Dhirendra Talk Marketing

From land of rising Sun to land of Mahatma November 22, 2008

The urge to visit the land of the Mahatma is what primarily pulled Shuhei Kunikiyo and Sayo Kawahira, two Japanese students to

Ahmedabad. The duo are here as part of an Indo-Japan student exchange programmme.

The city’s warmth and hospitality and the walk through the narrow streets of old city are some of the experiences that Shuhei, 23, and Sayo, 21, are going to take with them back to Japan.

Shuhei says, “We have been to UK, USA and Australia as part of our student exchange programme but I love to learn Indian mythology and culture and that’s the reason I opted for Gujarat. Here I can explore diverse cultures. Apart from that, this is also the land of Mahatma.” They are learning to write and speak in Hindi and Gujarati.

Gujarat University is playing host to these students from Olemon Gakuin University of Osaka, Japan. This programme is one of the oldest exchange programmes, having been in existence for the past 38 years. There is also a club named Sakura’ which connects students who have been part of the programme earlier.

Shuhei and Sayo will stay in Ahmedabad for a period of three months and hope to the most of their stay. Malti Mehta, director of Education Multi Media Research Centre, who is co-ordinating the programme, says, “Such student exchange programmes strengthen international relations with other countries. Japanese students get good exposure of Indian culture, develop language skills and this helps broaden their social horizons.”

The duo has also visited many places in Ahmedabad. “The heritage walk was a nice experience, especially walking through those narrow lanes,” they say in unison.

The university is also planning to take them to places of historical interest in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi so that they can know more about Indian culture. “We have taught some kids of Samvedna how to make different things from paper, which is a Japanese art form called Origami,” says Sayo.