Summer in South Asia

My internship with NIRMAN and my seven-week stay in India as a whole challenged the way I think about equity and diversity in society. I have engaged in many conversations surrounding diversity in the U.S. American context, with identities including race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. These categories play out very differently in Indian society, where the aftermath of now-abolished caste system is still very prevalent and sexism affects everyone like no other countries I had been in. Wealth…

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My internship with NIRMAN and my seven-week stay in India as a whole challenged the way I think about equity and diversity in society. I have engaged in many conversations surrounding diversity in the U.S. American context, with identities including race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. These categories play out very differently in Indian society, where the aftermath of now-abolished caste system is still very prevalent and sexism affects everyone like no other countries I had been in. Wealth…

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Going home, going home, I’m just going home Quiet-like, some still light, I’m just going home… These are some of the lyrics from the song “Going Home”, version by Annie Haslam. And how fitting it is for my final week at NIRMAN and Varanasi. I taught this song to 8th and 9th grade students as I was introducing them to solfège (singing the melody in Do-Re-Mi) and Western orchestra (the melody comes from Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New…

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Going home, going home, I’m just going home Quiet-like, some still light, I’m just going home… These are some of the lyrics from the song “Going Home”, version by Annie Haslam. And how fitting it is for my final week at NIRMAN and Varanasi. I taught this song to 8th and 9th grade students as I was introducing them to solfège (singing the melody in Do-Re-Mi) and Western orchestra (the melody comes from Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New…

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I am a musician, and I always will be, no matter where I am in the world. This week was loaded with musical opportunities left and right, and my musician self could not have asked for any better. This week, I started one of the most exciting parts of my internship: taking lessons in Indian classical music. In my first two lessons, I became a little bit more comfortable with Sargam, or Indian solfège. Learning to sing using syllables Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa…

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I am a musician, and I always will be, no matter where I am in the world. This week was loaded with musical opportunities left and right, and my musician self could not have asked for any better. This week, I started one of the most exciting parts of my internship: taking lessons in Indian classical music. In my first two lessons, I became a little bit more comfortable with Sargam, or Indian solfège. Learning to sing using syllables Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa…

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The past week had two holidays in a row, from both Hindu and Muslim traditions. This past Wednesday was Rath Yatra, in which the chariot strolls around the city to celebrate Lord Krishna and his brothers; then, on Thursday, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan. Since school was closed to observe these holidays, I was invited to visit a nearby city of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state. Lucknow is a hidden gem for tourists. Many tourists…

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The past week had two holidays in a row, from both Hindu and Muslim traditions. This past Wednesday was Rath Yatra, in which the chariot strolls around the city to celebrate Lord Krishna and his brothers; then, on Thursday, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan. Since school was closed to observe these holidays, I was invited to visit a nearby city of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state. Lucknow is a hidden gem for tourists. Many tourists…

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Month-long summer vacation for students is now over, and Vidyashram-The Southpoint School is back in session for a new school year. There are about 150 students at this school, from Preschool to 12th grade, studying on the same campus. The campus that I had known to be pretty quiet is now full of children’s laughters, which is quite exciting. Administration of Vidyashram-The Southpoint School is one of the key components of NIRMAN’s work. This private school serves as a model…

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Month-long summer vacation for students is now over, and Vidyashram-The Southpoint School is back in session for a new school year. There are about 150 students at this school, from Preschool to 12th grade, studying on the same campus. The campus that I had known to be pretty quiet is now full of children’s laughters, which is quite exciting. Administration of Vidyashram-The Southpoint School is one of the key components of NIRMAN’s work. This private school serves as a model…

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