Namaste America and Hello India !!

जब ऊपर वाला देता है तो छप्पर फाड़ के देता है !!

This is indeed true. One month back we got the opportunity to interact with students from Canada ( click here to read) and now this time we had the opportunity of interacting with students from USA.

On 29th May, 2016, a group of students from Boston University, USA arrived in India. They were here India for there mission- Operations Groundswell. The strength of the group was around 20-25. The meeting was scheduled at our favorite place- Sitaram Ashram, Dehradun.

On behalf of TISA, 13 members marked their presence from as far as Hoshiarpur and Saharanpur. For a change, most of the members from Dehradun turned up as well !! The facilitator of the meeting was none other than our mentor, guru and friend Dr Sachin.

It all started with the greetings and welcome of our guests here in Dehradun, They went to Rishikesh for white water rafting and arrived here around 10:00 am. Everyone arrived well on time and and we were served with hot steaming tea with biscuits.

Round 1 – Ice Breaker Round

Everyone is well aware about this activity. Each and everyone has to ask name/place of the other person and then switch the partner on the sound of “CHANGE”. This is supposed to happen quite rapidly, say in every one minute. This was interesting and something new for most of the people. Everyone had a hard time in memorizing the names and recalling them. Mohit was the undisputed champion of this round (ya, its me !! )

Round 2- General Discussion Round

Here, 4 groups were created with 7-8 people in each group. Now, students fro Boston University and TISA were supposed to interact with each on various issues like Stammering, Culture, dating, etc, etc. So this was an amazing opportunity to learn and to create awareness as well. For example, I remember, a student came to know that its not appropriate to finish a stammerer’s sentence.

Round 3- Delicious LUNCH !!!!

At the lunch, we were served hot puris, spicy Aloo matar, Daal, Rice, Raita by the amazing staff of Sitaram Ashram. Bananas were offered as a sweet !! Our guests enjoyed their meals very much and here as well, we all interacted with each other !!

Round 4- Presentation Time !!

After lunch,we all assembled in the Yoga hall. Now here we were under the impression that we will now witness some usual presentations. But, hold on, these students were truly creative and amazing !!

A group presented their views by a Role Play activity. The second group, pretended to be a family of a mother and 4 girls. Girls just got back from India and are now sharing their experiences with their mother. The third group, presented it by elaborating each letter of STAMMERING and therefore providing an overall insight on their experience in India. The last group, presented the situations as it is perceived in India and USA.

Overall, they visualized their thoughts, experiences, conclusions very effectively. At last, we had some discussion on funny experiences during their stay in India.

We ended our meeting with a group picture and recording a video for National Conference (click here for video ). Boston University students presented a memento to each and every member of TISA.

Diane Constantino, Clinical Associate Professor, from Department of SLP and Hearing, Boston University was given a TISA button of honor!

Here we would like to express our gratitude to Mr James Little, Diane Constantino for their efforts and arrangement. All the supportive staff of Sitaram Ashram, Vasant Vihar, Dehradun.