Triveni Handbook

2013-2014

Contents

Acknowledgements

Triveni Program
4
Trivenis 6
Community Engagement
8

Gomukh Farming
9
Sadhana Teaching
9
Sadhana Special Friends
9
Mulshipedia 9
Sanskar Boys
10
Fun with Tiny Tots
10
Paud Childrens Home
10
Manavya 10
Art for Kids
10
Nose up: Medical Clowns
11
Gateway to Rawde
11
High School Science
11
REACH 11
Active English
11

Campus Service

12

Environment Protection Agency

13
Gomukh on Campus
13
Fire Service
13
Paper Making
13
Biodiversity Monitoring
13
Yearbook 14
Linking Group
14
Dukaan 14
Lights and sound
14
Film Club
14
Library Service
14
Music for Change
14
Theatre Season Planning Group
15
Muwci on Wheels
15
First Aid Service
15
Akshara Support
15
Muwci Repairs
15
Global Affairs
15
Nightschool 15
Language and Writing Centre
16
Math Tutoring
16
Science Tutoring
16
Office of Development
16
Guidance Office Support
16
Communications for Outreach
16
Triveni Coordinating Team
16

Action 18

Football 19
Basketball 19
Handball 19
Badmninton 19
Cage Football
19
Ultimate Frisbee
19
Rugby 19
Hockey 19
Breathing Yoga
20
Yoga 20
Fitness 20
Judo 20
Adventure Biking
20
Swimming 20
Bendy Club
20

Parkour 20
Acrobatics 20
Indian Classical Dance
21
Bollywood 21
Contemporary 21
Hip Hop
21
Latin Dance
21
Ballet 21
Flashmob 21

Creativity 22

Tabla and Sitar

23
Music Group
23
Muwci Acapella
23
Guitar Club
23
Orchestra 23
Model United Nations
24
WAIC 24
Korean Cultural Club
24
Afrocentric Club
24
Chinese for Beginners
24
Debate Club
24
Gender and Sexuality
24
Thursday Discussions
24
Japanese Cultural Club
24
Urdu Explorer
24
LGBT 24
Muwci Times
25
Photography club
25
Best out of Waste
25
Arts and Culture
25
Chess Club
25
IT Club
25
Improv Club
25
Vietfood
25
Cooking Club
25
Jewelery Making
25

Project Weeks

26

Learn Hindi or Marathi

MUWCI Conferences
The Triveni Project
Student Experience

34
35
36
37

Vanastree 28
Crocodile Bank
28
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station
28
Samata 29
Sadhana Forest
29
Association for Promoting Social Action
30
Sangama 30
ITC Sangeet Research Academy
31
Auroville Bamboo Centre
31
Outdoor Education Himalayan Expedition
32
Jaundhar Glacier
32
Dodital and Darwa Top
32
Farming in Goa
33
Amritsar Express
33

his Triveni Handbook was created and designed by Oscar Avila Akerberg with the input of student
coordinators who wrote small descriptions of their activities. Part of the content is based on the
Triveni Handbooks, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 compiled by Nandita Dinesh. Douglas Arnwine and
Liam Goodacre helped with writing the texts on pages 18 and 27, respectively. The project week descriptions were written by leaders of the project weeks. All photographs were taken by Oscar Avila Akerberg, except those on pages 4-5 (Glauco Bermudez), 26-27 (Alix Petter), 28-33 (project week leaders
and students). The drawing on page 17 was taken from http://www.ccba.in/mahindra.htm.
UWC Mahindra College, 2013

Triveni Program
The Triveni Program is an exciting and integral part of the experience at UWC Mahindra
College. Beyond fulfilling the IB CAS requirements, the Triveni Program aims to give you
an opportunity to learn outside the classroom
and to bring alive the UWC mission and values.

he Triveni program is one of the

ways we ensure that learning is not
restricted to the classroom. We believe that experiential education, outside
of the context of formal disciplines, is extremely important to the development of
a student.

The Triveni Program consists of taking

part in five different areas shown beside.
In order to fulfill the program, you will
need to complete each of these areas.
This means attending regularly, committing and to create regular reflections.

The Triveni Program is at the heart of the

UWC experience and is as important as
attending all your academic classes and
engaging fully in the residential life of
the college. Consequently, if you fail to
complete the Triveni Program/CAS Requirements, you will not receive a UWC
Mahindra College Diploma, and your IB
Diploma will also be deferred.

Trivenis
Project Weeks
Hindi or Marathi
Conferences
Triveni Project

hroughout the two years your advisor Aside from the advisors, the following peowill help you and guide you through ple comprise UWC Mahindra Colleges
your Triveni Program. During the Triveni Team:
course of the year you will meet with your
The Triveni Coordinating Team (TCT):
advisor to ensure that you have chosen the
The second year student representatives
right activities as well as to provide feedback
on particular issues that may arise during
who liaise between the Triveni office and
the student body.
the course of the year.
Throughout the two years, you will be re The Triveni Office: Staff who ensure
the overall facilitation and direction of
quired to create reflections on your Triveni
the Triveni program. The Triveni office is
program. These reflections will be evaluated
by student coordinators, your advisor and
comprised of the Head of Triveni, Oscar,
the Triveni Office.
as well as the Triveni Coordinator, Maria.

In this handbook you will find a description and guidelines of the

Triveni Program. Please read it through and feel free to ask for any
clarifications - our office is in the AQ.

Trivenis
Community Engagement
Campus Service
Creativity

Learning outcomes

Action

The IB CAS program encourages students to engage

with the learning outcomes. Specifically, it requires
that students have:

rivenis are the core part of the Triveni

Program. These are the activities that you
do on a regular basis and are our equivalent of the IB CAS. Every week after classes youll
attend the Trivenis that you choose. There are
four categories of Trivenis: Community Engagement (CE), Campus Service (CS), Action (A),
and Creativity (C). At any given moment, you
need to be engaged in Trivenis from each of the
four categories. During your first year you will
choose a minimum of four Trivenis (at least one
CE, one CS, one A and one C). Although there
is no formal maximum number of activities that
you can attend, we strongly encourage you not
to take more than 6 Trivenis.

