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The Yale experience“Experience the energy of a campus powered by the pursuit of knowledge. Experience students who share your focus and intensity. Experience faculty who will inspire you to expand your world and your thinking.”

This year's Yale Summer Session was all this and more. It was an experience that was fuelled by academic pursuit, student interaction and inspiring faculty, each of which played a key role in making Yale Summer Session an unforgettable experience for me and for Vivek Paul who was the other Xavierite selected for the Yale Summer Session.

To absorb a semester’s worth of knowledge into five weeks is not an easy task, but with the help of exemplary professors, and a stimulating classroom, I learnt more than I could have hoped to in a semester. I took classes that as a first year were challenging and was still fortunate enough to hold my own, while learning how to adapt to a course curriculum that was extremely academically challenging. While “Econometrics and Data Analysis” challenged me academically, my other course the “International Dimensions of Democratization” was a firehouse of varied discussions, discussing dynamic viewpoints on culturally sensitive issues in a diplomatic manner fit for the UN.

While there I also made it a point to interact with diverse student body, and when I left I knew I was leaving with some wonderful friends, who I would call friends for life. The extracurricular activities took up all my remaining free time, and I revelled in the friendly competitive spirit while participating in the intra-murals of American football, volleyball, swimming and even frisbee!

This has been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life, and though five weeks were much too short, this experience has been much more than I would ever have

dreamt it to be.

Aditi Naval Kumar

Harvard DiariesHarvard University: it evokes a sense of grandeur as soon as you hear it. For me, spending time there this January as a student delegate at the ‘Harvard College in Asia Program (HCAP)’ was nothing short of grandiose. For those unaware, HCAP is one of the biggest student organizations at Harvard University that promotes intellectual and cultural exchange between Harvard and prominent academic institutions throughout Asia – and India’s representative is St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. The institutions that are a part of this prestigious program are some of the leading ones in their respective countries and also top-ranked in Asia.

Each year in January, HCAP invites delegations from these select partner universities to visit Harvard for their annual exchange conference. This year’s theme for the conference was ‘Technology and Social (In)Justice’. Once the Asian students cross borders in January, apart from jet-lag there is frigid weather to welcome them, (for us, Indians, -15 degrees was a tad unsettling). But it was all worth it, because it was an amazing experience to foster global connections with peers, and also acquire a deeper perspective of global issues.

The conference saw some brilliant lectures by Harvard professors such as Venkatesh Narayanmurthy (prominent lecturer in The Harvard-Kennedy School of Government), Jeffrey Schnapps, James Waldo, David Ager (lecturer in Sociology at Harvard College and lecturer of Social Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School), etc. These professors are leaders in their respective fields. Jennifer Chan from Northwestern University and Ana Maria Vedaurre-Roche from the Inter-American Development Bank were among few of the other speakers at TED talks and discussions.

Meeting fellow student delegates was made easy for us - It started with ‘Speed Friending’, where we sat across from other delegates along a really, really long table discussing questions for two minutes before moving on to the next delegate. Having exhausted our mental capacity for learning names for one night (Lets not talk about Korean and Japanese names here!), the path was clear for next night’s social: Karaoke-ing. The karaoke night was special not so much for the Korean songs but the first real snowfall of the winter (and of my life), which for those of us who had stuck to warm weathers for most of our lives, was icing on the ka(rao)ke. Mr HCAP- a personality contest for boys – had a special dance performance on ‘Rang de Basanti’ by the Mumbai Delegation

Conversations with Globalisation

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which I’m quite sure rocked Harvard! The function of the week was the quintessential American social event - HCAP Prom, which saw us beautifully out in traditional Indian clothes to the shock of everyone present there.

The other highlights of the conference were the art, food, history, and shopping tours of Boston, Ice-skating on the Frozen lake, visiting M.I.T campus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the primary institute for engineering in the world), going to the top of one of the tallest buildings of Boston and seeing the Charles river frozen, Disney Imagineering Labs, Microsoft New England Research and Development Centre (interestingly shortened to NERD centre), a chocolate factory tour and a Brewery tour (Oh my!). The last day was quite evidently very dis-heartening for everyone with all of us eagerly exchanging numbers, email addresses, and promising to see one another once again the following March!

