The College’s newest society, the Indian Society, was officially launched last week in the Provost House by the Provost Dr. John Hegarty and his excellency, P.S. Raghavan, the Indian Ambassador to Ireland.
The College’s newest society, the Indian Society, was officially launched last week in the Provost House by the Provost Dr. John Hegarty and his excellency, P.S. Raghavan, the Indian Ambassador to Ireland.
The society, which was set up by student Shyam Sathyanarayana, aims to increase interest and knowledge in Indian culture. It is hoped that through this society, social and educational links will also be formed between Ireland and India.
Aware of the absence of any Indian society when he first entered the College, Mr. Sathyanarayana became determined to create a forum where Indian students could meet while also teaching Irish students about some of the more popular aspects of Indian culture.
Mr. Sathyanarayana, an Erasmus student studying for a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering, vowed not to let the society go down as a by-gone in Trinity’s history books but to make it “stand out as one of the best”. He also hoped that by creating the society he would ‘open India to the world’.
Mr. Sathyanarayana also acknowledged the hard work done by Dr. Helen Kelly of the International Office, who was a key member in the establishment of the society.
Speaking at the event, the Provost noted “Trinity trained large numbers of doctors and engineers who played important roles in the Indian colonial services, including the geological survey of India and the medical services”.
Dr. Hegarty also spoke of the importance of maintaining and re-energising the current links between the College and India, calling the society a “good mechanism” for doing so. The Provost continued by saying that he hoped that the society would add to Trinity’s goal of being the centre of South Eastern studies in Ireland.
Mr. Raghavan, Indian Ambassador to Ireland, welcomed the renewal of links with India and believed Trinity’s Indian student body to be too low, hoping it would increase to 500 in the coming years.
Having been presented with the ‘Royal Baton’ by Bollywood Screenplay writer Atul Tiwari, the Provost promised to walk around the college yielding this ‘symbol of power.’
Speaking to the Trinity News, the Provost emphasised the importance of understanding culture both ways. He spoke of his delight at having received an honourary life membership to the society and said he was looking forward to the cooking lessons. Student Union President Cathal Reilly, who also attended the event, said he was delighted to see another worthwhile society joining the College and he was personally most looking forward to the Bollywood nights.
Robert Kearns of the Central Societies Committee welcomed the new society saying it “will be very advantageous for both Indian students who are trying to keep a strong connection to their culture and those around college who have an interest in Indian culture”.
Among the future events planned, the society hopes to have a ‘Bollywood Gala’ towards the end of March and will be offering classes in Indian cooking along with Bollywood movie nights. The society also hopes to invite speakers from the entertainment, educational and political sector of Indian society to come to address the society.
The society is open to both members of the staff and student body in the College. Anyone interested in joining should get in contact with the Central Societies Committee.
