Youthful Reunion

During the programme the students and professionals were exposed to the arts, culture and heritage of India and the economic and social progress the country is making. They visited several premier institutions in the fields of art and culture, history and heritage, science and technology, education, environment, health care and media. The youths also visited Agra and Jaipur as part of the sightseeing and study of India's history and heritage. A special feature attached to the programme was a 10-day stay in the state of Uttaranchal, where the professionals were exposed to the process of development and governance at the state and grass root levels and interaction with the premier institutions and civil society bodies at the state and federal level.

What made these youths eager for the programme, what was their experience, what fascinated them about the land of their roots and do they plan to come back to India? These are some of the questions which need to be answered.

For Lavisha Kapoor of Bangkok this programme gave her a chance to see her country of birth after many years and through her own perspective. She says, “My Indians friends living here were surprised to see that I could speak fluent Hindi despite having lived abroad for many years. I told them that though I am a part of the western culture, I am still Indian by blood.” Kapoor plans to stay in India till February.

Deepti Paturi, 21, from New York too had a wonderful time. She was amazed to see the scenic beauty of Uttaranchal and learned a lot about the cultural heritage of her country. Through this programme she made lots of friends from different countries and had a good bonding experience with them. She plans to visit her motherland at least three times in a year to work in the public healthcare sector.
“It was an excellent programme organised by the ministry. I really enjoyed going to Rishikesh and Jaipur. It gave me a great opportunity to share my views, expectations, experience and bond closer with the contemporary India,” said Rahul K. Patel of Zambia. 

Some professionals joined the programme to know how the government works in India and what were the problems faced. Moreover, it helped to build linkages to bridge the information gap and prepare a blueprint for creating a sustained mechanism for engaging the diaspora youth. “I learnt a lot about the governance at the state and village levels. We were taken to the rural areas, and through interaction with the people we came to know about the particular type of government working there,” maintains Gordhan.

The Indians living abroad have always seen India through the eyes of their grandparents, media or friends. For Sarawanan of Malaysia this programme showed him the real picture of India through his own eyes. It exposed him to the cultural aspect of India. In other words it was culturally fulfilling. It gave him a view of his country and its long history.

Comments Malay Mishra, joint secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, who joined the team, “It was a successful experiment. We had the largest orientation of the diaspora youths, which presented the composite picture of India. We gathered the students by passing our message to the missions and various associations and through advertisement in newspapers.” 

The programme was the first attempt by the ministry to engage the diaspora youth more strongly. The ministry is already planning another diaspora programme, which would be bigger than the last time. So all you lucky ones pack your suitcases and fasten your seat belts for the ride of your life.

October 2005