Educational Programs
International Honours Program
Articles
US-bound with memories of Indian hospitality - Indian Express, February 22, 2002
Express News Service
Indian Express, February 21, 2002
What will students from the United States, on part of their International Honors Programme (IHP), carry home? According to 36 students from various Universities in the US, who visited Chennai and came to Bangalore as part of their IHP on Cities in the 21st Century, it is the hospitality of Indians during their over a month long stay, in the country. In Bangalore, IHP students met top executives of Wipro and Sasken, two leading IT companies and discussed corporate visions, human resource practice, community work programmes and marketing strategies.
The students spent two nights and two days, in various villages between Mysore and Bangalore to get a broad picture of rural life in India.
Apart from field trips where they gained first-hand experience, students interacted with leading professions, discussing issues such as women�s rights and human rights, heritage of Chennai and Bangalore, history of urban planning in the two cities, current Government agenda on issues such as the nexus between Government and industry, industrial toxic waste dumping and urban solid and effluent management, according to Leo Saldhana of the Environment Support Group, an NGO, which helped organize the academic programme of the students.
Speaking to mediapersons, IHP faculty Prof Dave Johnson said Bangalore and Chennai were chosen because Bangalore was the silicon valley and hi-tech City of India and Chennai was a mega city.
�During an interaction, many students were positive about the future of Bangalore in the next five years,� he said.
Though many students appreciated India and its future, they felt there was a need for more social responsibility on the part of Government towards the Countries problems.
Besides, some students were doubtful about the future of Indian cities, when compared to cities elsewhere in the World, saying environmental safeguards taken while dealing with sensitive issues such as toxic waste management were negligible, which was a matter of concern.