The first time I heard of this scholarship was through a student opportunities website called HeySuccess which I was introduced to through a friend I made in AIESEC. See what I did there? Indian Council for Cultural Relations offers almost 1000 scholarships to African students to pursue their academics in India. The application procedure is relatively easy, and you get support from the Indian Embassy or Consulate in your country. Lucky for me, Ms Jay at the Pretoria Embassy is super amazing and has seen a lot of us through the process. The scholarship is relatively good, it covers your tuition, books, accommodation, medical bills, and you get a handsome stipend for other monthly expenses. Plus ZAR is stronger than INR, and the lifestyle here is pretty cheap.
First day I arrived here I was shocked by the conditions of the hostel. I mean sure I read some stories and spoke to some people, but I never truly imagined how bad it would be. I waited at the gate for about 10min till someone came to get me because in the entire hostel of Giriganga Girls there was only one person who was comfortable enough to converse in English and the prefects had to wake her up because Oh my God! there is an African student at the gate and we don’t know how to talk to her. You laugh, but English is not as universal as we would like to think. Mohima, the English spokesperson was amazing, she helped me a lot and so instantly became a friend. My room had just a bed-bunk, a chair, table and cupboard. The colors in the room were quiet depressing, so I re-painted it blue and got some décor and made it a home. I also convinced the girls on my floor to re-paint the “washroom” (bathroom).
The registration at the university was very frustrating! First of all you need to climb up a mountain to get to the university from my hostel, no jokes. It felt like such a mission in the begin, but now I am thankful to the exercise, no need for the gym really. In my previous university registration is super easy, mostly online and you can get everything done in less than an hour. Himachal Pradesh University is something else, you get send to at least three offices for signatures, and everything is manual. Obviously Mohima had to accompany me everywhere I went because- translation, even people that know how to speak English get easily nervous and prefer to speak Hindi instead.
August-September is peak of Monsoon season, it rains a lot! For the few weeks after the registration and before class started I was just in my room pretty much the whole day with not much to do. I cried a whole night once realizing the magnitude of the decision I made, to live in India for 2 years! Once I got over it and the sun was out, I made friends and met this girl who was pursuing her PhD and was kind of new to the university as well. She was originally from Lahoul Spiti but her parents and her husband lived in Manali. When she mentioned she was planning to go home for a few days, I straight out invited myself. The drive to Manali in a public non-AC bus was quiet an adventure. Himachal Pradesh is hilly and so you are guaranteed to swing side to side during the ride, if you not the roller-coaster type you likely to have motion sickness. However, you will soon forget all that because Manali is so much fun!!!! The city is alive and reminded me of my times in Hatfield. It has a lot of adventure sports, apple orchards, shopping markets, beautiful landscapes and Jogni waterfall is just heaven really. But hey, don’t take my word for it, pay a visit at least just once. During my time there I also met Poonam’s family and her mother could not stop feeding me. If there is one thing you can look forward to while visiting Indian families, you will get fed like a royal 🙂
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