Novosibirsk, Russia - The friendly staff of the Library for Family Readings in Novosibirsk arranged an unusual celebration of the White Crane Poetry Festival on Oct. 22, 2013. It was established by the national poet of Dagestan, Rasul Gamzatov (1923-2003), in memory of the soldiers who died on battlefields in all wars. The memorable meeting was attended by students, veterans, and mothers of dead soldiers.
It was not by accident that the Siberian white crane was chosen as the symbol of the event. Few migratory birds fly in wedge formation and more interesting is that even a young crane can become the leader of the wedge, and during migration each bird takes turns leading. Surprisingly, when the birds are flying in a flock, they function as a sort of collective brain and can easily navigate; but flying individually, they lose this ability. Therefore, they fly long distances together!
Participants enjoyed the verses glorifying the traditional friendship between the peoples and cultures of Russia.
For adult readers, there was the presentation on "The Five Principles of Peace underlying the Universal Peace Federation." The information sparked a lively debate about the purpose of the UN and the role of UPF contributing to contemporary society.
