After preparing for a couple days before all the students arrived, the South Asian students presented on their cultures for the international students. You can read more here, and see a few student interviews here, beginning with Olga!
Monica
Mohammad
Rohini
Kultwisiso
Shilpi
This year I got a chance to meet new students as an alumni from 2018. They all seem to be very excited to learn new things and to meet their foreigner friends. On the first July we came to Kautilya which reminds me of where we stayed last year (Dr.Reddy’s and Agastya). Here we are doing a lot of fun activities and preparing presentation on different cultures of India to where the new students belong. The best part about it is that by doing these little activities we are getting to know each other much better.
The Group was complete around 3am on July 3rd.A delayed breakfast, continued last minute rehearsals by the Indian/Nepali students and Alumni caused the official opening of Leadership Collective 2019 to be delayed to around mid-day. But it was worth the wait. WOW.
The presentation from the subcontinent students/alumni involving a continuous and integrated serious of short vignettes with current year students presenting “Their Home” and using the Alumni as their props (from trees to windows to animals) was electrifying. The nearly one hour show took the audience from the snow covered Himalayas of Nepal and Darjeeling to the sands of Rajasthan, the dense forests of Jharkhand, the lush green of Assam, arid rural Andhra Pradesh, the temple city of Tirupathi, the teeming metropolis of Mumbai and the foggy valleys of Karnataka. The audience were given a feel for the people, culture, language, food, smells, chaos and calm which is India. Particular mention for the Bihu dance incorporated by Merry into her depiction of Assamese culture.
The afternoon involved the formal introduction of the Leaders/Hosts/Mentors to the group and the group members to each other. Among the groups self declared Superpowers – Positivity, Empathy, Listening, Persistence. Among their priorities for Change – MINDSET, INEQUALITY, APPROACH TO CLIMATE, ROLE OF MONEY There was a discussion around the role of one individual in effecting Change and it was accepted that there was indeed a POWER of ONE.
