24 US profs get up-close and personal with India

Express News Service

May 27: Cocooned in an air-conditioned auditorium, where it is easy to forget the terrible humidity of a May mid-morning in Mumbai, a group of foreigners listen mesmerised to the expert rendition of morning ragas by eminent sitarist Nayan Ghosh.

The performance continues for more than an hour, and all along there is not a single sound except for the brilliant plucking of the strings, punctuated by the regular rhythms of the tabla. At the end of the recital, the audience breaks into an appreciative applause and then inundates Ghosh with questions on the anatomy of the sitar, its characteristic sounds and the change in audience demographics over the years.

The recital is only the beginning. This delegation of 24 professors from various colleges and universities in Georgia, United States, is being treated to a slice of Indian art, culture, academics, history and modern living.

Guests of the Hyderabad and Sind National Collegiate Board (HSNCB), the professors are visiting the city as part of a three-week tour of India to get the Indian experience in their classrooms in subjects as varied as world history, drama and theatre, international education and urban architecture.

Entitled the University System of Georgia Faculty Development Seminar in India, the delegation is being lead by Indophiles Farley Richmond and Marc Gilbert, who teach drama and theatre and mathematics respectively. ‘‘Most of the teachers who have come on this trip have a typically Western impression of what India is like — a poor country with illiterate people, snake-charmers, elephants and such exotica,’’ says Richmond, who has been visiting the country since 1964. ‘‘This trip, among other things, is meant to broaden the idea of India, and as a spillover, make students who are taught by these teachers more interested in India and things Indian,’’ explains Richmond.

Though his co-director disagrees with the first part, Gilbert supports the agenda of citing India-specific examples in classrooms across Georgia. ‘‘Reading about Indian history or economics or music is one thing and actually experiencing it is quite another. Even though all of us may not understand or even be interested in everything, we will carry a pot pourri of Indianness back to our classrooms and hopefully get our students intrigued,’’ says Gilbert, adding that he makes it a point to visit India every three years.
As enthusiastic as the teachers from HSNCB, the two co-directors of the seminar have developed an itinerary set to woo the delegation. A trip to Ajanta, Ellora in Aurangabad and the Elephanta Caves off Gateway, a visit to Fatehpur Sikri, Delhi, crowned with the finale at Taj Mahal in Agra. Thrown into this fast-forward mode of the Indian experience are live dance and music performances, multi-cuisine delights, lectures on academic subjects and, obviously, shopping.