Indian students form one of the largest international communities in TU Delft. This means the Indian Students Association Delft has its work cut out for it.
From hosting get-togethers to celebrating Indian festivals, the society was set up as an initiative to help Indian students adjust to the Dutch pace of life (and sometimes the weather.)
This October, a new board will come into place, and their calendar is already packed. The next big event hosted by them is the Diwali celebration in November. While Diwali is on November 3, the event will be held later on account of university exams.
“It’s exam time on campus on the day of Diwali itself, so we will hold our event on November 22, in the Cultural Centre,” says Sujaya Shinde, a member of the outgoing board. Last year, the association had 130 members and 180 new members have already signed up this year. “There is no formal registration required and our events are open to everyone. In fact, 20% of the crowd at most of our events comprises non-Indians,” she adds.
More than being a platform for networking, ISA aims to ease the sense of homesickness that is part and parcel of studying abroad. At a recent Indian event held in the Cultural Centre, Bollywood songs and Indian food were on the menu.
“We get a lot of queries from students even before they come to TU Delft. They post stuff on Delft Tulip and are directed to us. We help them prepare for what to expect here,” says Shinde. ISA Delft has a website on Wikispaces which includes a section dedicated to those who want to play cricket in the Netherlands. They also have important contact information, links to websites about working in this country, information about TU Delft, videos for newcomers and visa-related links. Their Facebook page is regularly updated with information about Indian events being nearby.
For more information on ISA, http://isadelft.wikispaces.com.
You can also follow them on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/isadelftnl.
This is part of our ongoing series Meet The Society which highlights different student groups and societies at TU Delft. If you’d like to suggest an organziation for us to cover, please email us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl.
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