The first few weeks in a University like ours, which invites a diverse set of people each year from all over India, are quite interesting in some ways and embarrassing in many other ways. We bump into new faces and new names each day to realize that we had introduced ourselves only yesterday or even worse, the same morning. If the arithmetic progression of the new students coming each year is anything to go by, then I can only imagine the comedy of errors that …show more content…
with the purpose of understanding the person behind the ‘banner’. In general terms we do appreciate various social intervention by individuals/group of people whom we come across in our social radar, however, we believe there is some virtue in understanding the thought process, the belief systems, and the cultural and social baggage of those individual/group of people. At this point, I am tempted to give a bird eye view of a typical session of Kaapi aur Charcha, but I leave that field to my more enthusiastic friends in first years (now in second years). I will touch upon few aspects of Kaapi aur Charch that I have cherished …show more content…
A rundown of guests towards the end of this piece will give you an idea of guest profile that the student body has engaged with. The setting is informal as opposed to a serious classroom like discussion. Mostly, Kaapi aur Charcha is held between snack time and dinner time, in the foyer area, Pixle B or in the lawn or in the Activity hall. We make it a point to sit squatting on the floor or even lie down if the charcha goes on and on!
A typical session is devoid of any formal introduction of the guest and reading briefs. Also, the guests are not briefed about the topic of discussion. However, if the guests come with a particular agenda in mind, we go with that. The session goes on for about ninety minutes with the generous sprinkling of coffee or tea. After the session, we make it a point to present the guest with a handmade greeting/post card/craft/ sketch work as a token of thanks. That’s so much as far as the preliminaries is concerned. Now let’s dive