When Zarine Commissariat visited Washington and New York in August 2012, she was reprising her first visit there when she, a 14-year-old schoolgirl had been selected to participate in Operation VISTA (Visit of International Students to America) organized by the American Red Cross (ARC) in August 1962. This year she was back for a reunion of the participants after the passage of 50 years.
Commissariat recalls that she was one of five students selected from all over India and though the age limit specified by ARC was 16 to 19 years the Indian Red Cross Society had taken special permission to send her. The only other Zoroastrian student selected to represent India was Hutoshi Sutaria. The primary purpose of the month-long program, attended by 117 students from 42 countries, was to bring foreign youths to interact with American teenagers to improve international understanding and promote the exchange of ideas for developing new programs of humanitarian service. The visiting students also had an opportunity to study US educational and social welfare systems, local and national government, she revealed.
A participating student from South Korea was Ban Ki-Moon, secretary- general of the United Nations who is currently serving his second term. Three years ago, when he visited the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Karol Skornik (one of the original 117 participants with whom Commissariat has remained in touch over 50 years) met him and reminded him that it would soon be the 50th anniversary of Operation VISTA and it would be great if there could be a reunion. Ki-Moon liked the idea and actually organized the reunion with help from the ARC, Commissariat reveals.
And thus was it that Commissariat found herself in the US this August-end along with several of the original participants.On the first day of the two-day reunion in Washington DC, there was a visit to the ARC headquarters where its president addressed them. Ki-Moon and Skornik also spoke, after which a group photograph was taken. Dinner was hosted by the UN secretary-general and the Korean ambassador to the US. The next morning the group was taken on a special tour of the White House where they were shown rooms that are not generally open to the public. Thereafter they boarded a bus bound for New York where they were taken to the UN headquarters. At dinner that night Commissariat and her husband Kersi were seated at Table No. 1 and she was later asked to say a few words on behalf of the 33 delegates and 19 spouses. After her address, Ki-Moon shook her hand and said "Dhunyawaad (thank you),” bringing to a conclusion a memorable reunion for Commissariat.