During the second year, you can attend a minimum of three Trivenis, however, you still need
to be engaged in each of the categories. This is
possible because some Trivenis fall under two
categories.
To complete this part of the program you will
need to attend your Trivenis regularly. Attendance in all your Trivenis is mandatory. Moreover, in order to maximize your experience in
this part of the program, we encourage you to
do regular reflections. These can be in the form
of written documents, small videos, voice recordings or anything that your imagination may
create. These reflections will be required for each
of your Trivenis. To complete the CAS requirements for the IB diploma, you will need to:

Selfreview at the beginning of your CAS experience and set personal goals for what you hope to achieve
through your CAS program
Plan, do and reflect (plan activities, carry them out and reflect on what they have learned)
Undertake at least one interim review and a final review with your adviser
Take part in a range of activities, including at least one project, some of which your have initiated
Keep records of your activities and achievements, including a list of the principal activities undertaken
Show evidence of achievement of the eight CAS learning outcomes

Increased their awareness of their own strengths

and areas for growth. They are able to see themselves
as individuals with various skills and abilities, some
more developed than others, and understand that
they can make choices about how they wish to move
forward
Undertaken new challenges. A new challenge may
be an unfamiliar activity, or an extension to an existing one
Planned and initiated activities. Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can
be shown in activities that are part of larger projects,
for example, ongoing school activities in the local
community, as well as in small student-led activities
Worked collaboratively with others. Collaboration
can be shown in many different activities, such as
team sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a
kindergarten. At least one project, involving collaboration and the integration of at least two of creativity,
action and service, is required

Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities. At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting a share of the responsibility for
dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities
Engaged with issues of global importance. Students
may be involved in international projects but there
are many global issues that can be acted upon locally
or nationally (for example, environmental concerns,
caring for the elderly)
Considered the ethical implications of their actions.
Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for
example, on the sports field, in musical composition,
in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can
be shown in various ways, including journal entries
and conversations with CAS advisers
Developed new skills. As with new challenges, new
skills may be shown in activities that the student has
not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise
in an established area

In the following pages you will find a complete list of all the Trivenis that will be
offered at the beginning of the year. Please note that for a Triveni to occur, it needs
to have a minimum of 5 members. Thus, its not certain that a particular Triveni will
happen.

Community Engagement

ommunity Engagements (CEs) are

activities that normally occur in the
rural areas around UWC Mahindra
College. Students choose one CE that they
will attend on a weekly basis during the two
years at the college.
UWC Mahindra College was founded in rural Maharashtra with the hope that it would
bring greater prosperity to its neighbouring
villagers and more opportunity for their children. The term Community Engagement
itself was coined to reflect the benefit of such
activities for both rural communities surrounding the campus and students. Because
of the colleges rural setting, students are able
to engage in development activities which require them to devote themselves to extensive

planning and coordination and gain knowledge of local culture and issues in rural Indian life.
Community Engagements are activities that
usually require a fair amount of skill and real
commitment. Once you choose a CE you
will attend the activity once a week, complemented by a planning session that occurs at
the same time for all the CEs. This allows for
interaction between the planning sessions of
different CEs as well as sharing of methodologies and ideas.
CEs are a great opportunity to learn about
different local communities and to explore
the context in which our College is located:
India.

Gomukh Farming

eaching a nearby organic farm after walking in nature,

farming and carrying out other ecological projects
such as building a plant nursery, taking care of the green
house, raising awareness and implementing facilities for
waste management while establishing a connection with
the local culture through agriculture. It is a very rewarding triveni because you can see a direct positive impact
on the environment. One of the aims of this triveni is to
learn farming techniques that can be implemented in the
on-campus farm. One of the activities that is organized
by Gomukh is a weekly Farmers Merket in which the
NGO with whom we work comes on campus and sells
organic vegetables and products to the community.

Sadhana Teaching

adhana Teaching works with teachers in a school in Sadhana Village to improve their English and through them
the English of all of their students. We will also be working
this year with Alix and other Off-Campus CEs to develop
a standardized curriculum that will help us to evaluate our
progress throughout the year and ensure that the language
learning process is efficient and methodical.

Sadhana Special Friends

adhana Special Friends is an activity that works with

mentally challenged adults. It requires much enthusiasm, openness, energy and sensitivity to each individuals
needs. The aims of Sadhana friends are to create personal relationships within an interactive comfortable setting
that can benefit both, the students and the friends. It directly deals with nave views on mentally challenged adults
though interacting with them on many interpersonal levels.

Mulshipedia

ulshipedia allows students to dive into greater depths

of perspective of the local community and also its resources by examining the socio-cultural trans in the Mulshi and Kolvan valley. Not only can students build good
personal relations with the people around but can also discover aspects of the community which can be materialized
into short term projects in the future.

Community Engagement 9

Paud Childrens Home

Manavya

Gateway to Rawde

aud Childrens home is an orphanage in Paud Village.

Here we interact with children of different age groups,
through different kinds of activities including arts, games,
songs, sports, dance, help with homework and more. We
play games with them that are specifically chosen to develop certain aspects of their individual character such as creativity and sportsmanship. We need students who are good
with kids first and foremost. In addition, we need enthusiastic, innovative and engaging students who are willing to
reach out and connect with these amazing children who we
find, flourish under personal attention.

Sanskar Boys

Nose up: Medical Clowns

irst you have a series of workshops and sessions to discover and develop your inner clown and understand
how to use it according to the context. Afterwards, you
can put your red nose up and start going off campus! We
work with a few other CEs exploring different possibilities
and we go down to a hospital in Paud as well. In Medical
Clowns or as we call it Nose Up we interact with people
in an unusual way; medicine is about well-being, and a
smile and silly company are certainly very powerful ways
to achieve that. It can be challenging but its certainly very
fulfilling and it has the bonus of continuity: your clown
skills can be used anywhere and everywhere.

REACH

Fun with Tiny Tots

Art for Kids

High School Science

Active English

anskar boys is an activity that works and deals with a

group of about 30 boys with various levels of mental and
physical disabilities. With the boys we interact in different
ways, including- songs, games, arts and crafts, sports and
other fun activities. We learned that simple ideas, without
complicated concepts, work best, and that repetition improved the kids comprehension best.

he Khubavali village school has around 30-40 adorable

students who love to spend time with you. The team
can go to the school once a week and spend an hour with
the children. You can do any kind of interesting activity
with them ranging from singing rhymes with them, playing games, dance, do a bit of theatre, teach origami, paint
and even watch movies! The children are very talented; you
could learn some folk songs and the local dance form from
them too.

10 Community Engagement

anavya, meaning humanity, is a organisation for

children and teenagers who are HIV positive. Once
a week we go down to play with the children, paint with
them, chat to them and basically do what we can to provide
some entertainment. We think this activity appeals to those
who, well, love the playfulness and simpleness of spending
time with the kids. It would be great, and we would really
appreciate it, if you could come along and give it a go.

rt for Kids is an off campus activity where we go to

a nearby primary school to work with two groups of
children from third to fifth or in sixth grade for one hour
weekly each. We have a lot of fun while exploring different
simple techniques which can be used in art. We hope to
give the kids a possibility to express themselves and a different view on their surroundings by using things they see
in their day-to-day life in an artistic and creative way. Note:
not only art students are welcome.

ateway to Rawde works in conjunction with a primary school in Rawde, a nearby village. In this triveni,
students design courses such as Math, English, Art, Culture and Geography, Small Inventions, Sports, and storytelling. We use games and interactive activities to engage and educate the kids. Through a gradual reduction
of classes taken, children are able to focus on the courses
that they are most interested in.

t High School Science we provide 9th and 10th grade

students from two local schools (Asde and Kule)
with laboratory facilities which they do not have in their
schools and help them with practical work and theory
that is prescribed by their education board. We try to
overcome some of the language barrier by using creative
teaching methods, pictures, slides, models, dissections
and worksheets with terminology translated to Marathi.
A good knowledge in science will be appreciated, but isnt
necessary.

owade: Educational Activities, Creativity, and Health

(REACH) engages with multiple developmental aspects of children. We will interact with the young children
at the Anganwadi (Primary health and child care centre)
in the village, help provide healthcare supplements via our
campus doctor, and build a relationship with the centre.
Engage with the enthusiastic primary school children
with Spoken English, music, health and hygiene awareness workshops, on-campus computer literacy classes and
many more activities that you can help create and plan.

