This spring saw the genesis of the first ideas for a joint venture. After an initial meeting in August between a number of Indians the ideas began to take shape. “At that meeting the committee was composed”, says committee member dr. Prashant Agrawal, a postdoc at the Biomedical Engineering Department. “The committee consists of employees and students from different fields of education at the TU/e”, co-committee member Chattarbir Singh explains, a doctoral candidate at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. “We have deliberately decided on such a setup so as be able to serve the greatest possible group.” According to the members of the platform there are now some eighty Indian people working and studying at the TU/e.
For the Indians who are still in their homeland the committee has not only taken into account the position that they would like to occupy at the TU/e, but also the region they come from. “Indian formalities with regard to studying or working abroad differ per region. In addition, we shall give other clothing recommendations to someone from the south, where temperatures may rise to 44 degrees Celsius, than to someone from the north, where it is much colder. Thanks to the fact that various regions are represented in the committee, we can provide tailor-made advice to future TU/e staff and students”, explains Prashant Agrawal.

Need
The absence of such a platform is a strongly felt deficiency, claim the committee members. “For instance, when we came here we knew very little about the Netherlands and even less about Eindhoven”, says dr. Sharan Shetty, a postdoc at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. “We want to help Indians who have just arrived here with their daily needs and acquaint them with Dutch etiquette or show them the best shops for Indian dishes. In addition, we can provide a social network that they can use, as well as any family members accompanying them.” Committee member Amit Lohiya, a TOIO (two-year trainee researcher) at Electrical Engineering, adds: “We are a kind of ‘Lonely Planet’ for newcomers.”
“Besides, we try to create more support for activities relating to the Indian culture, which does not necessarily imply events organized by us. We can help third parties by means of our network and experience, but remain in the background if this is desired. We do not want to appear superior, which is one reason why committee members themselves do not hold fixed positions: everybody is equal here”, says Chattarbir Singh.

Activities
The committee members hope to be recognized as an organization soon by the TU/e. That status would allow the platform its own virtual space within the university’s website. In order to realize this, the Indian committee will present its plans before long.
At the moment the organization is making do with a home-made website, where interested persons can register and stay abreast of the latest news and activities of the committee.
The Indian organization wants to emphasize that it does not intend to isolate itself from others at the TU/e as a cultural group. “Our next step is to organize events in which both Indians and people with different cultural backgrounds can participate. Of course, these activities will be based on the Indian culture”, dr. Sharan Shetty elucidates./.

For more information about the platform’s activities please check out http://tueindians.googlepages.com/home.