We are the world

Vrinda Gupta

Chandigarh has always attracted people from different countries and cultures. Through AIESEC, a non-profit organization associated with the UN, Chandigarh is now home to interns from across the globe, who’ve made the City Beautiful their abode for the next few weeks. In the midst of work and adjusting to the new soil with a culture so strange and different, lie stories waiting to come to light. 

Window to India 

Dealing with the cultural shock was easy for some, more than others. “People are really devoted to their religion here. In my country they’re more practical,” Andrew Scholes, an intern from Scotland feels. The differences in religion are also felt by Aysha Mirbacha, who is here on a government merit-based scholarship from Afghanistan. 

“The education system seems very book-oriented. And everything is paper-based, Afghanistan is a lot more digitalized, this really surprised me upon my arrival,” she adds.

“I’d only seen India in movies; I felt it was time to discover the real culture here,” says Nour-eddine Zorgane when asked what brought him to the land of diversity, all the way from his homeland, Morocco.  

Firangi fascination

While Shabnam Hessani, an intern from Afghanistan, finds people respectful with foreigners, Andrew feels like he is almost always over-charged for things. 

“When my boss and I go shopping together, she pretends like she doesn’t know me so we can catch them in the act,” he laughs. “But that’s alright, I don’t really mind.” 

Aysha feels bemused by the attention she gets for no apparent reason. “Everyone knows me, everyone likes me, or wants a selfie with me. My best friend forgot my birthday, but I got cakes from people I didn’t even know!” 

Lost in translation

While Aysha is somewhat fluent in Hindi having been in the city for a long time, the others still struggle with it, though the widely English-speaking population has made things easier for them. 

“People switch to Hindi while they’re talking about things they don’t want me to know, thinking I wouldn’t comprehend. It is fun to watch their jaws drop when I respond to them in Hindi,” says Aysha cheekily.

Shabnam has found her own way of making friends in the strange land with a, “Tum bohot achhi dikhti ho” and Zorgane seems to get by with a “Kaisi ho tum?” Pan has also mastered the art of telling Uber drivers where to go, with his “Kahaan jaana?”  While talking about phrases they’ve picked up, Andrew pipes up with the most important one—“Aapke paas Wi-Fi hai?”  

The curious case of cuisines

Their fascination with Indian, and especially Punjabi cuisine, comes through with their ardent love for rajma-chawal and the like. Andrew favours the roti masala (as he describes it), and paranthas; Shabnam and Zorgane are partial to biryani. Aysha and Zorgane confess they were shocked when they found how prevalent vegetarianism was in the country. “If you’d ask someone to bring you something vegetarian in Afghanistan, they’d get you chicken!”exclaims Aysha. 

Tanakorn Rangrongrajitpoom, a student from Thailand (fondly called Pan), rues the fact that food here is really fattening. “Everything tastes pretty much the same here, and full of oil.

A quiet place 

Short trips to places like Kasauli and Shimla have offered the interns with much-needed break from work, and the daily challenges. The lake is also a general favourite. Pan also likes to frequent Elante Mall, a hub for the youngsters of the city. 

A bagful of memories 

This is Andrew’s second visit to the country. Unable to resist the country’s charm, he finds his way back every year, travelling to different cities, and exploring the magic the land has to offer. While the interns miss their native food, the weather, and their loved ones they’re content being in a place that has so much to offer.