DASNR
International
Student of the Week
Home Country: India
India , officially the Republic of India, is a sovereign country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of over 7500 kilometres. It borders Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia.
Home to the Indus Valley civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's variegated culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became a modern nation-state in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread use of nonviolent resistance as a means of social protest. India has a labour force of 509.3 million, 60% of which is employed in agriculture and related industries. Major agricultural crops include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. The agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP. Source Wikipedia
Akshata Ramnath Mudinoor
January 21, 2008
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From the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Akshata is a member of International Student Organization and the Indian Student Association. She was crowned OSU's Miss International in 2007. Akshata has a wonderful artist talent; she is a professional Bharatanatyam dancer and a great singer. She learned to dance from her mother who is also a professional dancer. Akshata has been practicing a traditional Indian dance since she was 4 years old. She has played lead roles in different dance drama productions; she has also been on Indian TV in a historical dance serial entitled “Natya Rani Shantala.” Classical Indian music is a talent that has given her several prizes.
Akshata came to thr USA with a dream to pursue her masters. She believes that the United States offers the best education in the world and also provides facilities to do research. It is also a place to meet people from different countries. She chose OSU because is a very well recognized University for her major, Food Engineering. “OSU initially started off as a college of agriculture and this is the reason I chose OSU.”
Akshata comes from a very close knit South Indian middle class family. She is the only child. Her mother runs a dance academy and her father is retired from a Pharmaceutical company.
Akshata’s future plans are to complete her Masters and take up a job, in the mean while she wants to pursue her art which she believes is an integral part of her. Advisor: Dr. Danielle Bellmer Akshata’s advice for Students: “I would suggest that all the international students should take part in all the events which are organized on the campus and aim to develop themselves in all respects. No doubt all of us are here to pursue a degree but I am of the opinion that this is the time for us to learn new things and come out of our shell and explore new horizons.” Interview by Sandra Rodriguez
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