OUR STUDENTS
Sharada Nayak
Director,
Educational Resources Centre, New Delhi

Through five years of CDI we have gathered a group of loyal and enthusiastic students who have stimulated us with their lively interest and enthusiasm for the project. They have graduated and gone into the world of work but continue to keep in touch with us and inspire us with their belief in the CDI influence on their lives.

Nilesh Pandit. We first met Nilesh as a fledgling student who had flown in after a home stay programme in Shimoga and found his wings at jal Hind College. We followed his fortunes as he entered NMU at the same time when NMU entered CDI. He was therefore "our contact" in the hostel. Now we find him moving on from a research position in the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa to the National Chemical Laboratories in Pune where he hopes to work on his Doctorate. We have watched his personality open up with his growing confidence and are happy that CDI nudged him forward.

Sachin Kumar graduated from DAV College DehraDun and is now a Lecturer in Geography at the Govt. P.G. College, Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. His commitment as a teacher and his influence on his students and colleagues assure us that the CDI spirit is being nurtured in a new geographic region. He continues to participate in our faculty workshops and we are confident that his success as a teacher will develop with each new CDI experience.

Divya Singhal has been the life and soul of the - Savitri College cultural programs. We first saw her zest and rhythm in Rajasthani folk dances performed by the Savitri College troupe at the Jai Hind College camp in 1996. Since then she has worked with dedication and enthusiasm in every event that Savitri College organised. Her fluent and eloquent spoken Hindi, developed into poetry and then journalistic talent as she wrote articles about CDI in Hindi News papers. We take heart from her every time we meet and know that with her, and her sister Shivya. Savitri College, Ajmer wffi be enlivened.

Email has revolutionised letter writing. Our malls from students from all over India have demonstrated success and the impact of our two student camps in Bangalore and Goa in 2000. The response from students was overwhelming as they all say 'Yeh Dil Mange MORE.'

Whether it be for advice on choice of career, to give us news of successes in exams, or to appreciate the opportunity to make friends from other parts of India, the malls are a testimony of the need for stretching CDI to reach all parts of this vast country. We are all connected, in friendship, in shared joys and sorrows, and in growing respect and love for each other.