Desi friends play host to students from abroad as festival fever hits city colleges
Students of various nationalities at St Mary's college, Yousufguda
Students of other nationalities studying in the city now love the festival of lights, Diwali. Sweets, crackers, visiting their friend’s homes, are all a part of their day now, making it more than just a day of “no classes”.
Sapi Ngalikova, who’s from Congo, has spent two Diwalis in India and is looking forward to this one, He says, “I go out with my friends, burst crackers. Being with my friends in India and their families, it feels like I’m home.”
Like Sapi, Khalil Ullah Rahimi, from Afghanistan, has made friends here and celebrates Diwali with his other friends from Afghanistan who are in the city. “This is my second year here. I remember the first year we went to Osmania University as there was a party there. This year too, we will all be getting together, bursting crackers and then go to Hussainsagar to see the lit-up sky,” he says.
Being here, many others have found a deeper meaning to the festival. Glace Joseph, a second-year B.A. Mass communication student at St Mary’s, who’s from Nigeria says, “When I came here one year and three months ago, I had no clue about Diwali, but now I love the festival of lights. The first year I was here I went out with friends but this year I’ll be spending it at an orphanage to bring light to the lives of the underprivileged.”
And students on the Study in India Program at the University of Hyderabad celebrate at the homes of their host families. Professor Mohan Ramanan says, “In these 15 years we must have hosted over 100 students, many of who are still in touch and even re-visit our family. On Diwali, we invite SIP and Indian students from the University for an evening of fireworks and food. Our experience with the SIP students who have stayed with us has been enriching and memorable. SIP students who have stayed with us have learnt something of the daily life of an Indian family, we in turn have experienced American values and attitudes of the students.”
BITS had a diwali start-up!
There are also many other Indian students who are in the hostels but are more than happy to celebrate with friends. Vaibhav, a student at BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad says, “The festive atmosphere is even more heightened because we just finished our exams.”
And it’s not just that. Students at BITS have gone one step further and have also come up with a start-up, thediwalistore.com. Final-year students Snehith, Charan, Dheeraj, Lohith and Nishanth came up with the idea of the website during Ganesh Chaturthi and since then have been working on creating a website that makes crackers and candles available for Hyderabadis. Talking about it, Dheeraj and Snehith say, “We didn’t have much time but the response has been great, we have been getting orders from all over the city.”
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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