Darshit Shah

British Council sponsored Knowledge Economy Partnerships St. Xavier’s College has partnered with two UK universities – University of Bath and Liverpool Hope University as part of the British Council sponsored Knowledge Economy Partnerships 2011 scheme. This is a Faculty Development Programme.

Hence, four Bioscience faculty of the college visited the University of Bath in May 2012 for three weeks - two weeks of audits of lectures and practicals in Molecular Biology, Genetics, Cell Biology and Developmental Biology and one week of shadowing researchers in the research labs of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry. The faculty members were Ms Karuna Gokarn, Dr.Ms. Priya Sunderajan, Prashant Ratnaparkhi and Dr. Ms. Shiney Peters.

Further, two faculty members in the Social Sciences, Dr. M.T.Joseph

svd, and Ms. Linda Dhakul, visited Liverpool Hope University in May 2012 to study the possibilities of collaboration in an interdisciplinary research project with the Faculty of Education.

Dr. Ms. Vivien Amonkar, the programme coordinator, visited several UK universities to study new practices in teaching pedagogy and assessment methodology, as part of the programme.

Bioscience Summer Exposure Program at the University of Bath, UKOne FY and Ten SY Bioscience students attended a three week Bioscience Summer Exposure Program at the University of Bath, UK

Three weeks at the University of Bath!

Eleven of us accompanied by 4 staff members were at the University of Bath, United Kingdom for a Bioscience Research Summer Exposure Program in May-June 2012. My experience at "The University of the Year - University of Bath" was an incredibly enriching one. It was a perfect blend of academic, social and cultural activities which gave us a glimpse into the student life in the UK.

In the first two weeks, professors heading various research labs delivered talks on the research they

were engaged in. The lectures were extremely interesting because they took us through a journey of the past research, ongoing work and the future prospects in the field. The practicals were equally exciting since we performed experiments and learnt techniques that we do not usually learn at an undergraduate level here. Working on the Biotech Challenge and various other assignments that we were given was a good learning experience. The critical yet motivating feedback about our work helped us improve and focus on minute details which we usually tend to overlook or neglect. During our last week, we worked at the different research labs in the University. It was a great experience since we got to do hands on work on ongoing research projects. It helped a lot of us to gain clarity on whether or not we wished to pursue research as a career. It also taught us to be patient, persistent and prepared us to face adversity.

Apart from the academics, other activities like the African Drumming Workshop, Salsa & Bollywood dance, day trips to beautiful places around Bath and refreshing sports sessions at the University’s Sports Training Village gave us a chance to interact with students of the University. They were extremely warm and welcoming and tried their best to make us comfortable. Even the professors went out of their way to help us out whenever we needed their help and advice.

On the whole, we loved the journey.

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It was truly a journey that helped us blossom. We learnt so many things, made so many friends and brought back memories that we will never forget. The University campus and the city of Bath were exceptionally beautiful and magnificent. We would have loved to stay there longer. Those were the fastest three weeks of our lives.

Sarah Chordekar TYBSc (Life Science-Biochemistry)

Eumind 2011- 2012Welcoming the Belgians Home

In the wee hours of the morning, on November 8th 2011, there was a buzz in the air at the Chattrapati International Airport which soon escalated to a loud cheer and a large group of people running toward the exit. While the other people around speculated about who was coming out, everyone knew that something big was going on. Yes indeed, the big warm hugs we gave the Belgians while welcoming them indicated the start of the journey of a lifetime. St Xavier’s, Mumbai was proud to host 26 students accompanied by 4 teachers from St. Lambertus School, Belgium as a part of the EUMIND program. EUMIND stands for Europe Meets India which is an academic and cultural exchange between India and Belgium and various other countries in Europe. All the Belgian visitors were hosted by Indian students and were made a part of their families for the duration of their stay. We kick started their trip by showing them our college and at the first glance itself they could see why we were so proud of being a