F YOU CAN READ THIS,THANK YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER! In Active English, we engage with
7th-graders at the local secondary school, teaching them
English with an energetic approach. Each teacher is assigned a group of 7-10 students with the same capability
level and will stick with their students through the year.
Lessons revolve around a weekly theme which is decided at Planning Meeting, and teachers left to their own devices to decide on the methods they would like to use. AE
is extremely rewarding and the bond we create with our
students is pretty amazing.

Community Engagement 11

Fire Service

re you Crazy? Do you live on a hill? Do you know

what a beater is? If the answer is yes, then we are the
triveni for you! With a great sense of comradery we work
as a team to combat the fires that are prone in this area,
day or night whatever the time.

Campus Service

ith emphasis on the importance

of the community, students are
involved in ensuring the sustainability of the colleges operation through
Campus Service (CS) activities. Some services
aim to keep the college environment friendly
by creating awareness, recycling and reusing
paper, keeping track of the Biodiversity Reserve or by starting a farm on campus! Other
services work to keep the student body up to
date about current affairs, establish links between UWCs and within our community, or-

12 Campus Service

ganize Theatre Season, coordinate events on

campus, or to provide the workers on campus
with English classes.
The diversity of Campus Services is vast,
however, the aim of all of them is the same:
to keep the campus running and to provide a
service to the community.
Campus Service activities generally occur
once a week and provide students with an
opportunity to reflect upon the needs of our
community.

Environment Protection Agency

Paper Making

Gomukh on Campus

Biodiversity Monitoring

e make our college more sustainable and eco friendly through a combination of brainstorming sessions,
physical labour (i.e: pond cleaning), gardening with the
staff (nursery work, moving plants etc) and awareness campaigns. This year we are attempting to arrange visits to an
animal shelter in Pune every weekend.

ast year the Gomukh Off-campus triveni created an

on-campus organic farm. Techniques we learn in
the off-campus Gomukh triveni are implemented in this
organic farm, which is run by students. The aims of the
triveni are to create an awareness about the importance of
organic agriculture as well as understanding the relation
between the food we eat and the processes and difficulties
in which it is grown. Last year we started constructing the
farm, which involved a lot of physical work. We planted
and harvested our first crops (pumpkin, tomato, aubergine, corn, lettuce, lentils).

ou want to learn how to make beautiful notebooks,

cards, or let your imagination run wild with origami
from waste paper? Then Paper Making is here for you.
From used water on campus, we make any kind of paper
shapes and wonderful patterns from flowers, paints with
interesting activities during the sessions. PapermaKING
always welcomes you!

e are dedicated to monitoring the natural processes and biodiversity with scientific methods and
coming up with new plans to increase the species diversity. The triveni would have classroom sessions where the
participants will learn to identify frogs, snakes and invertebrates with dichotomous keys. On field, they will learn
to handle frogs, snakes, geckos, skinks and insects in order to observe them closely and identify them. We will
also catalog what we have found. As a project, planned
grazing will be carried out to see if it works in Indian
context or not. In case it works, I would expect more than
60% decrease in the fires in the reserve.

Campus Service 13

Lights and sound

Theatre Season Planning Group

Yearbook

Film Club

earbook, as the name suggests, is a triveni that was

created to make a yearbook for the community. Its
a compilation of all the memories, experiences and moments that we were part of. This triveni allows you to exert
all your creative prowess , teaches you to manipulate software to design pages and lets you judge what the best way
to present a piece of work. Most importantly you will have
the fruit of all your efforts in your hands at the end of the
year to share with your family and friends!

Muwci on Wheels

ilmmaking is the activity that places the A in Awesome! With our Triveni youll be always up to date with
everything whats going on around campus - be the VIP
who always enters the events first in order to film them.
Throughout the year were also going to have some special
film projects. No experience required, but we do require
your engagement! You will learn how to use the latest editing programs for Mac and PC, such as Final Cut Pro or
Adobe Premiere. Digi Labs waiting for you!

Linking Group

Library Service

e try to link people, both within our MUWCI community, and across UWCs. To do this, we organize
various events on-campus, and we connect with other
UWCs by skype or facebook.

embers of Library service form a closer bond to the

whole world of library. Activities include shelving
books, repairing them and erasing notes. This year, we are
going to organise a couple of evenings on literature - reading poetry/prose excerpts, some music, maybe a little performance and of course with chai and other snacks. Lastly,
on a rotation basis, we will contribute to MUWCI times
on recently added literature and movies in the Library.

e are involved with rigging stage and location sets,

controlling artificial, electric lights, sound and music for events ranging from Halloween party to MUWCI
festival.

Dukaan

student-runned shop which is open every night selling snacks, drinks and basic toiletries.

14 Campus Service

Music for Change

n this activity, members are chosen from a variety of

off-campus community engageents, and are recruited
with the idea of sharing ideas about musical activities in
their respective off-campus trivenis, helping each other out with these activities, discussing and reflecting on
the various ways we can help each other in their respective off-campuses, and working together at fund-raising
through music in various ways.

heatre season is a tradition that has taken place in

MUWCI since the very beginning. During theatre
sesason, various performances occur on campus.
We plan and organize the Theatre season.

Muwci Repairs

First Aid Service

Global Affairs

UWCI on Wheels, Service, is a Community Service

in partnership with MUWCI on Wheels, Adventure Biking. It runs a bike maintenance service, teaching
members how to service/repair bikes, and manages storage, leasing, logistics and events related to biking. It is also
dedicated to creating, mapping and maintaining paths
and trails on campus and in the surrounding area.

There will be two parts to this service:

1) Weekly training: * At the med center with Dr Dipak * With me
in a wilderness context - scenarios, practice, applied theory * In
the second year students can take on a larger role with teaching
2) The service part: * Stand-by duties at events such as capture
the flag, wrestling tournament etc. * Hasty-team / search party
e.g. in that scenario when the two girls were up on Mt Wilko or
when someone is known to have hurt themselves while hiking.
* Whether or not members help at the med center is yet to be
determined.

Akshara Support

he Akshara Programme, launched in 2005, works to

change the deterministic role that economics plays in
peoples access to opportunities. The programme is focused
on breaking a vicious cycle of poverty by creating conditions through which children from impoverished rural
communities located near the college campus can receive a
vocational or professional education. This Triveni will help
the Akshara office in various tasks throughout the year.

ur main focus is on building or repairing things and

general maintenance on campus. There will also be
hands-on and observational learning workshops on skills
such as carpentry and working with electrical equipment.
We hope to engage with the staff on campus through this,
learning from them and also aiding them in their work as
far as is possible. Some annual projects that the Triveni will
be undertaking are the facilitation of the re-painting of the
MUWCI wall, as well as maintenance of the existing treehouses and the one that we have built ourselves.

n Global Affairs, we aim to create an awareness of the

diversity of experience and opinion here at MUWCI, and
to encourage students to develop their own perspectives
on issues. We organize and coordinate a forum where the
MUWCI community can discuss issues relevant to MUWCI and the wider community (ranging from geographical
conflicts to multiculturalism). As a member of the Global
Affairs team you would be involved in selecting the topics
to discuss, researching the issues, and facilitating the discussions.

