When I was sitting there amidst all of my friends, whilst everyone chatted away, all I could think about was the numerous opportunities that were going to come our way
As someone who has been living in Pune for the past 20 years, Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication has always seemed like an institute that is hugely competitive and challenging, and therefore, I never thought I would be able to make deep bonds in this atmosphere. Owing to word-of-mouth and the numerous articles that had conferred SCMC with the title of being one the Best Mass Communication Colleges in India, it went without question that I was eager to explore everything that it would have to offer to its students.
One of the first few things that I noticed during the orientation week was the lack of local students from Pune. This fueled a sense of pride within me because this diversity only showed how tough the competition must have been to get into this institute. Along with this, I was more than excited to get to know all my batchmates. Therefore, when the concept of the ‘Local Buddy Initiative’ was announced to us, I was more than excited.
Each of the 21 localites of Batch 2020 had to choose any 6-7 students from other cities and serve as their ‘local buddy’. My interest in this concept increased when they told us about the advantage of participating in this initiative which was ‘mi casa es tu casa’ i.e. our homes would serve as a home away from home for these 6-7 students and vice versa for when we visit their cities. This initiative was a great way to make friends with more people and therefore, I was open to anyone being a part of my group. We were also asked by college to initiate this process of communication by calling our group over for a meal. Rather than looking at it as a task, I took this as opportunity to become more hospitable and open.
On a fine Sunday afternoon, I invited my local buddy group of 6 people, along with 14 other friends for a beautiful lunch. I kept the menu diverse, so as to please everyone’s taste buds and yet introduce them to Maharashtrian flavours. When I was sitting there amidst all of my friends, whilst everyone chatted away, all I could think about was the numerous opportunities that were going to come our way. If a single semester at Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication could provide me with values like empathy, friendliness and hospitality, then I couldn’t wait for the experiences that college will be providing me with in the semesters to come.
Mahika Kothawade (Batch of 2020)