part of it. They gave us a feel of the lives that they led in their country, the famous monuments, delicacies and their complex political structure through various presentations. We experienced each other’s cultures through an exchange of dances. The boys were fascinated by the turbans we tied for them while the girls enjoyed picking out the designs for their mehendi. We gave a standing ovation to one of the Belgian students who actually recited a poem in Hindi! To experience our class room atmosphere they sat for our Sociology, History and

Political Science lectures.

We took them for a heritage walk early in the morning to Horniman Circle with our seniors from the History Department showing them the architectural diversity and significance of various monuments. They took a sail across the harbour to visit the Elephanta Caves where they were shown the various sculptures and given a brief introduction to the history behind it. They also learned about some yoga poses which they were happy to try!

They visited an NGO during their stay here so that they would be able to see the genuine problems our country faces - allowing them to see the difference between the affluent and less fortunate. Indeed they came back seeing two sides of India.

We gave them a feel of real street-shopping at Colaba Causeway. Apart from learning how to haggle with the vendors they found the prices ridiculously low and bought various souvenirs for their friends and family

that would remind them their entire trip to India.

They had a day to spend at home as well where they spent time with their families and exchanged stories about their lives. Later on went out shopping, for Mumbai darshan, or see the beach at Alibaug. We hoped by then that they appreciated the reality and richness of the diverse cultural heritage of India.

They visited St Xavier’s Panchgani after a halt at Fort Jadhavgadh near Pune to see what an Indian fort looked like. On the 18th they returned to Mumbai and had one last day with their hosts. They left for Belgium after a farewell party. Indeed, this was one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences of our lives which left us with memories we will cherish and friendships that would last forever.

Tanya Jerry SYJC

Eumind MAY 2012EUMIND (Europe Meets India) is the one and only international programme of St. Xavier’s Junior College. This is the third year that we have had this programme and it has been absolutely amazing! EUMIND is an exchange with a school in Westerlo, Belgium by the name of Saint Lambertus Schollen. The Indians start off the exchange by going to Belgium in the month of May. It was a 10-day excursion from 5th May 2012 to 15th May 2012. Nineteen of us had gone to Belgium, and this group included both science and arts students as well as two students from Panchgani, making it quite a heterogeneous group! Each student stayed with two host families and each and every one of us was completely blown away by the warm welcome and hospitality we received from the Belgian students, teachers and our host families. We had two teacher chaperones from St. Xavier’s- Mrs. Vidya Hegde and Mrs. Debjani Chavan- as well as Father Scaria from Panchgani; they were our parent-figures in Belgium, the three people we could always fall back on if we needed to!

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Our entire excursion was absolutely jam-packed with a host of amazing things for us to do! One of the first things we did was the cultural programme that we put up. Our cultural programme showcased India - its diversity, its heritage and of course, its culture. The programme consisted of Kathak, Lavani, a Koli dance and it goes without saying, Bollywood. Besides the cultural programme, we also gave presentations on India, Mahatma Gandhi and music. The Bollywood Film Festival was another major component of our trip. On the day of the festival, Indian films were screened at different venues all over the school campus, and each of us had to introduce one movie to the Belgian audience. We also attended a few lectures and workshops in school. The lectures were on ‘Dutch for Beginners’ and Belgian Politics. I think the lecture on Belgian Politics was especially fascinating, because all of us were keen to understand how a country facing so much political turmoil is functioning so well! The workshops included: Nursing and CPR, Cosmetics, Cooking (we cooked a four-course Belgian meal for all the people involved in EUMIND for the dinner that took place on our last day in Belgium) and Yarn-Bombing (here, we knitted beautiful patterns to decorate the trees on the school campus). All these activities took place within the confines of the school, but besides these, there were many excursions outside the school campus. We went to the Abbey of Tongerlo (which was quite close to the school)