Nightschool

t is in line with UWC values and our capabilities as an

educational institution to provide education and enrichment opportunities to everyone in our community. The sole
purpose of these programs is to extend educational and enrichment opportunities to support staff. Staff initiatives are
not designed to improve work performance, although their
participation may have some positive impact on their work.
Students involved will help run the night school.

Campus Service 15

Language and Writing Centre

Guidance Office Support

Math Tutoring

Communications for Outreach

his will encompass the current Spanish, Hindi and

French tutoring services, as well as offering support
in English language and writing. Were hoping to offer tutoring in double blocks, and to have teachers and students
available to support both language acquisition and writing
skills in all four languages (plus German if there is interest.)
There will be a core group of tutors for each language who
will receive training from faculty at the beginning of the
year, and support and resources throughout the year.

e tutor fellow co-years in all levels of Maths,

from Math Studies to Further Math.

Science Tutoring

e welcome, publicize and help university representatives organize presentations to students on campus and give them a tours of the campus. We have office
hours to tend to students university applications needs at
all times.

ommunications for Outreach (C4O) members will be

responsible for documenting various aspects of the
College (residential, special events) through photography,
blogs, video, illustration for marketing, publicity and international publication and communication purposes.

Architectural design of the AQ (Academic Quadrangle)

roviding and facilitating tutoring sessions in the Sciences: Biology, Physics, Chemistry and ESS.

Office of Development

ffice of Development (O2D) organizes various events

and fund raisers on-campus. One of the main focuses
of O2D is to organize the summer courses that occur at
Mahindra College. Moreover, we organize O2D sports day
and we give tours to visitors on campus. This activity can be
counted as a Triveni. However, it is only offered to second
years and there is a selection process involved.

16 Campus Service

Triveni Coordinating Team

he Triveni coordinating team (TCT), as its name suggests, is a group of students that help the Triveni office
to make sure that the Triveni Program is running smoothly. We discuss issues, take desicions, recommend the Head
of Triveni and Triveni Coordinator to make changes. Although anyone is invited to attend the sessions of the TCT,
only commited students will be able to take TCT as their
Campus Service. This Triveni is only offered for second
years.

Campus Service 17

Football

Cage Football

Basketball

Ultimate Frisbee

his Triveni involves playing the sport two times a week.

We also conduct training sessions to improve upon
technique and stamina that could be vital to the many internal tournaments we attend. Football is offered for both
boys and girls. Football for Peace and Love

Action

e take sports and athletics

seriously at MUWCI, most
of the time. While they play
an integral role in the educational and
experiential program here at MUWCI,
sports and athletics also help us stay fit,
meet new people, and have fun after long
days of classes. While the IB requires
students to participate in an action as
part of their diploma program, we at
MUWCI feel that sports and athletics
are essential to both physical health and
self-knowledge. The sports and athlet-

18 Action

ts pretty simple; theres a basket, a ball and a bunch of

people trying to get that ball into the basket. We play informally in the Cage and also have sessions for people who
want to learn more of the technical stuff. The title is misleading because there are girls as well as guys.

ics offerings are as diverse as our student

population. Whether students are interested in individual pursuits like: tennis,
swimming, trail running, rock climbing, or weight lifting or if they participate in team sports like: football, cricket, rugby, Ultimate frisbee, handball, or
field hockey; there is something for everyone. We have all sorts of artistic endeavors that are physical, too, like ballet,
yoga, Bollywood dance, and Flashmob.
So, come get sweaty, work hard, meet
new people, and try something new.

Handball

t is in the evening, on the tennis court cage, the music is

always on and no skills (or shoes) are required. Does it
sound at all like proper FOOTBALL? Probably not. This
activity is what our community loves and has created to
be unconventional, weird and yet awesome. Boys and girls
altogether, all the same.

he ultimate frisbee game, sport, whatever you call it.

Best sport in the world, ever.

Rugby

Badmninton

Hockey

andball is a team sport in which two teams of seven

players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper on
each team) pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other
team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team which scores the most goals wins. This
is the ideal sport for those who enjoy team-sports with a lot
of physical contact and speed.

adminton is a game that can be fast paced or slow.

An individual challenge or a team effort. An intense
indoor match or a relaxed outdoor activity. Whether
you want to learn a new sport, improve your game or
practice your skills, come and join us to play an amazing racket sport that will improve your reflexes, handeye coordination and is a lot of fun.

Team sports

o you want to play the sport where you will find the
most team spirit? Do you want to play a sport where
you have to work hard and be perseverant to improve? Do
you also want to have fun and good times which you will
remember? Then join Muwci Rugby. In this Triveni we will
have training sessions as well as fun sessions every week.
Above all, we will enjoy ourselves, learn new techniques
and develop a strong team feeling.

game with sticks, a ball and goals. You hit the ball
with the stick and try to make goals with your
team. A great, challenging and exciting game!

Action 19

Adventure Biking

dventure biking is a challenging Outdoor Education

action which will put your mind and body to the
test! Group 1 (Downhill / X Mountain Biking) focuses on
technical riding on faster and shorter routes, combining
responsible risk taking with team/personal development.
Group 2 (Road and General Mountain Biking) will concentrate on exploration and appreciation of our surrounding environment through medium/long rides, as a form of
exercise and interaction with the local community. Come
ride with us!

Swimming

Indian Classical Dance

Yoga

Bendy Club

Bollywood

Parkour

Contemporary

Ballet

reathing yoga is a very relaxing form of yoga that aims

to improve your overall well being. Once the monsoon
is over, we will most likely have sessions outdoors.

hysical challenge, stress-releaser, cultural experience.

Sunday yoga is a triveni for everybody who wants to
have fun and set his mind for the upcoming week. Apart
from this yoga helps to deal with shyness, inferiority complex, breakups and the lack of self-confidence. The difference between the Breathing Yoga is that we do more
physical exercises. If you like to relax in an active way, it's a
triveni for you!

Fitness

o you like water? Do you want to challenge yourself?

We offer three levels of courses: beginner, intermediate, and professional. You can always enjoy yourself in the
pool, play water polo, and do the aqua dance!

ver wanted to touch your toes? Do the splits? Bend

backwards? Well then join the Bendy Club for a chance
to improve your flexibility over the year! Bendiness can improve your fitness level, posture, balance and coordination,
and performance in other sports. It can reduce the risk of
injury, alleviate back pain, and relieve stress. Each weekly
session will consist of numerous stretches, strength training
exercises, great music, and awesome, flexible people.

Judo

Acrobatics

itness aims to keep people fit and healthy. It consists of

various forms of strength and conditioning drills: running, kettlebells and weights, core exercises, body-weight
calisthenics, and circuit training.

udo is a Japanese martial art where the object is to throw,

subdue and/or pin an opponent down. In judo, we will
be teaching self-defense techniques, throws, grips, holds,
pins, locks and chokes. We will be dealing with different
levels of expertise, from beginners self-defense to advanced competitive techniques.

