For many journalists from across the world who were here to cover the G20 Summit, sharing working space at the International Media Centre for the last three days made them experience the spirt of "one family". From September 8-10, scribes and camerapersons from Italy to Singapore and Turkiye to Brazil worked from the facility at the newly built Bharat Mandapam — the summit’s venue. In between work, they chatted over cups of coffee and Indian meals, and also learned about cultures of different countries from each other.
"The G20 theme is 'one world, one family, one future', and all of us have been working with one aim in one space, under one roof. So, one can feel the spirit of the G20 here," Michael Hoefele, who works for a news agency in Germany, said. The International Media Centre is a working space spread over two floors in Hall No. 5 of the sprawling Bharat Mandapam complex.
G20 logos are splashed across huge decorative panels put up in the hall on the theme of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' — 'One Earth. One Family. One Future'. On Saturday, on the ground floor of the hall, in a corner, a TV journalist from Turkiye was doing a live broadcast while, near her desk, a German photographer was busy filing photos after the press conference of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On Sunday, the second day of the summit, an Indian TV journalist in a saree interacted with a delegate while a reporter from Italy, sitting at a terminal close by, filed stories on a laptop.
"We all have been working here for the last three days, from pre-summit briefing on September 8 to the main summit on September 9 and the closure of the event today. What I liked about the working space was that it has no walls to segment the space. A person sitting on one corner can see the person sitting at the other end," TV journalist from Istanbul, Asli Bilger Kutludag, said. It has been very tiring but a different experience of India, she said.
The theme of G20 has been depicted in the design of the working space too, with working zones linearly divided into segments named after Indian rivers — Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Krishna and Godavari on the ground floor and Narmada, Indus and Kaveri on the first floor. Rooms have been named after mountain ranges such as Vindhya and Niligiri on the ground floor while the main briefing room on the first floor bears the name Himalaya.
It is fitting that these segments have been named after India’s rivers, some of which which meet each other at a confluence, said a Delhi-based journalist covering the G20 Summit. Journalists from Italy, the US, Singapore and many other countries echoed similar sentiments.
Many of the hospitality staff who have been serving them for the last three days felt a similar vibe. "At one table is a journalist from say Brazil, while sitting at another desk is a reporter from Germany. They are all doing the same thing, even though they are from a different cultural and nationality. It was like a 'one big global family' for the last three days. Truly 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'," a staffer said on the condition of anonymity.
The G20 Summit hosted at the Bharat Mandapam ended on Sunday. The leaders on Saturday had adopted the New Delhi Declaration, and on Sunday, the ceremonial gavel was handed over to Brazil by India, amid cheers from Brazilian journalists.