and there we saw a copy of the Last Supper. Another day was spent in Cologne, Germany. There we saw the Cathedral (which is a world heritage site), the Lindt Chocolate Museum and the Ludwig Museum (which has a huge collection of works by Picasso). Another excursion to Leuven was also organised. Leuven is basically the educational hub of Belgium. There we saw the University Library. This library has been destroyed twice in both the world wars and then rebuilt. It has an enormous collection of books and manuscripts. Another day was spent in Brussels. This is the capital of Belgium and a very beautiful city. In addition to these activities and excursions, we did a lot more with each of our host families....we had the time of our lives!

I don’t think I would be exaggerating

if I said that this trip to Belgium was one of the most unforgettable experiences of our lives! EUMIND serves as a platform for international collaboration, but it is so much more. It serves as a medium to make the best of friends, it serves as a medium to garner the most enriching experiences and most importantly, get to know another culture as well as give an experience of our culture to the European students!

Tarushi Sonthalia SYJC Arts

Stuttgart – MumbaiComing to India: Facing a new country and myself

When I signed up for a course on globalization with an excursion to Mumbai, I figured that it would be an interesting endeavour. Little did I know that it would become one of the most important experiences of my life. Not only did it introduce me to a fascinating country and its wonderful people, but also in the process teach me more about myself and my life in Germany. Our trip to Mumbai was to be after our little vacation in Delhi and Goa.

The first time I realized that this was not an ordinary vacation was when we stepped out of the Delhi railway station into the bright sunlight and felt completely overwhelmed by what we saw - cars, rickshaws, people, cows,

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more people, noise, dust: Absolute chaos! And we, three girls with four heavy suitcases, dressed in our Western outfits, in the middle of it. People came up to us, asking if we needed a cab. Cars almost ran us over when we crossed the street. We didn’t know how to get to our hotel. Fortunately, our hotel was directly at the railway station and felt like a safe haven compared to the tumultuous turmoil outside. When we finally sat unsettled in our rooms, I remember having one thought: “I’m not prepared for this.”

The next morning, on our way to Agra in a cab, I realized that the traffic was another challenge I had not foreseen. Firstly, “traffic” in Germany means cars on the roads, people on the sidewalk and a bike or two. Soon I realized that in India, everything that has wheels or can move is on the road – and usually using a very loud horn. Very quickly, we got accustomed to the traffic: ‘Just walk, don’t think, just go!’ Traffic will go around you. And soon, we also said goodbye to our (very German) idea that everything mu s t a lw ay s go smoothly. A delayed plane, cabs that break down on a bridge or at the side of the road, no seat belts, and trains without doors: We just went along with everything and everything worked out great. I learnt that things may work differently here, but they still work.

On the one hand, I wasn’t at all prepared clothes-wise or traffic-wise, but on the other I had arrived with a lot of notions and preconceptions about India, as we have about every country. When you ask a German (or any European for that matter) the three things he associates with India, he is usually going to answer “elephants, spices, holy cows”. That’s basically it. Which means when you

come back from India, people are going to curiously inquire if you rode an elephant, if you bought spices and if it’s true that there are cows everywhere. Later in Mumbai, I could finally pinpoint what bothered me about seeing a country this way, the tourist way, when I realized that there were only tourists in the most “British” parts of Mumbai. They see the harbors, they see the sights, they go home and say they have seen India. It was not pleasant to see myself in this light, the tourist light and I was glad that in the end, by experiencing the city with a “native”, I took home much more than just the idea of India as the country of elephants, spices and holy cows.

