India is blend of good, bad for this Dutch gal

“It is six weeks internship offered through exchange programme from my University at Maastricht. I definitely knew pediatrics is something that I would pursue only in India,” she said.

Tesse feels “India is very new, something I have never seen before. Before coming to India my friends and my family said many tales, both good and bad things about India. I just wanted to know the truth about India and the people”.

With a huge expression of curiosity in her eyes, Tesse glances at all women drapped in sari. Tesse tells India is truly different. Here you see different customs and rituals.

The dresses are simply marvelous. It is cool. I did shop Indian clothes and I have started wearing Indian dress to imbibe a slice of Indian culture,” she added.

She feels Indian weather is lovely.  In fact she has fallen in love with Indian weather as she can see sun daily in India.

“Everything in India is beautiful. But the idea of good and bad about India is not exactly true. India lies somewhere in between half good and half bad,” she says.

She was in Mumbai and Goa for quite some time before landing in Manipal. She is happy with the behavior of Indians towards people from different countries. Besides, she liked Goa for its white sandy beaches. Tesse tells people are good and very often they come across to be workaholics.

“Indians often come to help those in trouble,” says Tesse.

Still in dilemma of adjusting herself for the six week internship programme, Tesse tells “it seems internship here does not work for me”. 

The reason she gives for her inconvenience to get adapted to the process of learning is that the huge gap between teachers and students.  She says “it is hard to study. It is hard to get to know what you want. The division of status is highly experienced in the learning process.  The quality of education is good, but the teachers unlike in Holland maintain a sort of distance with their pupils. In Holland, all are treated equal irrespective of their status.”

Tesse likes the types of hot spicy gravy with dark red color served in India. Tesse is a strict vegetarian and she has wide variety of choices before her. She wants to tell her friends that they have to come to India, if they want to enjoy sun.

“We may not completely adapt to everything that is Indian. Even here the rate of adaptation lies somewhere in middle. You may like something and at times you may find yourself struggling to adjust for something,” she sums up.