20 Action

t is the art of running away. We climb walls, vault fences

and jump from roofs. It focuses on unconventional efficient movement around obstacles or terrain using only the
abilities of the body.

earn how to entwine yourself gracefully in silk, strike

impressive poses high in the air and then drop to the
ground in an elegant fall. Acrobatics, also known as Ariel
silk, is a great way to learn something new and get a workout all at the same time!

n Indian classical dance form rooted deeply in the

Indian cultural fabric. This is the real taste of India.

id-week and already tired of all the work? Come To

Bollywood Dance every Wednesday and go on this
beautiful journey of discovering Indian dance! We have
some fun and easy to learn routines to some of the most
popular songs from Bollywood movies. So lets freak out
and get in shape Bollywood style and leave everyone astounded by the energy at our dance shows! kyunki picture
abhi baki hai mere dost....

Latin Dance

atin Dance is the place to explore your body to the

rhythm of latin music, bringing passion, power and
sensuality together. A range of energetic, fun and challenging dance sessions is designed around discovering styles
such as Salsa, Cha-Cha-Cha, Merengue, Samba, Rumba,
Mambo, Bachata and maybe even a Tango. We invite both
beginners and experts to share your moves and cooperatively learn about expression to the great sounds of Latin
America. Bienvenido!

We dance ballet!

Hip Hop

Flashmob

ave you ever wanted to do contemporary dance but

never had the chance to? Here is your chance! come
to contemporary dance triveni, where we will work on improving your technique and flexibility, dance different choreographies, and choreograph a piece of your own.

UWCI Hip Hop Dance Group 2013-4 will explore

the many branches of Hip Hop dance from House
to Old School. We will be Popping and Locking to a variety of good music! The group will take every performing
opportunity possible; showing off new skills and fun but
challenging choreography. Over the year we will work together essentially towards the MUWCI Dance Show which
will hopefully be an impressive end to a hard working year!

Dance

Individual Sports

Breathing Yoga

flashmob and impromptu dance triveni. We do impromptu dances all over on and off campus as well as
crazy fun flash mobs with the community. Flash your mob
& shake your booty!

Action 21

Muwci Acapella

Creativity

reativity encompasses a whole

range of activities. Generally, these
can be divided into Music, Discussion, and Creation. Creativity activities
are important to explore aesthetics, specifically in Music and Theatre. They may
also engage students intellectually in various discussion groups or clubs, such as
Model United Nations, where students can
explore global leadership roles. Cultural
clubs make the participants more aware of

22 Creativity

Tabla and Sitar

the traditions and culture of specific areas

in the world.
Moreover, there are creation activities
whose purpose is to create: from cooking
clubs to creating anything you may imagine with waste!
Creativity activities help students to immerse their minds in different settings and
provide them a relief from their very demanding academic life.

Guitar Club

Music Group

Orchestra

earn how to play these difficult, yet extremely rewarding Indian classical instruments taught by professional
teachers who come to campus once a week. For those who
like music, and want to learn something new, this is an ideal triveni. NOTE: There are advanced batches as well, for
those who already know how to play.

he triveni is essentially an orchestra which will bring

together anyone playing instruments such as the flute,
violin, trumpet, cello, and many others. This allows for an
opportunity that has previously been unavailable at muwci
in which individuals who are interested in a particular instruments can come together and play great pieces and potentially perform at muwci events as well as events in Pune
and around. The triveni would meet once a week in space.

Music

inging with others is the best thing! We rehearse and

perform various songs from all over the world, such as
folk songs, pop songs, spirituals, and even classical music!
Come and experience giving a massage to the soul with
music...

ets be honest here. Learning to play the guitar in MUWCI is actually a really difficult task. So instead, we
will be learning to play songs broken into small, really
simple parts and combine them to make a complete song.
Well be performing in wada concerts and other programs
and its gonna be a lot of fun!!! (we can teach a bit of basics
on the process and guitarists of all levels are welcome!)

usicians, singers, songwriters, instrumentalists

this is the Triveni for you! Being a part of the Music Group will give you the chance to practice and improve
your skills on a weekly basis, as well as uniting you with
other musicians on campus to inspire and collaborate with
one another. Regardless of your genre or amount of experience (you can be a complete beginner or a musical maestro), there is space for you in the music group. The Triveni
will also plan music-related events, including concerts, recording sessions in SPACE, jam sessions, and more.

Creativity 23

Debate Club

Muwci Times

IT Club

Improv Club

WAIC

Gender and Sexuality

Photography club

Discussion

olitics, Debate and Fun!all in one. We discuss world

issues, draft resolutions and explore the functioning
and processes of the united nations through simulations
and conferences. seeks to inform the community on world
affairs and not also look for a viable solution to political
and humanitarian problems

place where you can discuss and debate interesting

topics and issues from perspectives you may not have
considered. The emphasis is not on rules and format, but
on generating engaging and insightful discussion. These
discussions are usually followed by a proper debate.

orld Art and Independent Cinema is a weekly session in which we watch worlds art cinema preceded by a passionate discussion. In most cases well be watching movies that have relevance in understanding a cultural
or historical context.

Korean Cultural Club

nyoung!!! Ever wanted to learn about the culture of

the wonderful people of Korea? Then this is the choice
for you. Our sessions are categorized into Language, Traditions ,Music , Movies and Food(Yes we learn how to cook
wonderful Korean dishes).Basically, we have fun as a group
while learning about the beautiful Korean Culture.

ender and Sexuality serves as a platform to discuss

topics ranging from transsexual clownfish to the role
of women in rural India.

Thursday Discussions
iscussions about politics/religion/sexuality/ideologies/etc. We will have a theme for every month and
we'll discuss similar topics in those different fields.

Japanese Cultural Club

Afrocentric Club

E
Urdu Explorer
T

Chinese for Beginners

n our sessions we'd like to explore; history, language,

cuisine, dance, art, music, current affairs, literature and
a plethora of topics pertaining to Africa/ The Carribean /
America/places with people of African heritage. Our sessions will be demonstrative (we will learn how to cook
meals, dance, speak, draw, braid hair and lots of other
things) as well as discussion based (current affairs, history,
literature, politics, etc).

ant to learn Chinese? This is a triveni for you then.

We teach Chinese from the most basic level, so no
worries if you have no idea about Chinese language and just
want to learn. We also have sessions on fun activities such
as calligraphy so you know more about Chinese culture. It
will be a FUN FUN FUN learning. COME.

24 Creativity

xplore japanese culture and language

UWCIs a place where somethings always going on,

and its our duty as the school newspaper to keep the
people of the hill up to date. If you consider yourself an
aspiring writer, journalist, blogger, cartoonist, graphic designer, scuba diver or any other profession under the sun,
this is the Triveni for you.

project-driven learning CE about Computers etc.

(Information Technology). Other than learning the
basics of computers, one's involvement in the IT club
culminates in the completion of a project which includes
learning the necessary prerequisites. This year, the project
is to do with 3D animation.

