N-E students live a cloistered existence
http://in.news.yahoo.com/021102/16/1x9zd.html
>From The Hindu
Sunday November 3, 12:00 AM
N-E students live a cloistered existence
By Our Staff Reporter , Bangalore , Nov. 2.
They now number in thousands but have little or no contact with
others living here. The students from the
North-Eastern States studying in Bangalore still live in isolation
and keep to themselves.
A team from The Hindu which talked to several such students found
that for most, the journey down South itself was
difficult with no direct flights, and train travel taking three
days and two nights. The trains start from Guwahati in
Assam and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal that are reached after several
hours of travel by road.
There are airports in Bagdora and Guwahati but no direct flights
to the South. The students have to wait for some
hours at least in Kolkata to catch a direct flight to Bangalore.
"Many of us come to Bangalore because of the many professional
colleges here; opportunities for higher education are
limited in the North-East", Grace, a student said. The parents
also feel that their children should be exposed to the
larger India and get a bit "toughened" as life back home is rather
laidback, another student, Narola, from Nagaland
said.
There is gender preference when it comes to the courses they take
up. The boys mostly join medical and engineering
colleges, or computer science courses as the world of infotech has
slowly but steadily made inroads into the
North-East. The girls enter the arts or commerce streams, and
psychology is a sought after subject.
No need to worry that all these boys and girls will take away jobs
from the locals. "Most of us have no dreams of
settling down in Bangalore and pursuing a career here. We want to
go back and do something for our own people,"
said Khampu from Manipur.
While all college freshers have to cope with some amount of
culture shock, almost everything is strange for these
students. "The most difficult factor is food and many of us
started our college days with upset stomach but later learnt
to relish some of the dishes," said Dechen.
What these students prefer is to cook their own food, the staple
being noodles. At least the boys meet their food
requirements by sharing a flat and taking turns at cooking. "For
girls, it is usually hostels or PG accommodation as we
consider it safer," Ms. Dechen said.
Why do people from the North-East keep so much to themselves?
"We won't mind mingling more but the local students call us
`chinkeys' in a spiteful manner, and hardly make friends
with us. So, we are forced to stay with each other," explained
Jigdal, who is pursuing a course in computer science.
Many of them feel there are prejudices about students from the
North-East because of the way they dress and behave
freely and generally enjoy themselves in groups. "We are
fun-loving but we also study seriously and some of us have
got high grades," Ms. Narola pointed out.
Students, who have been here long enough, advice newcomers from
their region to come out of their shell and show
local youngsters that they too are Indians and not all different,
except in appearance.
