking was when we were sleeping. Now, the organising committee has become family for me,” says Abhiram.

 

Ahalya, who’s also a national-level swimmer and basketball player, remembers the time she was in Delhi for a match and would still be texting to discuss the event. But working relentlessly also has its own benefits. “It improves your writing and leadership skills,” says Abhiram while Ahalya adds, “It also helped us build an amazing bond.”

 

Once it’s all over, they say, “it’s going to be bittersweet.” “After this event I don’t know what we will be talking about,” says Ahalya.