Monday October 22nd
India sure knows how to do ceremony! It should be no surprise that a culture with such a long, deep, rich and diverse history would know how to put together an event, but I am struck by the formality of everything. After an hour bus ride into the southern countryside of Punjab, we arrive at the remote and isolated Chitkara University campus.
It is a walled campus with guards at the gates, a university feel I have never experienced before. As we get off the bus, the heads of our respective departments we are visiting greet us and put a scarf around our necks—this will become a trend. I will have many scarves by the ends of my trip. There is a big opening welcome ceremony in an auditorium full of music and dance performances.
India
Amateur Video of ceremony by me.
My favorite music is the Punjabi style. It’s really energetic with tons of bass and reminds me a little of EDM. The dancing is incredibly physical, full bodied and beautiful. There are costume changes and prop changes and I am overwhelmed with it all.
Next, we are lead off to our respective classrooms where my co-teacher Randy and I are taken to the Pulitzer auditorium to begin our sessions. I was surprised how much more nervous I was than I expected to be. I spent most of my time telling the students about me and my background and experience and then getting to know them.
I’m interested to learn the aspirations and focus of this group of students. What do they hope a Media Communications degree will bring their life? I was delighted that several of them want to go into documentary storytelling. Several would like to be filmmakers. I think the majority of them are unsure communications students like I was at their age, and they just want to get a job and work when they get out of school.
Lunch breaks are at the campus Dhaba (restaurant). The campus has a culinary school so we are treated to more buffets—this time prepared and served by the university students. The food is amazing. I worry they are going to have to roll me home from India, but I’m still feeling at a nutritional deficit from my 7 mile hike at Shimla so I eat all the things.
The region I am in, Punjab, has a rich history and is the home of the Sikh religion. You can identify Sikhs by the turbans on their heads. Locals tell me the turban colors and wrapping style help identify which town the individual wearing it is from and where they worship. Tomorrow we are going to the Sikh heritage museum where I can learn more about this region which borders Pakistan.
