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Home and away

Sri Lankan students in the city are proud to observe their country's Independence Day that lends them a sense of community and togetherness, writes PRASHANTH G.N.

Photo: Sriyantha Walpola

HIGHLIGHTING HERITAGE The Sri Lankan Independence Day celebrations in the city will showcase the indigenous culture of the island nation

Students studying in a country other than their own crave for a sense of belonging, friends to go to, to feel secure and relive their country's tradition. Most often this collective sense is brought about through exercises of culture that showcase its multiple aspects.

India has a large number of Sri Lankan students studying in its major metropolitan cities, including Bangalore. As part of an effort to forge community bonding, Sri Lankan students in Bangalore have been organising a host of activities over the last four years ranging from sports to music. To build on this bonding, the students have also begun to celebrate their Independence Day.

Community spirit

This year, the students are celebrating Sri Lanka's 58th Independence Day on February 11 through the Association of Sri Lankan Students Living in Bangalore (ASSLIB). "We initiated cultural activities to help students who did not know where to go or whom to approach here, to bring them together. We then wondered why we shouldn't be celebrating our national day given that all of us were coming from the same country," says Randima, a Sri Lankan student. This is the second year that the Association, set up in 2000, is celebrating the Sri Lankan Independence Day in Bangalore.

The Independence Day this year features a special performance by Kasun Kalhara Jayawardena, one of Sri Lanka's premier singers; a traditional dancing troupe from Shantiniketan and Lucknow University and various performances by over 100 Sri Lankan students studying in Bangalore. Says Randima: "We are happy to reflect and present the culture of our country on Independence Day, which we think is a great occasion. Studying and residing in another country, we are proud to come together on the basis of our common culture."

At present, Bangalore has over 800 Sri Lankan students studying in a number of colleges — Garden City College, T. John College, Miranda College, Indian Academy of Degree College, Christ College, Acharya College, NRI College, CMR College and Brindavan College. The students are mostly here because of the inexpensive education, apart from the general reputation of Bangalore, and India as a whole, being a good educational centre. Sri Lanka, says Randima, does offer free university education, but the student intake every year in 13 of its universities is only 13,500 while the number of applications that come in is around three to four lakhs. The very basic need to secure education in the context of a limited intake is also why students from Sri Lanka come to India. "There is some uncertainty about the regularity of entrance exams to universities. To top it off, the completion of the degree isn't assured either. A three-year degree sometimes takes five to six years to complete because universities close down owing to political problems. So we come to India, get our education quickly and get on with the next phase," says Randima.

She also observes that India has specialised courses that take place on a smaller scale in Sri Lanka. "We realise that there are world-class technology and management institutions here and that an education from these institutions is recognised the world over. We are certainly happy about being in India."

The students by and large complete a three-year degree in India and move on to post-graduation in India or the West, but a few do return to Sri Lanka. The country has a lot of good post-graduate centers. A lot of students also get back to Sri Lanka for work after the basic degree because a basic degree is adequate to work in Sri Lanka, says Randima. The ratio she says roughly works out to 60 or 65 per cent of the students going back to Sri Lanka and the rest of them settling outside Sri Lanka.

She notes that the students are in general glad of their Indian stint. "We go back with an experience of having lived on our own in another country. We go back with a lot of confidence that we can be on our own. This is a country that is close to us both in distance and culture. That is one reason why we can come to India easily."

For this year's Independence Day celebrations, the Sri Lankan Association has invited Susil Premajayanth, Minister for Education and Higher Education in Sri Lanka, Sumith Nakandala, Deputy Sri Lankan High Commisioner in India and Dr. J.W. Lobo, Regional Director, Indian Council for Cultural Relations-Bangalore. Over 1000 students are expected to participate in the event.

For more information on the event and the Association, contact Randima on 99863-71775 or Arjuna on 99863-71774.

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