After a 12-day trip,city lad brings back stories from Kazakhstan

Hemil modi from Pune who was adjudged All India Best Cadet Air in 2009 was among the nine Indian cadets who visited Kazakhstan as young ambassadors for 12 days.

Hemils visit to Kazakhstan was part of a youth exchange programme (YEP) of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Out of about 1.3 million NCC cadets in the country,only about 100 were selected for YEP. Hemil was one of the nine cadets who were selected to visit Kazakhstan as Indian youth ambassadors this year, said Wing Commander Puneet Sharma,commanding officer of No.3 Maharashtra Air Squadron in Pune.

The other eight cadets were from Jammu & Kashmir,Punjab,Gujarat,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,West Bengal,Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh.

When I got to know that I have been selected for the visit,I wasnt thrilled as I never thought of it as a glorified nation. However,after spending 12 days among the Kazakh youth,their cadets and the countrys top leaders,I suggest everyone must visit the place at least once, said Hemil.

It is a relatively new country. Yet,it has managed to incorporate the best of developed nations in their government and military systems, Hemil said.

The Indian cadets stayed at Eurasian National University of Kazakhstan and were given a warm welcome by the students. They were most curious about Bollywood and the Himalayas. A Mithun Chakraborty film dubbed in Russian was part of their Navroz celebration on March 22, said Hemil a third year civil engineering student at AISSMS College of Engineering.

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