Best out of Waste

Vietfood

tudents involved in Photography will learn the basics

of photography in order to help document life on and
around campus, participating in photography exhibitions
aiming to raise funds for social projects, as well as sharing ideas about photography and studying different types
of photography and photographer's works. We will also be
doing creative indoor as well as outdoor exciting shooting
sessions!

n Best out of Waste we build useful and / or beautiful

things out of the things we find around us.

hat if a clown, an ice-cream and a shampoo bottle

meet on an island of misfit toys? Well, the only
way to find out is in Improv Club where you can do something you love, something you've never done and something you wish you could have done. Loosen up, laugh,
cry, swim, bungee-jump and learn more about yourself,
its an improvised party!

earn how to cook Vietnamese food or South East Asian

food in a most proper way.

his is your chance to learn to read and write one of the

sweetest language spoken on this planet. Urdu is truly
one fascinating language. Though it might sound like standard hindi it has a very different script not to mention that
it is much cooler. After we are done with learning to basics
we can even go onto discuss poems (ghazals), stories and
songs.

Arts and Culture

Cooking Club

LGBT

Chess Club

Jewelery Making

GBT group opens space for the LGBT community to

be more comfortable and open with themselves and
also with the community, and as a consequence, create a
community with more diversity in opinions and attitudes.

rts & Culture encompasses FIVE disciplines: MUSIC,

DANCE, RELIGION, POETRY & DRAMA. All the
disciplines are interlinked in the sense that they compliment one another, except religion which is 'discussion'
based so as to break the barrier of sensitivity that surrounds it. This 'sensitivity' is usually caused by ignorance.
If one can combat this ignorance, then religious discussions need not be so volatile.

he chess club is a place where we take a break from

studies and immerse ourselves into the world of chess.
There are games to be played, matches to be analysed, strategies to be discussed, puzzles to be solved and competitions to be participated in. It is open for all, from those who
know nothing of chess to advanced national level players.

Creation

Model United Nations

ant to learn to cook cuisines from different cultures? Join cooking club where you will learn to
cook good food from different countries and then enjoy
eating your creation. You will be encouraged to teach the
rest of the group how to cook food from your country.
However, no prior knowledge of cooking is required and
people of all levels are welcome.

reate simple jewelry, including hair clips, bracelets,

earrings and necklaces, as well as friendship bracelets
and whatever else you want to make!

Creativity 25

Project Weeks

In the August 2013 semester, project week

will take place from October 18th-27th.
During this time, all first year and many
second year students will go for project
week together, travelling on trains. You
may choose which project week you wish
to attend, but space on each is limited, so
we may not be able to give you your first
choice. Train bookings need to be made
long in advance, so make sure you fill out
the selection form by May 31st for new second years and July 20th for new first years.
First submissions will take preference, so
make sure youre on time. Some projects
have special requirements or requests: we
ask that you take these into consideration
while making your choice.

uring the course of the two years at the college, you will travel in India on four occasions. You will engage in two Project Weeks
(during the 1st and 3rd terms) and two Experience
Weeks (during the 2nd and 4th term).
The first Project Week (1st term) will be lead by Faculty members and you will choose from a variety of
projects. These are described in greater detail in the
following pages. Some projects involve traveling to
different regions of the country to work with and
learn from Indian non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), engaging in the complex range of issues
facing development organizations in India today.
Other projects involve challenging activities such as
nature adventures.
For the second Project Week (3rd term) you can
choose to engage in a faculty led Project Week and
travel with your first years (your juniors), or you can
create your own student led Project week.

26 Project Week

roject Weeks take UWC learning out of the classroom and into the field. They offer an opportunity to
discover different parts of India and participate in a week long project which is tailor made for MUWCI
students. Each project has a specific educational objective, from learning about the struggles of tribal
people to learning mountaineering skills. Each project is also interactive, meaning that students will be active
participants rather than passive bystanders. Beyond this, there is not much that unifies project weeks: each one
has its own unique character and strengths, and is right for a different student. Take a look and see!

During the 2nd and 4th terms, you will take part
in an Experience India week. Here you are free to
travel wherever you want in the country, as long as
you travel with at least two other students and you
dont travel home. We strongly discourage students
from traveling home during any of the Project or
Experience weeks unless its part of a project and
other students take part in the trip.
Each of the four weeks will be assessed through individual or group reflections.

Projects weeks are enjoyable and rewarding, but can also be challenging: you will find yourself in an unfamiliar context, with unfamiliar people. Food, sanitation and climate may become discomforts, especially in those projects that go to rural areas. You should
keep all this in mind while making your choice; however, we recommend that you do challenge yourself to choose the project that
you would benefit most from.

Project Week 27

Vanastree

anastree (literally women of the forest) is a

small collective dedicated to
promoting forest garden biodiversity and food security
through the conservation of
traditional seeds. This project week will involve active
participation with Vanastree
in their efforts to get communities involved with biodiversity conservation. The effort
facilitated by Vanastree, near
the town of Sirsi in northern Karnataka, is an innovative experiment in getting
ordinary people involved in
protecting biodiversity. This
community programme is
located in the forests of the

Crocodile Bank

he focus on this project week will be wildlife

conservation methods and
conservation action. The
week will be spent at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust
(MCBT), where we will join
in the daily activities such as
pit cleaning and feeding crocodiles, snakes, and turtles and
learn about animals in captivity. Projects may include

Western Ghats in Karnataka

where students will be staying in village homes, participating in seed collections and
other activities that give a
sense of living in a rural community in India, interacting
with environmentalists and
ecologists, and participating in several hikes into the
heart of the forest. Some of
the hikes are strenuous and
students are expected to have
a tolerance for insects and
leeches, which they may encounter during the hike. Accommodation is in simple
village homes with families
and students get a chance to
sample the rich local cuisine.

simple measurements, working with turtle eggs etc. and

joining in any conservation/
awareness drives. Learning
about snake tracking and venom extraction from the native
Irula Tribes and interacting
with them is an important
aspect of this stay. Accommodation is on a shared basis in
simple bungalows within the
MCBT.

Agumbe Rainforest Research Station

t ARRS the focus will be

on field research. Ecological research is essential
in order to study the intricate
relationships and processes
that are present in the natural world. This workshop
aims to give an insight into
basic wildlife biology, survey
and field data collecting techniques, basic camping skills
and field work ethics, radio
telemetry and camera trap-

28 Project Week

ping, understanding stream

ecosystems, monitoring nocturnal animals and basic field
herpetology (study of reptiles
and amphibians). ARRS is
completely run on solar power with minimal generator
back up. Accommodation will
be on a sharing basis in tents
within the campus. Food is
simple and mainly vegetarian.
Manipal with very good medical facilities is nearby.

Sirsi, Karnataka
www.vanastree.org/

Samata

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

e
will
travel
Vi s h a k ap at n a m ,
Andra Pradesh to stay and
work with Samata, an NGO
that advocates for the rights
of tribal (adivasi) people in
the Eastern Ghats, particularly in Andra Pradesh. Well
stay at Samatas main office,
which is also home to the
Balamitra Waldorf-inspired
school for local tribal children, and spend some days
and potentially an overnight
homestay in tribal communities. By interacting with

tribal people and Samata

employees, well learn about
the rights of tribal people in
Indian law and the struggles
they sometimes face to have
these rights upheld, particularly in the face of rapid industrial development. Well
use many types of public
and private transport and go
on some fairly long walks in
the forest (up to 5 hours), so
some enthusiasm for physical fitness is advisable.

