Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh students visit the BESC

Letter of Intent for academic exchange signed between RGU and BESC

March 29^th, 2019. The Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) … well, its different! It didn’t just herd the twenty-seven students and accompanying faculty members visiting its campus from the Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), Arunachal Pradesh, to take them on a tour of aggrandisement. Instead, a Treasure Hunt was organised in which the participants were given clues which had to be solved to get further clues for the next vantage point where BESC student volunteers set them off with new sets of puzzles to crack. By the time the hunt was over, and all the teams had done the rounds, the visiting students were not only familiar with the college, but had also taken a complete tour of all the major attractions – the library, the games room, the nursing unit, the canteen, the dean’s office, the computer and chemistry labs – et all.

 

 

Said Prof Yami Toko, a member of faculty accompanying the students from RGU – “this had to be seen to be believed. The enthusiasm with which the BESC students embraced us and the sheer professionalism with which we were shown around the campus without even an iota of boredom sipping in, was in a word, awesome”! The RGU students concurred, eyes wide in amazement. “Yes”, they agreed in unison “BESC was different, the SRFTI campus, the FM station and the other destinations that they had visited as part of their ensuing tour was nothing, even remotely, like this”.

They were then taken through another well-crafted programme, an ice breaker this time, at the Placement Hall, where the visiting students exchanged information about themselves and shared experiences with the student volunteers of the BESE, led by Mrigank, Muaz and Shivani. Prof Minakshi Chatirvedi welcomed the visitors on behalf of the college which was, what made the students break their initial apprehensions and made them feel at home.

Prof Dilip Shah, the Dean of student affairs of the college, who had just returned from Mumbai with the Economic Times conferred trophy for the Best Educational Brand 2019 joined the proceedings and his words, though brief, will be a key take-away for the students and faculty members from the Rajiv Gandhi University. As one student exclaimed, “the difference between good and great, I had heard, is a mind thing. Today, having been to BESC, I know what it means – here everyone, from the average student, all the way up to the Dean is so focused, so committed to excel. I realised how they think, which is what makes them believe that they can. I wish we are able to replicate this lesson when we go back”.

The spread that was laid out to welcome the students was delicious and students and teachers per-took of the delicacies in the Knowledge Adda – BESC, using the opportunity to further push its agenda of cultural exchange, by exposing the visitors from the North East to some delectable Gujarati cuisine.

Post lunch, the RGU students and accompanying faculty members, participated in a workshop conducted by reputed journalist, one of the most revered names in vernacular Crime Reporting scene, who talked at length, not only about the nitty-gritties about crime reporting in general but also interspersed his talk with various real-life situations that he has faced in his illustrious career. The visiting students were seen to make the best use of the opportunity and asked a number of questions that were answered, addressing all their concerns. As a matter of fact, it was the spirited participation of the visiting students and the members of the faculty accompanying them that made the interactive session as lively as it was.

Prof Yami Toko and Prof Dilip Shah, then signed a letter of intent that seeks to establish a MOU between the RGU and the BESC that will pave the way for greater exchange of students, members of faculty and the participation in joint projects of socio-academic and cultural nature, to a loud round of applause from the students for both the institutions who were present as the witnesses to the event. The papers were formally exchanged and both Prof Shah and Prof Toko welcomed the agreement, hoping that the intention will soon crystallise into a solid exchange programme which will felicitate the institutions to draw upon the strengths of each other for the greater good of the student community.

Trophies and certificates were given out to the visiting students for their participation and success in the different events that were conducted to commemorate the visit and it was not without a hint of nostalgia that the students left the campus. Having spent just a day at BESC, bidding adieu for the RGU students, as one of them put it, was “like leaving home”. No small achievement that.

(This report has been filed by Nikita Mittal with camera person Souvik Das of the Expressions Collective and coordinated by Mrigank Agarwal of the BESC)