Megan Crystal-Farrell - Explore India 2024
Written by Megan Crystal-Farrell, Nursing (Adult) BSc (Hons)
Explore India 2024
One of the most enlightening experiences of my life that allowed me to connect with humanity in a truly meaningful and beautiful way that I will never forget!
Memorable Moments
Spending a week in Bangalore with Christ University has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I met some of the most wonderful people from both Ulster University and Christ University, and during our trip, these people felt like our family. From the moment we met at Dublin airport, to we said our goodbyes and had our leaving ceremony, everybody was just so welcoming to us and really went above and beyond to make sure we had the experience of a lifetime!
I often speak to family and friends about what a beautiful, vibrant country India is and how much fun I really had. I loved spending time with the group exploring the local cultures and visiting the temples, we had a beautiful walk through the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, and the scenery was absolutely breath-taking! There were peacock statues standing about 10 foot high made out of flowers, beautiful totem poles and animals that were all carved out of wood and the Kempegowda Tower at the top of the hill with a view over the city of Bangalore. We stopped at a waterfall to get photos and then walked through the colourful flower gardens where we seen many dogs having a sleep under the trees and seen some of the largest and widest trees I have ever seen. It really was a beautiful garden to visit!
We attended sustainability talks with experts in innovation and social entrepreneurship, delivered by Dr Saji Varghese to learn about how he had taken the coconut leaf, and turned this into an environmentally friendly, biodegradable, reusable straw and had created a business, employing mainly women to increase their employability, we also attended workshops on design thinking. one of the days we visited the Hokoste Village to understand women's self-help groups and financial literacy projects as women only were employed to this business!
One of my most memorable moments was when we visited schools and the slums to spend time with local children. The children were so excited to have new people coming to visit them, and they were so pleased to take us into their classrooms and show us the school projects they were doing, they also put on a performance for us and showed us their beautiful dancing. We put on some music in the schoolyard and played games with the children like musical statues and had fun doing the macarena dance with them. We had brought packets of colouring pencils, drawing books, toys and snacks for the children and they were so appreciative and beyond delighted, it was like watching 50 children opening presents on Christmas morning as they were all smiling, laughing and so happy, sharing their gifts with each other and jumping around completely thrilled! It warmed your heart to see so much joy being brought to these children in ways that we take for granted.
Learning about a different culture
The food was definitely a huge culture change! It was so tasty, and we got to spend an evening with the hotel management department for 'An Indian Food Experience' all about learning how to cook fully authentic Indian dishes and then we sat together afterwards to enjoy the beautiful meal we created with about 11 different dishes to try, my favourite being the mint chicken and a dish of spicy vegetables and potatoes.
One of the evenings we were served a thali, thalis are traditional meals to south India served on a banana leaf, with typically 23 different foods and flavours added, in a beautiful range of flavours, colours and textures. Some of the dishes were a little on the spicy side for myself so I knew better than to attempt to eat the battered whole chilli! The food was phenomenal, and I would love to be back again to have some of the authentic chicken tikka that was cooked in the tandoori oven with beautiful spices!
Challenges and how to deal with them
One of the only things I can think of was the transport, it was like the wild west, especially the tuk-tuks! There seems to be no rules on the road, and it was an eye-opening experience, I know I wouldn't like to attempt driving over there lol. One evening myself and a few others took a trip in a tuk-tuk, and we were surprised that we had so much fun zooming through the city! Some of the food could be a bit too spicy but this wasn't a big challenge as there was a range of options with milder food and many shops nearby!
Making Friends while abroad
It was definitely very easy to get along with everyone and make friends as there was a buddy system so everybody was assigned a member from Christ university that could help us. Within a few days we were all so very close and had a big WhatsApp group and connected on Instagram where we still keep in contact. We had lovely days out together and took trips to the mall, going to restaurants and doing shopping! At the end of our week there was a cultural session and valedictory where the members from Christ university put on an amazing concert show for us, with different bands performing their music for us and the buddies put on a fantastic dance, it really was a celebration of their wonderful culture. We finished the evening by going out for a big meal in a restaurant and having a lovely dinner with our new friends and going to a local pub for a few drinks and sharing stories from our great week together, it was an unforgettable experience!
Travelling and Sightseeing
We took a sightseeing trip into the city where we got to visit the Botanical Gardens, Lalbagh Waterfall, Bangalore palace, Vidhana Soudha, the Bull temple and many other temples, then we took an afternoon exploring commercial street where I was able to buy a beautiful Saree and hand-woven fabrics. There were many trips taken to the mall where some of us got massages and enjoyed walking around the markets. We visited one of the other Christ university campuses, Kengeri Campus, where we met the Dean and attended a design thinking workshop. We also got to see the amazing new School of Architecture building recently built, designed by one of the professors who teaches there. It was a beautiful building with modern facilities and a view over the city, and it was like walking into a hotel!
Advice to others
If studying abroad or taking an international trip is something you have thought about, I would highly recommend it! Travelling abroad can seem scary to some, but it is an amazing opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone and fully immerse yourself in a whole new culture to widen your perspective on the world!
