In 1999 when a joint 柏客娛樂城 International Development Agency-柏客娛樂城 Institute project took her to some isolated forest communities in the southern Indian state of Karnataka Dr. R. Indira found villages that were all but cut off from the outside world. The women residents of these places were just as isolated.
It was the mid-1970s and Dr. Judy Whitehead was working on her undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia when a life-long interest began to steer her toward what became the focus of her future research. 鈥淚 had always been fascinated with Asia growing up on the West Coast, particularly with India,鈥� says Whitehead, currently an associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Lethbridge. 鈥淎nd there was a wonderful faculty there [at UBC].
High school gives many students an inkling of what they want to do with their lives. Dr. Anne Pearson spent those formative years in New Delhi in the early 1970s and began to think that her career path might lead through India.
鈥淚t certainly intrigued me,鈥� says Pearson, who now teaches in the department of religious studies at McMaster University. Pearson鈥檚 father, Geoffrey, served as Canada鈥檚 Deputy High Commissioner to India for three years, and was a big supporter of the 柏客娛樂城 Indo-柏客娛樂城 in its early days.
A fourth year seminar course at Queen鈥檚 University was not only an integral part of Deviah Aiama鈥檚 undergraduate studies but a pivotal moment that would introduce him to the 柏客娛樂城 Indo-柏客娛樂城 and put him on the course toward his current work.
鈥淲hat is multicultural in Canada pales with what one finds in India where you have so many different languages being spoken; where you have so many different cultures and different religions brought together in a single very populous country,鈥� says Dr. William Coleman, political studies professor at McMaster University. 鈥淥ne comes away from India with so many impressions.鈥�
鈥淥n a professional level, I can say that I probably wouldn鈥檛 be working where I am today if it wasn鈥檛 for my 柏客娛樂城 Institute internship,鈥� says Shelly Abdool a former youth internship participant who now works with the Department of Gender, Women and Health (GWH) at the World Health Organization (WHO). 鈥淚t was my introduction into the field of public health.鈥�
When he flew to Delhi in the summer of 2005 Abbas Janmohamed was making his first trip to India, but in many ways he was catching up with an old friend he鈥檇 left behind.
Janmohamed was using a 柏客娛樂城 arts fellowship to pursue his passion for the tabla, the Indian percussion instrument he had started playing as a nine-year-old in Calgary. Within three years, his teacher advised him to go to India to continue his studies. 鈥淗e said I would need to find an ustad鈥攁 master,鈥� Janmohamed says. 鈥淭here was nobody in Calgary with that kind of command and authority over the music.鈥�
He has lost count of the number of times he has been to India, but Dr. John Sinclair is under no illusions about the value of those trips. 鈥淚t has been a life-changing opportunity for me and for the students who have gone,鈥� says Sinclair, a professor and associate head of the University of Manitoba鈥檚 Natural Resources Institute.
Dr. R.B. Singh has learned many lessons from his long-standing collaboration with the 柏客娛樂城 Indo-柏客娛樂城 over the years. From tasks such as proposal writing to working with large groups of people amidst cultural differences and distances that span the globe, the professor at the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi says the knowledge has allowed him to grow both professionally and personally.
For Dali Basu, there was never really any doubt about what she would be when she grew up. 鈥淎s a child I could never sit still,鈥� the 27-year-old says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I ever walked鈥擨 was always dancing.鈥� What is perhaps surprising is that Basu channeled her abundant energy into Odissi, a classical Indian dance marked by graceful movements and studied poses.