Social justice study abroad to bangalore
Evaluating Influence & Power Status // Quest for Social Justice // understanding personal values // engaged follower
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During the summer of my senior year in college, I went on a month-long study abroad trip to Bangalore, India to look at social justice movements in the area and further explore my identity as a global citizen. Though I had the chance to go to Europe with friends, I decided to take a risk and go on a journey I knew would be difficult but hopefully eye-opening. We tackled big concepts such as privilege of power and Western paternalism and asked ourselves how our actions could affect people living half-way around the world. My family is from Bangalore, a city I had only been to twice, so this added layer of experience diversified the lessons I learned and insights I gained there. For the first time I was challenged to truly negotiate my identity as an Indian and as an American
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Critical Analysis of Power and Privilege
Before going on this trip, our program leader Dr. Anu Taranath conducted a quarter-long Spring class that required us to read literature on South Asian culture, colonialism and post-colonialial impact, and social justice issues. These books didn’t simply list out technical terms and accepted theories; they pushed us to think from a different perspective and critically look at our place and actions in this world. They reminded us that we are no longer isolated individuals but are now part of a terrifyingly magnificent network of global connections.
As a minority in America, I am keenly aware of white privilege and astonished when people deny this concept. However, in India, I represent a similar concept; I am an American, educated, wealthy enough to travel, light skinned (darkness of skin very much correlates to disproportionate privilege in South Asian culture), and part of the highest Hindu caste. It blew my mind that I held this much power and privilege in India without a clue. I had to be an engaged follower of my program leader to start thinking critically about myself; this was not an activity I had actively explored before. I started to wonder what sort of privilege I shared here in America and other places in the world. What immediately comes to mind are my access to education and financial resources, and even the unequivocal support from my family. However, I know there are more subtle privileges that add up to make a difference and I believe I will be discovering those subtleties the rest of my life. Once I find out, however, what do I do what this privilege? Though this question is relatively unanswered, I believe that understanding and acknowledging my position of power and privilege in different circumstances is the first step.
Before going on this trip, our program leader Dr. Anu Taranath conducted a quarter-long Spring class that required us to read literature on South Asian culture, colonialism and post-colonialial impact, and social justice issues. These books didn’t simply list out technical terms and accepted theories; they pushed us to think from a different perspective and critically look at our place and actions in this world. They reminded us that we are no longer isolated individuals but are now part of a terrifyingly magnificent network of global connections.
As a minority in America, I am keenly aware of white privilege and astonished when people deny this concept. However, in India, I represent a similar concept; I am an American, educated, wealthy enough to travel, light skinned (darkness of skin very much correlates to disproportionate privilege in South Asian culture), and part of the highest Hindu caste. It blew my mind that I held this much power and privilege in India without a clue. I had to be an engaged follower of my program leader to start thinking critically about myself; this was not an activity I had actively explored before. I started to wonder what sort of privilege I shared here in America and other places in the world. What immediately comes to mind are my access to education and financial resources, and even the unequivocal support from my family. However, I know there are more subtle privileges that add up to make a difference and I believe I will be discovering those subtleties the rest of my life. Once I find out, however, what do I do what this privilege? Though this question is relatively unanswered, I believe that understanding and acknowledging my position of power and privilege in different circumstances is the first step.
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/2/4/26243262/5584052.jpg)
Establishing the Human Connection
The culture shock hit me harder than I expected when I came to India and for almost a week I wondered if I had made a grave mistake. I hadn’t been back for eight years and I was not with my parents. What gave me strength was my peers who traveled with me. Dr. Taranath instilled a sense of camaraderie amongst us from the start. Every time we met, we asked each other how we were all truly doing. We talked about mishaps with our bowel movements, homesickness, and adjustment issues. Though they were all strangers before, within days we formed our own emotional support system. Without phones or computers to distract us, our group made efforts to take care of each other and truly pay attention to our surroundings.
This freedom from technology made me realize that, above all, people come first. We try to live in a society that is “individualistic”, but in the end we need each other to succeed. The undivided attention I received, and was able to give to my peers in India, made me genuinely happy. This has inspired me to incorporate team bonding, empathy, and self-awareness into not only my daily life but all of the organizations I am a part of and the projects I lead.
The culture shock hit me harder than I expected when I came to India and for almost a week I wondered if I had made a grave mistake. I hadn’t been back for eight years and I was not with my parents. What gave me strength was my peers who traveled with me. Dr. Taranath instilled a sense of camaraderie amongst us from the start. Every time we met, we asked each other how we were all truly doing. We talked about mishaps with our bowel movements, homesickness, and adjustment issues. Though they were all strangers before, within days we formed our own emotional support system. Without phones or computers to distract us, our group made efforts to take care of each other and truly pay attention to our surroundings.
This freedom from technology made me realize that, above all, people come first. We try to live in a society that is “individualistic”, but in the end we need each other to succeed. The undivided attention I received, and was able to give to my peers in India, made me genuinely happy. This has inspired me to incorporate team bonding, empathy, and self-awareness into not only my daily life but all of the organizations I am a part of and the projects I lead.