By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 26 Feb: It was an important day for the members of Dehradun Chapter of Experiment in International Living (EIL) when they gathered in large number on 24 February morning to celebrate ‘The Experimenters Day’ on the spacious lawns of ‘Mann Estate’, Old Mussoorie Road.
Naresh Gupta, Community Chairman (CC), and Megha Bansal, Secretary, set the ball rolling by informing the audience that ‘The Experiment in International Living’ organisation was founded by Dr Donald Watt of USA in 1932. “Experimenters” were placed in the homes of host families to promote inter-cultural learning experiences through home stays, group travel, study abroad, language training, work exchange and other cultural immersion programmes. The underlying idea was that, “People learnt to live together by living together”.
After welcoming the members and guests, Naresh Gupta invited Executive Committee Member Anil Agarwal to highlight the aims and objectives of the EIL with special reference to the Dehradun Chapter. Anil Agarwal stated that the Chapter had come a long way by inculcating the appropriate spirit amongst members. As a result, the Dehradun Centre had won the Best Centre trophy year after year from amongst all centres’ of EIL in the country. He recalled that “The EIL” officially established its roots in India on 27 February, 1962. The Indian Association of Experiment in International Living is a part of the worldwide, non-religious, non-political and non-profit making network of Federation EIL. The EIL programmes are designed to provide tools to survive in another culture, to foster personal development, to build communication and leadership skills and also enhance the ability to act as global citizens.
Pramod Kapur and his wife, Puja, then conducted the cultural activities and games that followed.
