'All of us wanted to eat idlis'

To understand Indian culture and strengthen ties between the UK and India, 16 undergraduates from De Montfort University, Leicester, made their way to the city and got a glimpse of Bengaluru and its many faces.

      
At an event held at Sheila Kothavala Institute for the Deaf, they shared their experiences with the children from the school on how working in Bengaluru has left a lasting impression on their minds.
    
They were here as part of The India Immersion programme, which was organised by the Bharat Welfare Trust (BWT), UK, a British charity organisation.

 Students made their two-week stay memorable as they spent time with students from the institute and raised money for their education.

Hiral, one of the students and the organiser, says, “We are associated with various voluntary and fundraising activities. We wanted to make a change on a global scale and this was how the idea for such a trip began. It was a great experience as we interacted with students and painted the assembly hall of the school.”

Although communication was mainly a challenge since they all had to learn sign language initially, they unanimously echo that the children were very patient, helpful and made the process much easier. Roshni, another student, recalls how they all attempted to learn the alphabet on the first day and also simple phrases like ‘sorry’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in sign language.”

She adds, “We explored the city a little bit. The temple visits were memorable. We have never seen such big temples back home.” They also visited Belur and Halebidu and the headquarters of General Electric in Whitefield.

As it was their first time in the city, all of them felt that Bengaluru had grown on them by the end and said that it was a visit nobody would forget. Rishan, another organiser, says, “India is big and every state is different. I have visited Mumbai and a few other places in North India and I think the South and North are very different. It was nice to understand a new lifestyle and get acquainted to a different education system.”

Roshni loves the city too and the amount of variety it has in terms of cuisine, culture and food. “All of us wanted to eat ‘idlis’ and ‘dosas’ when we first came here but now I think we have had enough of it,” she laughs.

The event included welcoming Himanshu Mittal, the Assistant director of the ‘Generation UK-India’, an initiative kickstarted by the British Council. He said, “It’s really nice to see that the younger generation of UK came out and spent time here. It’s a huge step forward in expanding bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries.”