Education in diversity & collaboration

Diversity and global collaboration are great values to talk about but do they actually work? I grew up within 20 kms radius from here, and I have nothing to complain about” – challenged an acquaintance sitting across me under the dim lights of a London bar. My first reaction was to lecture him about why diversity and global collaboration are the basis of our future together and can help us resolve the toughest problems together. Rather, I ended up reflecting on my own journey which got me here. My 22 year old self had a very similar view – having just graduated from IIT Madras, one of the premier engineering colleges in India – I believed I would never need to step out of the country. I believed that the nation had given me a great place to grow up, brilliant education and friendships for life. I was confident of getting a job and harnessing my full potential to contribute back to my community and country. A number of my friends at the time went to the US to pursue Masters and PhDs, and I never quite understood why.

Fast forward to the year I graduated, the financial slowdown hit and I struggled to find a job in India. I got an opportunity to work in the UK for a period of one year on a graduate scheme run by the UK govt. I took it almost as a last resort with a firm belief that it was just one year. As fate would have it, that one year completely changed the course of my life. I saw different ways of working and heard different perspectives, totally foreign to what I had grown up with. I experienced empowerment in a way I had not before. I participated in European traditions and learnt to respect other cultures.

6 years later, it led me to INSEAD – the business school for the world. I spent 10 months in the sleepy town of Fontainebleau with classmates from 99 countries. We debated business ideas, world politics and how to make the world a better place. Without realising, I became a global citizen and a strong believer of diversity and global collaboration.

Participation in Homeward Bound is an continuation of my journey of embracing diversity in my life. At Homeward Bound, we aim to extend diversity to leadership roles to influence decision making for the future of our planet.