The Indian National Students Association (INSA) UK, in association with the Consulate General of India (CGI) in Edinburgh, organised a “Meet & Greet” event for Indian Students in Scotland over the weekend; here is a report from an INSA UK member.
Expanding INSA’s motto of "Creating a home away from home" to Scotland, the event was a success in terms of being insightful, instructive, and motivating to students who attended. The programme was joined by Indian students from various levels and subjects of study from major Scottish universities. "Unity in Diversity” was at full display at the event, as these students represented various states and languages in India.
The event started with everyone standing for the Indian National Anthem and needless to say that it brought back a patriotic and emotional connect to the motherland being so far away.
Mr Sagar Kumar, Indian Society President for UcLan University, shared his experience of being guided by INSA and its objectives to nurture his ambition of helping his fellow Indian students at his university.
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Later, Prof. Roger Jefferey, Associate Director, Edinburgh India Institute, lent his support to Indian students and warmly welcomed Indians to the city, even proposing to organise an Indian history tour at the city. He highlighted the historical connect between India and Scotland, which was all very new to the attendees.
Mr Alok Tripathy, Director, Wipro UK & Ireland, delivered an inspirational message to the students. He emphasised on how as international students they need to come out of their comfort zones of languages / regions and try new experiences while interacting with people of different regions of the world. He provided valuable tips for students with regards to improving their communicating skills which will help in securing right job opportunities.
The keynote address was delivered by His Excellency Shri Bijay Selvaraj, Consular General of India in Edinburgh, as he expressed his support for Indian students across the United Kingdom and particularly in Scotland. He encouraged them to seize opportunities and offered to assist them in any way they needed. He assured the students that the Consulate intends to be their Home away from Home and invited them to pop in if and when they are in need of support.
The vote of thanks came from Mr Amit Tiwari, President of INSA UK, who spoke about INSA's next steps and encouraged new students to join in and get involved. This was followed by delicious dinner offered by the CGI.
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Mr Kishore Dattu (Head of Media & Public Relations – In charge of North Zone), Mr Puneet Dwivedi (Coordinator, Scotland), and Mr Niranjan Sharma (Coordinator, Scotland) were among the National INSA Team members who attended the event.
The CGI staff, notably Consul Shri Satyaveer Singh and Consul Shri Asif Saeed, contributed to the success of the occasion. Altogether, it was wonderful to be the anchor for the evening, and a great opportunity to get out on a sunny day and network with such accomplished industry executives.
With excellent feedback received from students, INSA UK is looking forward to launching more valuable events in the future.
by Manasa Vemulapati
Manasa is an INSA Scotland member and studying for her Master’s in Data Science from the University of Glasgow.
*This column is part of the iGlobal Campus Roundup series with Indian National Students Association (INSA) UK
