Calcutta: The 22nd batch of students from St. Xavier's Collegiate School recently took part in a Calcutta-Dublin student exchange programme.

The experience began with Irish students from Belvedere College, Dublin, spending a fortnight in the city. The boys got to know about each other's country and culture.

The Irish boys visited St. Paul's cathedral, the Eden Gardens, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Marble Palace and more.

When it was time to bid goodbye, the students of St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, hosted a colourful programme. The students of both scgool put up musical shows.

Father Benny Thomas, the principal of the host school, compared the effort of the students to the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper in which the ants' untiring efforts bore fruit at last.

The icing on the cake was the sumptuous dinner spread on the school's basketball court.

The city boys are slated to tour Dublin in the new year.

The exchange programme is aimed at encouraging students to serve society, experience a new culture, appreciate each other's differences and discover new aspects of ourselves.