Three months ago, I arrived in Duino, a quiet village in northern Italy, to study the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for grades 11 and 12, at the United World College (UWC) of the Adriatic. It is one of 18 UWC campuses worldwide, having colleges in countries as diverse as Japan, Tanzania, Canada and Wales, all united by an overarching mission — to help education build peace and a sustainable future.
UWC Adriatic has close to 200 students from over 80 different countries, taught by a faculty equally global in scope. These past months have been transformative — not just academically, but even personally. Living alongside teenagers from every corner of the world has enabled me to learn far more than what the confines of a classroom could ever have taught me. From familiarising myself with Sudanese wedding traditions to mastering the nuanced tones of Mandarin, every day brings with it new lessons and insights about the world and its cultures.
It’s as though Mumbai’s torrential rains or yoga asanas have become intrinsic to how I see myself
The opening ceremony of the new academic session at UWC Adriatic Anoushka Jain/UWC Adriatic
Before studying abroad, I never thought of my nationality as a defining part of my identity. When people asked, “Tell me about yourself,” I’d usually talk about my interests or the issues I cared about. Now, I increasingly find myself talking about India — the weather, the culture and the food. It’s as though Mumbai’s torrential rains or yoga asanas have become intrinsic to how I see myself. Never before have I felt such a strong sense of patriotism. I talk about India the way I would about my family — I give myself the liberty of discussing its flaws, but bristle when others point them out.
Living in a multicultural environment means that I often find myself representing India in ways both rewarding and challenging. Heads turn to look at me during class discussions on India’s military strength and poverty percentages. How can I do justice to a nation with 28 states, each with its own identity, under one broad label? Should I describe Delhi, where I was born, Mumbai, where I live, or speak broadly about regions I barely know? Being one of only four Indian students at this college, I went from being surrounded by Indians to having to search for them in a crowd. I feel an odd happiness in seeing another brown person in a sea of Italians, and am unreasonably excited when someone mentions Indian movies. At home, I would grumble about eating the same dal, rice and vegetables for lunch every day, longing for special occasions that would allow me to gorge on pizzas and pastas. In Italy, however, pasta is often my only option, and I’d give anything for that same dal that I once would have been forced to finish.
There’s a comforting familiarity in hearing an Indian accent even if it is distinct from my own
Duino Castle and a view from the cafeteria at UWC Adriatic Anoushka Jain
Many of my friends in Italy are visibly surprised when I show them photos of northeast India’s lush forests, Mumbai’s towering skyscrapers, or the pristine southern coastlines. They often expect the entire country to be mired in poverty and outdated ways of life, which is far from the complete picture when it comes to India.
There is much to improve in India, but there is also so much to celebrate in our country. India is one of the world’s fastest growing major economies, with a sizable cultural impact. From mehendi and yoga to Gandhian values and even the concept of karma, Indian ideas have seamlessly entered global consciousness, as if they didn’t originate from a place often dismissed as ‘backward’ or ‘underdeveloped’. A European classmate I was recently talking to spoke about how yoga and Ayurveda helped her father recover from a critical condition. Contrary to my assumption that yoga abroad is often diluted to fitness trends and clubbed with the likes of Zumba or Pilates, she actually knew more about it than I did. She could name specific asanas and even described the meals from a week-long Ayurvedic diet her family had tried.
One homesick evening, I decided to play Bollywood music in the common room of my residence. To my surprise, friends from Sudan, Bolivia and even Germany joined in enthusiastically, singing along and sharing their favourite Bollywood movies and actors. Our linguistic diversity is another often-misunderstood aspect of India. In many countries, language is a unifying factor — the Dutch speak Dutch, the French speak French, the Germans speak German. In India, however, we have over 700 languages and countless dialects. And yet, a Hindi speaker from the North and a Malayalam speaker from the South still feel part of the same nation, even if they can’t communicate directly (without resorting to English). My only other Indian classmate hails from Chennai, a city with a culture and language vastly different from mine. Yet there’s a comforting familiarity in hearing an Indian accent even if it is distinct from my own.
‘How do you navigate that?... Ho jayega’
Anoushka participating in a first-year dance show on her campus Anoushka Jain
Explaining Indian traffic to a non-Indian is a challenge in itself. I showed my Canadian friend a video of a crowded Mumbai street and her eyes widened in shock as she asked, “How do you navigate that?” I simply shrugged, explaining our “ho jayega” mindset, which translates to “it will work out”. Amid the chaos, pedestrians and drivers alike find a rhythm without stopping — a method within the madness. This resilient attitude is a broader reflection of the Indian spirit and our unspoken motto — if there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s an outlook that often contrasts sharply with the more structured approaches I’ve noticed in Western cultures.
Living in Italy has taught me so much about other cultures, but, more importantly, it has deepened my understanding of my own. These three months have been a journey of rediscovery — they have allowed me to reflect on what it means to be Indian. It is no longer just about the food I eat or the festivals I celebrate. It is about carrying with pride a piece of my Indianness wherever I go, sharing my country’s stories and connecting with others.
My time in Italy has changed my outlook on my country drastically, and has shown me that even as I embrace new experiences, the rhythm and pulse of India will remain an inseparable part of who I am.
