Indian Academy Group of Institutions recently celebrated, ‘Harmony’, the annual cultural fest of the International Students Association. The Academy has not less than 700 international students from 35 countries who confess that they not only enjoy their stay in the City but the college surely does its bit to make them feel at home.
The international students came dressed in their traditional costumes and performed songs and dances unique to their country.
The evening had Enrique Montero, an expat and a scientist with Biocon Ltd as the guest. He said there is the need for utilising a collaborative environment across the several countries to achieve merit and to ultimately cater to the needs of society.
After the formal session, the stage was thrown open to cultural programmes that comprised songs, dances and fashion shows of students from different countries.
The highlight of the evening was a Sri Lankan Western and folk dance, Nepali dance and Congo moves. There were also performances by students from Afganistan, Middle East, Bhutan and Africa.
Jafer, faculty of the Academy and in charge of the international student, said that the college celebrates important days of almost all the countries.
“We also take students across to different parts of the State to help them get a better understanding of the different languages, culture and food habits. The Independence Day of almost all the countries are celebrated and the International Student’s Day is a culmination of the year-long activity,” said Jafer.
Sayeed, a student from Iran said, “Events like this help the international student community get an exposure of the culture of another country. This is a day the international students get to show off what’s unique about their country.”
Saugath Pokrel, president of the international student’s association and a sixth semester BSc student, feels that such events bring the international community closer together. “There’s a lot of cultural exchange and we also end up discovering that different cultures have a lot of things in common. And the best part is that we spend weeks working together to conceptualise, plan and execute the event,” he said.
Shivankari S, a student from final-year BSc, is from Sri Lanka and her group performed a traditional Sri Lankan dance and a Western group dance. “This is an event that we look forward to and a lot of preparation goes into it. We get a peek into the lifestyle and culture of different countries. This college has a large group of international students which makes it more exciting,” she said.
