To Hyderabad and Back: A Student Journalist's Hard Lessons in India
Six months ago I had no idea how to hail a rickshaw, when to eat curry with my hands, or that a 2-rupee coin is engraved with a peace sign. I didn't know that every Indian state speaks its own language, and I certainly didn't know anything about Indian politics, education, or culture. I went to India for a four-month study abroad program in Hyderabad (a city of 6 million in the heart of South India) to study sociology and culture, both in and out of the classroom. As a journalism major, I also wanted to improve my writing and reporting skills, but I had no idea that I would have a chance to ...
Student Stress in India: '3 Idiots' Shows Hard Truths About Career Paths
Most Indians will tell you that there are only two career fields in their country: engineering and medicine. Many children aren't asked what they want to be when they grow up -- they're told they'll be an engineer or a doctor. With the recent release of "3 Idiots," the highest-grossing Bollywood film ever, this phenomenon has made big news. The film follows the college escapades of three friends studying in one of the most intense engineering schools in the country. The main character, Rancho (played by Indian megastar Aamir Khan), is a brilliant student who thinks outside the box and ...
India's University System Struggles With Growth
As a visiting student at one of the most renowned universities in India, I don't have much to complain about. My teachers are experts in their fields, my classmates are brilliant and engaged, and the administration bends over backwards to meet my needs. Not all students are as lucky. In mid-January, the Ministry of Human Resources and Development reported that 44 schools across India should be demoted from university to college status, leaving more than 200,000 students wondering about their educations. Unlike in the United States, there is a distinction between Indian colleges and ...
'Eve Teasing' in India: Fighting for Change As Sexual Violence Grows
Every day, I attract unwanted attention from Indian men -- even if I am drenched in sweat and sporting a parachute's worth of cloth (for modesty of course). Cars slow down to pass me, roadside workers stop, and groups of guys get the giggles when I traipse by. Sometimes they whisper. Sometimes they ask for a photo. Sometimes they touch me. Once a man in the market, after staring for some time, threw a grape at my roommate's chest and winked. At first I thought it was because of my fair skin. But sexual harassment is rampant throughout India for all young women, regardless of race or ...
Telangana Protests, Student Suicides Increase in Hyderabad During Budget Sessions
Riane Menardi is reporting for The Cram while studying abroad at the University of Hyderabad in India. Click here to read her coverage of the Telangana state movement. Fresh agitation from pro-Telangana protesters last Saturday brought Hyderabad to a standstill. Students from Osmania University organized a march to the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly on the first day of its budget session, demanding the resignation of Telangana legislators. To pre-empt the protest, more than 20,000 police officers set up barricades across the city. For more than 10 hours, armed forces closed roads, blocked ...
Telangana State Movement: Student Suicide Sparks Protest, Boycott in India
Riane Menardi is reporting for The Cram while studying abroad in Hyderabad, India. Click here to read her first piece on the Telangana state movement. HYDERABAD, India -- Hundreds of college students boycotted classes and forced businesses and transportation to shut down for about 48 hours last week after a fellow activist in the Telangana separatist movement committed suicide. When Osmania University students refused to let K. Venugopal Reddy's body be cremated, police responded with tear gas and batons, and several students and police officers were injured. This latest wave of unrest ...
Telangana State Controversy: Indian University Students Take Up the Fight
HYDERABAD, India -- In the middle of the University of Hyderabad's expansive campus is a large, haphazard tent, pitched precariously with sticks and rope. On a weekday afternoon, about 25 graduate students sit cross-legged on a dirty rug, talking among themselves. They shoot challenging glances at passers-by, half daring, half inviting them to come inside. They're protesting, and they want the world to know it. These students, members of the Joint Action Committee, want only one thing -- the creation of a new state in south India called Telangana. They've been on a "relay fast" for over a ...
Afghans in Iowa React to Obama's Afghanistan Surge
The debate over U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan, including President Obama's recently announced troop surge, has brought the country to international attention yet again. But for Afghans living in America, the debate hits closer to home. Many have come as refugees, acquiring American citizenship. Some are here to study, gaining not only an American education, but also American points of view. And some have grown up here, brought by parents fleeing a war-torn country. We spoke with two Afghan men in Iowa who have lived, studied, and worked as Americans but have wildly different ideas about ...
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