Ludhiana, July 16: Reading best-sellers is her hobby and she has been writing since she was a child. Writing articles for newspapers has been her favourite pastime and she wants to get them published some day. According to her, peace can prevail in the world only when man will find peace within himself.

She is Jalnidh Kaur, a student of Class X at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, who has just returned from her trip to the University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu, USA. She was invited by the university to attend the 24th Annual Pacific Educational Conference at Honolullu. Kaur posted her essay on internet that was selected by the university.

Of all the participants from nine countries between the age group of 14 to 18 years, only four were selected. Jalnidh was the only winner from India, while two others were from USA and one was from Bhutan. She was awarded the Certificate of Excellence by the university, in association with the East West Centre. Besides this, Kaur also received the title of Asia Pacific Leadership Programme-Junior Fellow and is also the youngest of all the winners.

But writing the essay that made her go places was just a matter of chance. “One day, when I was browsing the internet, I came across one website that asked for entries for ‘Value For Life’, an intenational essay contest, which was held under the auspices of Polynesian Voyaging Society,” she said.

She added, “Since I am a habitual writer, I wrote the essay with as much flair as I have. I also quoted the famous saying of UNESCO: Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds that defences of peace must be constructed.”

“The crux of my essay was spirituality. I believe that there can be peace in the world only when spirituality gets promoted. And I wrote in the essay that we should let spiritual bonding link the entire human kind,” she said.

The young writer said that her father who is an assistant professor of journalism at Punjab Agricultural University has inspired her. “He has inpired me a great deal. He is great human being and a social worker,” Jalnidh said.