This past July, the Chicago Model United Nations and the Indian Youth Economic Association held the First Annual ChoMUN India in New Delhi, India. Being the first ever ChoMUN India, the staff members worked together to bring both the distinct Model UN styles of Chicago Model UN and the Indian circuit.
KGB Committee Room
Credits: Kali Walia
In this guest article post we have two reflections from the main conference organizers of ChoMUN India 2014: Daksh Jaiswal (Chief of Staff) & Armaan Shahanshah (Chair of the Wall Street Meet (WSM) Committee).
Daksh Jaiswal: “The conference was in short a ‘Dream MUN'”
It gives me immense satisfation on having ChoMUN India 2014 end on such a successful note. As Chief of Staff and a Crisis Room Member this past conference, I oversaw both the logistical and committee aspect of ChoMUN.
What started out as a simple conversation with my friend, Ajay Sabharwal, soon became the start of building ChoMUN India. Chicago MUN India came about as a result of meticulous planning and new logistical techniques, of which could be used to help other Model UN Conferences in Delhi. For example, in the Crisis Room conference, staffers communicated amongst committees through a continuous stream of communication. Simiarly, a bilateral communication was established between the crisis room and the delegates through the use of notes.
While our purpose is to make the delegates feel at home, we also saw to it that delegates developed great debate and diplomacy skills at our conference as well. The level of debate was quite commendable as ChoMUN India was an invite-only conference. However, what proved to be the game changer were the logistics, the food, and the Organising Committee.
I would like to thank all the delegates who participated in the conference with vigour, the highly qualified Executive Board members who ensured that a high quality of debate was ensured, and the committees discussed issues holistically. In addition, I would like to commend the Organising Committee, members of the Indian Youth Economic Association and WORDZ Delhi, without whom organising such a conference would have been unimaginable. I am also thankful to the ChoSec members, Josh & others, for their suggestions and the help extended by them.
This is the Chief of Staff signing off. See you people at Chicago MUN India 2015
Armaan Shahanshah: ChoMUN INdia turned out to be that one perfectly concocted dish
ChoMUN’14 India was by far an exhilarating experience. From the Wall Street Meet Committee to the location of the conference, in the most celebrated school level MUN conference in India, DPSMUN.
With the efforts of Ajay Sabharwal and Daksh Jaiswal, two of my most esteemed friends and colleagues, we were able to make ChoMUN India a conference that was both educational and an experience for all.
Back in 2007, at DPSMUN (the same venue as ChoMUN’14), I took the first step in my Model UN journey. Then coming back to the birthplace of my Model UN career gave me a sting of nostalgia as the committee doors began to open and delegates began coming in. I was standing right there, in front of the same doors, now as a Moderator of the Wall Street Meet 2008 at ChoMUN‘14 India.
ChoMUN’14 has made me personally work harder, faster, and more meticulously than I had ever worked before. In India we never really grasped the concept of the ‘crisis room’ becoming a major part of the conference but when Priyanka Sethy, the Director General ChoMUN India explained the whole concept and introduced us to the ‘Chicago way’ I found myself thinking differently. Praneeth Rao and I started working on our guide and decided to develop a model that would change our committee protocols and create a balance between the Chicago style and the Indian tadka.
In order to get the crisis room to run smoothly at ChoMUN, we began by defining the functions of the crisis room with a select few delegates. The idea of a dynamic crisis room filled with continuous updating patter, backroom negotiations, and boardroom style meetings fascinated us. Things were all heating up and our adrenaline was pumping throughout our bodies. The utilization of the resources that we left at their disposal was so efficient that we decided to put in more members to handle the volume of operational actions, rumors, informational details, and backroom negotiations; hence the number of people handling the WSM rose to five towards the end of first day. It all became a game in which everyone was on their toes and efficiently working around the clock, exactly as we needed it, the closest to reality. One line, which describes what we did in our committee is this:
“I am soft, I’m lovable but what I really want to do is reach in, rip out their heart and eat it before they die.”
– Richard Fuld.
According to our Secretary General, Ajay Sabharwal, taking care of the delegates was one thing, but making them feel at home was another. This mantra changed our conference for the better as the food, the logistics, and services were all carefully thought out. Even the quality of debate was managed, due to ChoMUN’s selectivity in delegates, due to its invite-only basis. Out of all the things that we can thank the secretariat for, one was the humility that each person showed and the respect everyone shared for each other. A special thanks goes to the Indian Youth Economics Association for taking up such a big step and turning ChoMUN India ’14 into a reality and WORDZ for all the support they could pledge and most importantly to Josh, Priyanka and the whole team from Chicago who helped us sail our boat through.
For more information about ChoMUN India, click here.
For more photos from ChoMUN India 2014, click here.
L to R: Maj Gen GD Bakshi (Chief Guest), Payal Chawla (Guest of Honour , President of Delhi Uchicago Alumni Club), Armaan Shahanshah, Praneeth Rao (EB of WSM) Tea before the opening ceremony
Credits: Abhishek Salunkhe
L to R: Siddhant Bajaj (Chair of UNSC), Priyanka Sethy (DG), Ajay Sabharwal (SecGen), Maj GD Bakshi, Payal Chawla
Credits: Abhishek Salunkhe
BJP-RSS committee room
Credits: Abhishek Salunkhe
Committee Notes
Credits: Kali Walia
WSM delegates in committee
Credits: Ramita Chatterjee
Praneeth Rao, Armaan Shahanshah (Chairs of WSM), Daksh Jaiswal (CoS)
Credits: Ramita Chatterjee
Ajay Sabharwal (SecGen) and Priyanka Sethy (DG)
Credits: Kali Walia
BestDelegate would like to thank Armaan Shahanshah and Daksh Jaiswal for providing us with their conference reflections, and Priyanka Sethy for connecting Best Delegate with ChoMUN India.
