Money: Plan well. Save by using coupons, discounts, etc. Take advantage of ‘Sales’. Resist the urge to shop for unwanted items. Keep supplementing your income by hourly jobs.
Cultural shock: In some countries, students tend to be more boisterous than people from Indian culture. To remain unfazed, use the Reasonable Person Principle and do what a reasonable person would do in the same situation.
Study pressures: Take the right course, and manage your time well.
Food: The west was once non-vegetarians’ delight, and vegetarians’ hell. But today, there is a variety of juices, cheeses and fruits to be had. Learn to cook.
Friends: Choose your friends carefully. Some so-called friends could distract you from your goal.
Homesickness: You will miss your family, but if you use your e-mail effectively and pursue your hobby, it will surely cheer you up.
Insurance: Medical insurance can prove vital in countries where medical facilities cost a fortune. Take care of your health.
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“ We want to protect her for a long as we can,” says Dolly Malvai. “ But we realised that she would never be able to walk alone in life if we continued to shield her. We have to trust her and let her go.” Almost all Indian parents feel that their children severely lack the latest information, are ignorant of modern trends, and are immature and too inexperienced to take a rational career decision. They worry whether, once out of their reach, they will be able to guard themselves against everything that is “evil”. But Mrs Malvai felt that this was an occasion where she could show her daughter how much she trusted her, thus giving a tremendous boost to Rhea’s self-confidence.
For Mrs Goel, the fear of racial discrimination was a very real deterrent. However, she felt that they had many relatives in the UK who could extend help if their child faced problems.
A noted Delhi psychologist, Dr Shukla Shree Gupta says, “ Social and cultural differences can be the cause of depression, but this is a passing phase in every student’s life. A student from a small town can feel intimidated by the atmosphere of a metropolitan city, even in India. Parents can help by trusting their children to take the right decision at the right time.”
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Monday, November 12. 2018
Once the child gets into the swing of leading an independent life, it becomes more and more difficult for him/her to consider returning to India. Lack of infrastructure and unstable political conditions in the country, which were once a part of their lives, become insurmountable problems for their future. Parents are well aware of these apprehensions in their children’s minds. Furthermore, the prospect of physical distancereinforces the fear they develop of not seeing the child for a long, long time.
Take the case of Anirban, a commerce student of City College, Kolkata, His higher secondary results were abysmal by any standards and he faced a bleak future in his home state. He felt that even if he were to get a degree from an unknown college in the US, it would still promise a better life, if he worked hard enough. His parents were traumatised on the other hand and even tried emotional blackmail by declaring, “Your father will suffer a heart attack if you go away.”
Says Dr Achal Bhagat, MD, senior consultant psychiatrist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, “Parents are basically insecure about their own future when they try to impose such restrictions on their wards. They feel that their children’s support during their old age will crumble if they let go of them. But more and more middle class families in India are getting used to the concept of their children going abroad to further their dreams. The day of saat samundar paar are over and improved communication systems help remove the mental block against children travelling abroad.”
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