India Study Tour 2011
Student says "Coming on tour has changed my life".

The India Study Tour has been a great success - thus far at least. We still have some students undertaking law and business internships in India and the student assignments aren't due yet. The tour may have finished but the learning is still continuing as the students return to Australia and take stock of their experiences on the tour and of themselves. Just how successful the tour has been will be revealed in the quality of their assignments and journals.

For the tour leaders success is measured by many things: tour organisation, academic program, cultural program and the cohesiveness of the group. To these ends, the tour was indeed successful. The organisation was about as good as one can get (in India), the sick were looked after and the students attended and participated in the academic and cultural sessions.

The academic program was the most successful one we have had since the tour began seven years ago. The range of speakers and presentations were exceptional, extending from a passionate and brilliant critique of 'micromarketing' in India, to the role of CSR in India, to policing and corruption and a lively presentation and debate on India's role in addressing anthropogenic causes of climate change.

The Deakin students' contributions to the cultural program were at times surprising and uplifting: didgeridoo, classical guitar, songs from Paul Kelly, bush dancing, a lively rendition of "Chammuk Challo", the latest Bollywood dance number (to the great excitement of the Indian students) and one Deakin student's interpretation of a very comedic and entertaining "Eddie Murphy". The stage also at one time had an excess of Tom Lonergans, the Geelong footballer, with four of them gracing the stage. (Some might suggest it was a Travis Cloke nightmare).

We also came within two balls of beating KC College in Mumbai in a game of cricket for the first time ever. The Deakin students later redeemed themselves however by winning the two debates against KC College on the topic "Facebook is a waste time and serves no good purpose".

India Study Tour 2011

For the tour leaders, the real measures of success were students' comments about the tour itself. Student comments like those below indicate that the tour indeed had a profound effect on the students' outlooks, not just academically but also in many other ways.

• "I just went through the motions of studying law, now I know how important law is and what I need to do".
• "I was just drifting. Coming on tour has changed my life. I came on the tour because I thought it'd be fun and I'd heard about the clubbing. I didn't expect this at all. I'm a changed person".

Another student further commented, "The study tour far exceeded all expectations I had of India and what a study tour would be like. The leadership and support that the staffing team showed gave all the students a perfect balance of control though cultural presentations and the freedom to explore the cities and bond together."

Indeed, India presented to both the tour leaders and students alike an experience that will always be remembered and reflected upon in many years to come.

Lidia Xynas
Lecturer, School of Law