Third Speaker, Student Riika, Indian Fair

Third Keynote Speaker and student Riika, and Indian Fair

E. Johnson ‘11

Wednesday morning began for many with early morning yoga. Most of the mornings had been pretty calm, stretching, breathing, a few easy positions, the female leader ordering us to “reeeeeeeee-laxxxxxx,” but Wednesday was a little different. Seemingly appropriate with the very full day that awaited us, we began with a few new positions, one of which involved lying on our stomachs with arms underneath the body and both legs picked up and bent to the back of the head. Simple.

We then attended a presentation by Mr. Shiv Khera who can best be described as a motivational speaker. He fervently urged us to be leaders and tried to fill us with the inspiration to do so, though many were left unsure with the true message of his address. In talking to delegates from India, I learned that he is a very famous author in India and one student even said that every household of India has one of his books.

After discussion in our baraza groups about character, values, and teamwork, we students listened to a Riika speaker named Mr. Ravi Singh, on environmentalism. He is the Secretary General and CEO of Worldlife Fund- India. He spoke of tigers in the region of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and the only one inhabited by tigers. These tigers have recently been wandering from their homes which have been destroyed and into human inhabited zones. It was interesting to look at a concrete effect of global climate change today in India.

From late afternoon into the night, we attended the Fun Fête, where we took a camel ride tour of the campus led by our friend Abu, and explored the many stalls of textiles and other Indian goods. Upon returning from our second camel ride of the night, we saw that a few students were dancing and joined them. We danced for over an hour with all our new friends and learned dance moves from all over the world. Quincy especially has mastered one move, which is just begging for a Thrilling Thursday all school auditorium appearance.