Martel welcomes former ambassador to speak on India

By Anna Wilde     9/24/09 7:00pm

In an effort to increase talks by notable speakers at the residential colleges, Martel College hosted Ambassador Swashpawan Singh last Thursday. Speaking to an audience of about 30, Singh, the former Indian ambassador to the United Nations, gave a talk entitled "The India Story: More Fact than Fiction," where he discussed his country's current success, in addition to its development and obstacles to becoming a world power.

The talk was jointly coordinated by the Martel Peer Academic Advisors, the Indian Students at Rice and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Singh, who serves as India's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said he was motivated to share information about his country after discovering how little Americans knew about India. India boasts an enormous voter turnout for elections and is the largest democracy in the world, he said.

---

---

Around 430 million people voted in India's latest elections, a number which encompasses the combined populations of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland. Singh said most Indian citizens are so passionate about their right to vote that they would be willing to relinquish everything else to keep this right.

In addition, Singh said India has made a major mark on world powers - even McDonald's Corporation. To this day, no beef is sold at any Indian McDonald's restaurant for Hindu dietary reasons, a demand that initially seemed laughable to the company when it considered expansion into the country in 1996.

Singh also pointed to India's geographical significance, situated between China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal.

"India is an island of stability in a difficult neighborhood," Singh said.

India's tolerance, not only for its different neighbors but for its own diversity, is a key to its continued success, he said. India's focus on secularism is not equivalent to an absence of faith, but rather a coexistence and acceptance of each other's beliefs, Singh said.

Additionally, Singh encouraged his U.S. listeners to be proactive, rather than complacent.

"I don't think you guys use your elbows enough," Singh said.

India has the second-largest reservoir of workers and an average age of 23. While Americans may consider India to have an overpopulation problem, Singh said that India views its large population as "a stock of creativity and innovation, not a liability."

Singh went on to discuss India's difficulties, as it is still a developing country with half of its population below the poverty line. Singh cited infrastructure, energy security, education and health care as areas for improvement.

Singh said he hopes to see India collaborate with the United States to solve similar problems such as drug trafficking, nuclear weapons, climate change, the spread of pandemic diseases, economic issues, terrorism and higher education. India currently has around 90,000 students studying at U.S. universities, many of whom will remain in the United States following graduation rather than contribute to India's development.

He mentioned the possibility of a Rice campus in India in the future to open up the opportunity of higher education to more Indian students in their country.

President David Leebron, however, was hesitant to set a specific date for future collaboration.

"Because of our comparatively small size and limited resources, we have emphasized building partnerships with foreign universities, for both teaching and research, rather than trying to establish our own campuses abroad," Leebron said. "While we remain open to a range of discussions, it is likely that we will continue with that strategy. We have a keen interest in increasing our relationships with India and the opportunities for both our students and professors."

Martel PAA Veronica Torres said the ambassador gave her a new viewpoint on the country.

"It was really interesting to hear what he had to say in comparison to what some of my friends said about India after visiting this summer," Torres, a Martel junior, said.

Fellow PAA Janhvi Doshi said she was impressed with the ambassador's honesty.

"I definitely didn't expect [the speech] to be as good as it was. It was his honesty that I didn't expect," Doshi, a Martel junior, said. "I didn't see him trying to dodge questions. He was consistent with his opinions, in addition to government ideas."

The plans for Singh's arrival were set in motion years ago.

Martel Master Jerry Dickens had been in conversation with the university about hosting notable speakers and other events at Martel soon after he became master in 2005. Dickens, an earth science professor, was approached at the beginning of the semester by Nancy Hawes, executive director for external affairs at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, about hosting Singh.

The Martel Peer Academic Advisers, led by junior Bo Shi and senior Maram Salaheldin, agreed to assist with the talk following an e-mail asking for help, in addition to the suggestion of Assistant Dean of Undergraduates and Director of Academic Advising Brian Gibson, also a Martel resident associate.

Salaheldin said the PAAs' involvement made sense, as the group exists for academic enrichment at the college and has the manpower to help.

"We were basically asked to handle logistics," Salaheldin said. "It wasn't a novel thing for us to do."

According to Salaheldin, the uniqueness and success of the event gave the PAAs more visibility, as the group is generally just known for hosting study breaks and handling students' academic concerns.

Salaheldin also praised the speaker's accessibility compared to that of past notable speakers such as President Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama. Shi and Salaheldin coordinated publicity for the ambassador's talk alongside Deepa Ramachadran, president of Indian Students at Rice.

Martel junior Raul Villarreal said the more casual setting of events held at the colleges made him more likely to attend them.

"Even though I've taken classes at the Baker Institute, it's intimidating for undergraduates to go into lecture series where everyone is wearing suits," Villarreal said.

---