Tamil Nadu
http://www.madrascrocodilebank.org/cms/

Sadhana Forest

Karnataka
http://www.agumberainforest.com

Auroville, Tamil Nadu

http://sadhanaforest.org/

adhana Forest is a sustainable living community located in southeast

Tamil Nadu in southern
India near the Bay of Bengal. Since 2003, its aim has
been to reforest 70 acres of
severely eroded land and
transform the environment
there into a model of sustainability. As part of their
reforestation effort, they
also work on water conservation, soil management,
organic gardening, and alternative energy production. In addition to these
efforts, volunteers practice
an eco-friendly way of life

including veganism, alternative construction, solar

energy, biodegradable toiletries, and compost toilets. Thus, living and the
surrounding areas temples
and heritage sites, and/or
discussing issues relevant
to the work well do there.
Well read selections about
farming, climate change, alternative lifestyles, environmental aesthetics, and conservation. Students who are
keen to get their hands dirty
and their spirit cleansed will
love this experience.

Project Week 29

Association for Promoting Social Action

he Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) is a

child-centered, rights-based, community development organization founded in `1981 and located in Bangalore. APSA
works at two levels - at the grassroots level where the focus is
on empowerment of the poor, and at the macro level of the
state and the country through advocacy and policy planning.
This two-pronged approach is reflected in the planning and
implementation of all of APSAs projects. Last years project
week in APSA was planned collaboratively by MUWCI volunteers and APSA staff. After a days orientation on APSAs projects, our volunteers spent the rest of the week with the Child
Labour project, which at the time had a campaign in progress.
This allowed our volunteers to take part actively in conducting surveys. They accompanied the Child Labour project team
to government institutions, visited slums, attended womens
group meetings - all of which helped them arrive at a holistic
picture of child labour in the context of urban poverty. They
also learned to deal realistically with issues of rehabilitation,
processes of law, child rights versus family rights etc.

Sangama

angama is a sexual minorities human rights

organization for individuals
oppressed due to their sexual
preference. Sexual minorities
include, but are not limited
to, hijras, kothis, jogappas,
lesbians, bisexuals, homosexuals, female-to-male /
male-to-female transsexuals.
Sangama aims to help these
people live with self-acceptance, self-respect and dignity. They especially emphasize
the concerns of sexual minorities from poor and / or
non-English speaking backgrounds and sex workers,
who otherwise have little or
no access to information and
resources. Sangama aims to
bring sexuality, sexual preference and gender identity
into the realm of public discourse; and link it to gender,
human rights development
and other social movements.
Sangama campaigns for the
changes in the existing laws,

30 Project Week

which discriminate against

sexual minorities, including
sex workers and people living
with HIV / AIDS (PLHA).
They work with family members, friends, co-workers and
partners of sexual minorities.
While at Sangama, students
will hear personal experiences from the community, take
part in playful workshops
on gender and sexuality issues, have interactive field
visits, watch documentaries,
and learn about the human
rights work of the organization. We will also participate
in any campaigns that may
take place during our time
with them. There will be time
for passionate discussions on
anything from gender roles
and sexual identity to sex
work, and students will also
work on a creative project
- like documentation of the
events of the project week
through photos, interviews,
performance or a movie.

Bangalore, Karnataka
www.apsaindia.org

ITC Sangeet Research Academy

Calcutta, West Bengal

http://www.itcsra.org

his new project focuses on classical Indian music, one

of the richest, most sophisticated and beautiful musical
traditions in the world. We will visit ITC Sangeet Research
Academy, a prestigious institute dedicated to preserving and
promoting the heritage of Hindustani classical music and the
Guru-Shishya Parampara. They will host a series of specially
designed workshops for us, where we will learn some basic
theory and practice about Hindustani music. We will also attend performances in the evenings, and have some time to explore wonderful Calcutta. The main objective is for students to
develop their appreciation for the music. No experience with
Indian music (or non-Indian music) is required; however, ITC
SRA has expressed an interest in working with students existing skills, so if you are already a musician then you are especially encouraged to join. The only thing that is necessary is
an interest in music and a willingness to learn more about this
particular tradition.

Bangalore, Karnataka
www.sangama.org

Auroville Bamboo Centre

Auroville, Tamil Nadu

http://aurovillebamboocentre.org/workshops.html

he Auroville Bamboo Centre, Auroville,

conducts workshops for
students in bamboo construction. This year, MUWCI plans to coordinate
with Auroville Bamboo
Centre to undertake training workshops in bamboo
construction, bamboo furniture making and bamboo
jewellery making. These
workshops will not only
train students in a particular skill but also help in
creating awareness in environmental conservation
and sustainable living. The
four-day program is packed
with 4 sessions daily from
9.00 AM to 5.00 PM. First
there is an introduction
to bamboo structure and

growth system, the uses

of bamboo and the role of
bamboo in the ecological
context. Second, the workshop will focus on natural
and chemical treatments of
bamboo. Third, the students
will be trained in selecting,
splitting, cutting, bending,
straightening and creating
joints using bamboo. Finally, the students will focus on
their specific areas of interest be it furniture making
or jewellery making or mere
construction. Students also
get an opportunity to live
at Auroville, a village for
a global community conceived by Sri Aurobindo,
and visit Pondicherry, a
union territory of India and
an erstwhile French colony.

Project Week 31

Outdoor Education Himalayan Expedition

Farming in Goa
Goa

new project week that

will take a look at Goa
beyond the beaches. We
plan to spend half the week
learning about agriculture
in Goa and half learning
about the mining industry.
Be prepared to be flexible as

Jaundhar Glacier

urt Hahn, one of the pioneers of the UWC movement, championed outdoor
education as bringing human
nature to its highest dynamic,
with the absolute staking of the
fundamental powers of body
and spirit. This project week
aims for students to practice
self-reliance,
perseverance,
leadership and teamwork in a
wilderness context. The context for this expedition is the
rugged Himalayan mountainscape of Uttarakhand. Students
will encounter harsh terrain,
fatigue and cold temperatures
and are encouraged to employ
eagerness and positivity in facing challenges. Technical competences in navigating, firstaid and camp-craft will also
be developed. The expedition
will be difficult, both physically and psychologically; students will average five to seven
hours of hiking per day, with
heavy backpacks, ascending

32 Project Week

to 4400m, camping outdoors

and cooking their own food.
But the rewards will be great:
overcoming challenges, a great
sense of team-spirit, connection with nature, resourceful
living, and, most of all, 5 days
in one of the most beautiful
places on earth. An important
word on fitness: a minimum
standard of fitness is expected.
There are plenty of opportunities at the college for students
to reach this standard in the
months before the hike. We
do not require super-athletes,
but an ability to walk uphill
for several hours at altitude,
with a backpack. As a benchmark: you should be able to
cover 10 km in 100 minutes at
a 3 degree incline with a 15 kg
backpack. This is not difficult.
Most important is a commitment to the expedition and a
willingness to face challenges
head-on.

