Adaptability is the solution to creating greater cohesion across different cultures. Without a willingness to dive into cross-cultural environments head-on, productive conversations that move us forward as one interconnected planet are impossible. Entering multicultural spaces with no preconceived notions is an important first step to adequately engage in these conversations.
[more]I came into RGLP wanting to push myself out of my comfort zone. But sometimes it's easy to say that, and it's another thing to put it into practice. From our very first session, I was thrust into activities and scenarios I'd never encountered before and could never have imagined.
[more]There is a certain limit or threshold of knowledge a human brain can receive, interpret, and truly understand without having any experience or practice. As a Dartmouth student, I appreciate the importance a book or a PowerPoint presentation has on my ability to learn. When it comes to truly understanding interpersonal and intercultural dynamics, a textbook can only teach me so much.
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Our home city of Delhi is like a weed––bred without tenderness, blooming with no vitality, yet somehow surviving. The "rape capital of India" the news calls it. Its air is thick with dust, coating the city with a sense of hopeless foulness. My parents did not want me to breathe it in. Instead, I grew up in a sleepy rural town in the United States––the egalitarian meritocratic melting pot of the world, or so I was told. Until I was about ten, my grandmother Dadi slept in my room with me, its rosy pink wallpaper and sparkly threadbare curtains making it feel a little less small.
[more]Being adaptable is one of the most useful qualities a person can have. In a cross-cultural context, adaptability is not only useful, but also capable of leading to deeper understandings between and within groups of people. To really be adaptable doesn't just require skill, but also willingness; therefore, to show adaptability is a sign of respect. When you're in a new setting, or meeting somebody with a different cultural background, it is a gesture of good faith to try and learn from your surroundings — more often than not, they have something to teach you.
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