“Don’t worry about me! I have done this before. I have lived in China! Everything will be fine”– I blatantly lied to my mother, masking my real feelings a week before flying to India. In reality, I was extremely worried about moving to a whole new country, that too in the midst of a pandemic.

While I did live in China for more than a year, I always had friends and classmates from Ukraine with me. It was different this time. Would I find friends? How would I manage all alone? Wouldn’t I feel alienated in such a different culture? These were questions that bothered me. Language felt like another major barrier. Previously, I had only attended classes that were taught in either Chinese or Ukrainian. I was worried that my elementary knowledge of English would hamper my academic performance. And then, of course, the weather and food. Would I be okay with the heat – of both the weather and Indian cuisine? I have lived in a cold country for almost all my life where the only ‘spices’ used are salt and pepper. These seemingly silly questions were a real cause for concern.

Within the initial few weeks of the Fellowship, most of these ‘serious’ concerns had already started to seem ridiculous to me. Having tried a variety of Indian dishes – from garlic naan, to biryani, and mango pickle – I was convinced that there was something off with the food I had grown up eating. The 40 degree heat was made surprisingly bearable by fresh coconut water – available right outside campus throughout the summer months. All my professors have been extremely patient, empathetic, and articulate. The teaching assistants are available round-the-clock to help me with any doubts that I might have. This has helped me dive deep into all disciplines and keep up with the pace of the programme. I resonated with Prof. Jonathan Gil Harris and Clancy Martin

as they spoke in class on their personal experiences of living in India as foreigners.

I had moved to India under exceptional circumstances. Classes continued to be online, and there were not many students living on campus. This, coupled with my shyness made it incredibly difficult for me to connect with peers beyond the classroom. I still felt lonely, and was unable to make friends. But soon things changed.

One day, on my way to campus, I came across a lonely, furry skeleton. It was a tiny pup, I could easily hold in one hand. He was extremely weak, and could barely move. I could not walk away. I decided to take him with me, despite not knowing what to do next. Luckily, I received an email from an account named ‘Team Pawsitive’ the same day. This is how I found out that Ashoka is home to a group of young students passionate about animal welfare. They regularly feed strays, conduct vaccination drives, and rescue dogs who are ill or injured in accidents.

I contacted them immediately, and was welcomed with support and valuable advice on how to sponsor the puppy’s treatment. With Team Pawsitive’s support, JoJo – as he has now been named – recovered within a month. He has, since then, also been adopted.

I was so focused on JoJo that I stopped thinking of making friends and then, thanks to him, I made many. I found myself building strong interpersonal connections with several members of the team. What brought us together was our love for animals and our common beliefs. All of us think of pets as sentient creatures and as our companions and friends. They should never be seen as a marker of social or financial status, meant to be abandoned when old, ill, or difficult to take care of. We are all also strong advocates of the motto, “adopt, don’t shop” – we believe that it is indeed noble to adopt an indie.

This is how Ashoka, and its students helped me realise that it is possible to find a second home in a foreign city, thousands of kilometres away from your own country. Differences of culture, nationality, or appearance do not matter when it comes to building strong friendships, with both humans and animals.

Vladyslava Savytska is Young India Fellow from the cohort of 2021. She comes from Kirovohrad, Ukraine.