Dodital and Darwa Top

he aim of this project week

is to build skills of leadership, teamwork and perseverance while exploring a little known but awe-inspiring
part of India. Located in the
mountainous northern state of
Uttarakhand, Dodital is a pristine alpine lake at an altitude
of 3100 m above sea level. This
project week will take you on
an expedition to Dodital and
beyond. The trek to Dodital is
a steady uphill climb that takes
us through dense forests and
high meadows. After Dodital,
we will be climbing further to
the mountain pass at Darwa
Top, at 3800 m above MSL. The
climb to Darwa Top is steep
but offers stunning views of
the Himalayas at the top. The
whole expedition is expected
to last 5 days. You will be expected to have a minimum
level of fitness if you sign up
for this expedition. An ability
to walk uphill for a couple of
hours at a stretch with a full
backpack is expected, and you
will be assessed by the Outdoor Education team once you
arrive here to ensure that you

meet this criterion. If you are

unsure whether you can manage this hike, head out to the
nearest gym and try walking
at an incline of 50 at 6 km/h
for an hour and a half with a
12 kg backpack on your back.
If this tires you out completely,
then this expedition is not for
you. You will be expected to
hike 5-7 hours each day, carry your own backpacks and
sleeping bags, help in cooking
and washing up, and camp
outdoors. There will be no
toilets on this expedition and
the food will be simple vegetarian food. All participants
are expected to join the Fitness
Activity on campus once you
arrive here. If you have never
hiked before but would like to
give it a shot, this expedition
offers you a great opportunity
(provided you meet the fitness
standards). Completing a difficult hike will surely leave you
with an unforgettable experience that will challenge and exhilarate you in equal measure.

Amritsar Express
Punjab

his Project will visit and Amritsar and Wagah, two historically
and culturally significant places in
the North of India. Students will get
an opportunity to meet and speak
with the officials and local community. They will carry with them a list
of questions, the answers of which
will help them get a better insight
regarding the importance of these
places. Amritsar is a city in the
north-western part of India. It is
the spiritual centre for the Sikh religion and the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in
the state of Punjab. It is home to the
Golden Temple the spiritual and
cultural center for the Sikh religion, besides other places of historical value. The Golden Temple is a
prominent Sikh Gurdwara located
in Amritsar. It was built in the 16th
Century. There are four doors to get
inside, which symbolize the openness of the Sikhs towards all people and religions. In the early 19th
century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh
secured the Punjab region from
outside attack and covered the upper floors of the Gurdwara with
gold, which gives it its distinctive

we spend time working on a

farm, exploring the environmental impact of mining on
the river system, and visiting villages in the mining
corridor. If we are lucky, we
may even get to spend a few
nights on a river trawler!

appearance and the English name

The Golden Temple. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more
than 100,000 visitors on week days
alone. At the Golden Temple, the
students will be actively involved in
Seva (service), be it in the kitchen,
food service or cleanliness. Wagah
is the only road border crossing between Pakistan and India and lies
on the Grand Trunk Road between
the cities of Amritsar and Lahore.
It is particularly known for the
elaborate Wagah border ceremony that happens at the border gate
before sunset each day. Jallianwala
Bagh is a public garden in Amritsar
and houses a memorial of national importance, established in 1951
to commemorate the massacre of
peaceful celebrators on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year on
April 13, 1919. Official British Raj
sources placed the fatalities at 379,
and with 1100 wounded. Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there
were 1,526 casualties. The 6.5-acre
garden site of the massacre is located in the vicinity of Golden Temple
complex.

Project Week 33

Learn Hindi or Marathi

earning the language of our local environment, Marathi, or the language of

many other places in India, Hindi, will
enable you to increase your learning experience in UWC Mahindra College! Marathi can
be very helpful when interacting with the local
community in your Community Engagements,
as well as with staff on campus. Hindi will always be helpful to get around and to discover
this exciting country!

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If you dont speak either of the two languages,

you will choose and learn one. If you already
know Hindi, you will learn Marathi. If you already know both Hindi and Marathi, you will
help someone else learn or practice these two.
To complete this part of the Program you will
need to use Hindi or Marathi in your reflections for Triveni activities, or to prove that you
have helped someone learn either of the two
languages.

MUWCI Conferences

ver the course of the two years, UWC

Mahindra College will host a series of
conferences and events related to special topics of global relevance. Most of these
conferences will take place during a theme
week. Theme weeks will include:
Peace and Conflict Week (September)
Awareness, Appreciation and Sustainability
Week (October)
Sports Week (November)

Many other conferences will occur on individual days when guest speakers will visit campus
and give a talk or a workshop on other topics.
To fulfill this part of the Triveni Program you
are expected to attend all conferences that happen during your stay at the college, and to do
a small reflection on conference topics, which
could be evaluated by your Triveni Advisor or
by the Triveni Office.

35

The Triveni Project

Student Experience

These are the experiences on Triveni of two students from the 2012-2014 batch

Melisa Chan
Malasya

ast but not least, during the course of the

two years at UWC Mahindra College,
every student will have to coordinate
one project. The Triveni Project will give you
the opportunity to bring together all your experience from the Triveni Program. You will
have to use your imagination to bring various
areas of the Triveni Program into play in your
project. The project can be done individually
or in a group and will be assessed both by your
advisor and the Triveni Office. The Triveni
Project is a perfect platform to engage with the
UWC mission and values!

36

y trivenis during my first year were Japanese

Cultural Club, Sunday Yoga, Papermaking,
and Paud Childrens Home. Sunday Yoga was an
amazing stress reliever. Plus, you will learn more
about your body, both mentally, physically and
spiritually. In papermaking, it was amazing how
easy it actually was to remake paper. Also, we get to
make cards and other paper merchandises with the
recycled paper we made which will be sold in the
Dukaan or sometimes, Gomukh Farmers Market.
What I like about Paud Childrens Home is that we
can teach them music in piano and guitar, dance,
play sports, play games and sometimes we have arts
and crafts sessions as well as environmental awareness sessions. As each session is different from the
previous ones, both we and the children do not get
bored too quickly. For a Japanese-culture fan, Japanese cultural club is really fun as we got to make
some simple Japanese cuisines, learn the language,
etiquette, architecture, fashion, lifestyle, and also
how to wear the yukata! I think that the triveni program has a huge diversity of trivenis. However, this
also causes indecisiveness among the students as
there are sometimes more than 4 trivenis were interested in but we cant do them all either because the
time clashes or for the simple reason that we wont
have enough time to do other activities.

Ritika Philip
Hong Kong

n my first year at MUWCI I participated in five

Trivenis: Cooking club, Math tutoring, Active English, Global affairs, and Girls football. Each Triveni
enabled me to acquire a fresh set of skills, interact with
a diverse group of people, and develop a new aspect of
myself. I wish I knew the objectives of each Triveni so
I could choose Trivenis that were in line with my personal goals. I also wish I knew what kind of skills the
Triveni was attempting to build, so I chose a range of
Trivenis that made me a more well-rounded individual. Overall, Triveni program is an opportunity to learn
more about yourself, the MUWCI community, the
Mulshi valley, and the world. It allows you to translate
knowledge from the classroom and your past experience into the Indian context and learn more about the
country in the process.

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