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Semster at sea
THIRTY-ONE students of `Semester at Sea,' the globetrotting sea voyage educational programme of the University of Pittsburg, had their first tryst with poverty on Wednesday when they visited a slum tenement at Old Washermanpet.
The students were welcomed with cone speakers, blaring out songs from the latest Tamil films. The slum children did their bit by gyrating to the tunes. The women applied the traditional tilak. A few students were quick to remark that it was the "most warm welcome" they have received as part of their curriculum so far. They earlier visited South Africa, Brazil, Tanzania and Cuba.
The students were part of the 700-plus group on board S.S. Universe Explorer that takes the students around 10 countries. Nicole Levan, who was the team leader for the community service programme at Old Washermanpet, said the exercise would help them to better understand the different classes in India.
Another student Andrew Simineri said the poverty he witnessed was on an "altogether different scale." He said he would take time during his homeward journey to reflect on the images that struck him.
Tony Fiorjni, the official photographer for `Semester on Sea,' said he was lucky to be on S.S.Universe Explorer for the second time. "I was a student in 1994 and here I am again at it as an official photographer," the photojournalist said. He had taken a break from Pennysylvania-based Reading Eagle to be on the voyage. So how does the experience help him? "We have learnt about poverty in books. But to see it firsthand changes your outlook," he says. S.S.Universe Explorer will leave Chennai Port on Monday. One of the favourite stops for the students in India is the Taj Mahal at Agra.
By Karthik Subramanian
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