Another notion I had of India was heavily influenced by a lot of Bollywood movies (I’ve actually watched more than I dare to admit). I was curious to see if dancing and music actually played such a big part in the Indian culture as I had perceived. Of course, I didn’t expect people to start dancing in the street (although that would have been very interesting and fun), but coming from a, let’s say, a very serious culture, I was happy to see that there was actually a lot of dancing. From a traditional welcome dance to a dance performance in the NCPA and generally a lot of singing and music, I was not disappointed. I soon realized that Hindi songs and Bollywood movies were not, as I

had guessed, considered “traditional”, but that they were as much a part of youth and pop culture as Harry Potter and American pop songs. As German music or films are usually considered old-fashioned by young people, I envied the ease with which English and Hindi pop culture could co-exist.

Another “stereotype” of India stuck in my head was that there is a multitude of different religions and I was excited to learn more about this aspect. Coming from a culture that is predominantly Christian with a hint of Islam, it was interesting for me to see varied and seldom unknown religions being represented in different parts of town or just existing side by

side. I loved visiting temples, mosques and churches all over town and marvelled at the fact that religion in India is omnipresent: Even a small shrine at a street corner could be a religious place.

A very difficult experience for all of us was being faced with daily scenes of poverty. We were shocked by babies living on the streets or by a

young boy standing outside the gates of a shiny, clean McDonald’s restaurant, looking at our food longingly. There was poverty in other countries I’d visited, but it was always invisible to the tourist’s eye. I never had to face the omnipresence of poverty earlier. Another experience that struck me was our visit to a village around 50 km outside Mumbai. Travelling 50 km in my country doesn’t imply a lot of change, travelling in India meant that you travelled back a century and found yourself in a desert-like area with people living in huts, not being able to go to school and not having a hospital nearby. It baffled me how, in a country where cell phones, internet and modern technology are available

The St. Xavier's college students with Professor Khaliq Parkar at the Heidelberg castle, Germany.

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and in some parts omnipresent, other parts of the population live in utter ignorance. As we sang with and for the children in the village, I was deeply moved by their openness and curiosity, but I was also saddened by the fact that they didn’t have the possibility to go to school and live the life they might want to live. I realized, again, how fortunate and lucky I was and how ungrateful and unaware I was of this fact.

In the end, the best memories of this trip, however, will always be the friendly people I’ve met. On my third day in India, I wrote in my journal: “It’s unbelievable how amiable and positive people are here. Coming from a country and culture where not complaining is already considered a compliment, I was surprised and delighted by the friendliness of complete strangers. One of the best encounters was with a family who was from Southern India, tourists themselves. Their daughters, both students, translated and they asked many questions and were genuinely interested. They gave us each a bangle and the elder daughter did henna on our hands, for good luck and, I suspect, to find a husband, as the mother was very interested to know if we were married. I still wear the bangle daily, as it is, as sentimental this may sound, a symbol that people from two completely different cultures, not even speaking the same language, can still connect and that there’s always friendliness out there. Starting with these little encounters to our project group in Mumbai, people were welcoming and very friendly. Up on a roof-top restaurant, high over Mumbai, we experienced a magical first evening, getting to know each other and getting along. Later, as we got to know each other better and better, we realized how easy conversation was between us, how many jokes we shared despite living in different countries. Edged in my memory is the last evening when all of us went for dinner and ended up singing along to the same Backstreet Boy song, as one group from different parts of the world.

Sitting here, back home, these

experience already feels far away. Did I actually go to Mumbai? Did they actually come to Germany? Worlds apart, people from two cultures meeting in a project that would probably not have been possible a decade ago. These friendships would not have been possible. In the end, these friendships and the experiences I have made in a surprising, wild, wonderful and friendly country are the things that stay. I might not have been prepared for it, but I’ve gotten to know India – and in the process I’ve gotten to know myself a little better.

Jacqueline Pfaff

(A student from the University of Stuttgart on an exchange programme to St. Xavier’s College as a part of the ‘Conversation with Globalisation’ Course held between Stuttgart, Germany, St. Xavier’s, Mumbai and St. Louis, U.S.A in March 2012.)

Unity of the human race : Mumbai - Stuttgart

Picture this: one teacher, twenty students and one course. Quite regular. And now feed this in: the teacher based in Stuttgart, Germany; of the students - eight from India, nine from Germany, and three from the USA; and the one course that unites them all: Globalisation.

For the past five years, the Department of English at St. Xavier’s College has been offering its students an online course with the University of Stuttgart. A visit paid to the college by Mr. Wolfgang Holtkamp in 2008 strung the first knot in the educational bond between Mumbai and Stuttgart. The two have had the sister city agreement to promote cultural and commercial ties since 1968. In the face of the rising trend of Globalisation, political assimilation cannot hold out on its own as the only legitimate link between countries. Society, Culture, Education are inevitably drawn into the bargain by the surging technological development.

This was validated in 2009 by the first academic program to be conducted on an online platform between the two cities. Ten students of St. Xavier’s

College connected with their German counterparts via the e-learning method. The astounding success of the course lured Stuttgart’s sister city, St. Louis, USA into the program. Since 2011, the currents of Globalisation have been sweeping across three continents, North America, Europe and Asia.

The three-way program was presented to us under the title, ‘In Conversation with Globalisation, 2012.’ And a lovely conversation we did have! From December 2011 to March 2012, I was smitten by the online classroom experience. Professor Holtkamp would update the website to showcase the upcoming assignment along with the necessary reading material. Spanning over the four broad fields of Politics, Economics, Culture and Literature, the assignments would require us to write a well researched essay, and base it on the reading material provided as text. The wide reach of the areas of study had me convinced that it would be easy to accommodate the surge of Globalisation in them. However, the specific nature of the assignments made us target certain ‘spaces’ and contain the research within the specificities. The highlight of the course was the Internet Search Task (IST). We would have to work in teams to sieve the internet for precise material on the topic. The time difference was a major hurdle to overcome. However, it also gave us a chance to interact with the students on a more personal level.

The next stage of the course had the students of University of Stuttgart and St. Louis University visit Mumbai for the Project Week. Until then, it had only been the names on the screen and the Facebook profiles that I had been interacting with. Project Week gave us a chance to explore the various ‘spaces’ of Mumbai and work together in groups. The short span of one week taught me the most important lesson in Globalisation. Although we had studied the movement in compartmentalized fields, the true essence of the term lies in the mingling of people.

Year 2012 saw another marked development in the course. For the

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first time, five students from St. Xavier’s college travelled to Stuttgart to explore their ‘spaces’ in the movement of Globalisation. As we were hosted by the German students, we had a wonderful, authentic experience of the German culture. Stuttgart is largely a university and industrial town, but it is also studded by quite a few marvels like vineyards, castles, and delightful gardens. We explored the various artistic, cultural, educational spaces in the city. We also got the chance to attend a couple of lectures at the University of Stuttgart, and meet the faculty of teachers at the University. The visits to the Porsche and Mercedes museums, the Black Forest tour, and the numerous castles had us stupefied.

Stuttgart is an ideal space for the study of Globalisation. I noticed a

stark difference between the two generations that have a marked divide caused by the advent of Globalisation. The older generation is contained in its geographical boundaries with respect to their language and mannerisms. However, Germany is a nation that speeds with development. The younger generation has made considerable efforts to internalize world consciousness and they have adapted themselves to transcend geographical barriers and reach out to the outer world.

Globalisation is a word that everyone takes liberties with. However, one cannot fathom the depth of Globalisation if it is spoken of within the restraints of strict technicalities. The quintessential component is the people. Globalisation is the means to

the end of establishing a co existence of various cultures, the development of all nations and the unity of the human race. Mumbai, Stuttgart, St. Louis: people are the same all over. Believe it or not, their trains are crowded too.

Sai Diwan SYBA

(Sai Diwan was part of the group which visited the University of Stuttgart on an exchange programme as a part of the ‘Conversation with Globalisation’ Course held between Stuttgart, Germany, St. Xavier’s, Mumbai and St. Louis, U.S.A in March 2012.)

Nalanda University was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India from 5th century CE to 12th century CE. It attracted many scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia, Turkey.