The new leadership of the Council of Indian Students

Medha Keskar headed the C.I.S. until October and is now being replaced by Hiral Singh.

The Council of Indian Students, C.I.S. for short, has existed at RWU since 2016 and, as a university group, is an important part of student culture in Weingarten. The work of the C.I.S. is particularly valuable for intercultural exchange between international and German students. The university group also offers RWU employees the opportunity to get to know Indian culture better and gives Indian students a sense of home.

The C.I.S. organizes and hosts events such as Diwali, the festival of lights, and Holi, the festival of colors, to create this feeling of home. "We want to bring a part of our home here and live it out, so organizing such events is essential," says Medha Keskar, who ran the C.I.S. until October. For the new Indian students, this offers a good opportunity to connect, while other students can get to know Indian culture better, for example in the form of food and dance. "We mostly dance Garba. This is a dance form that is usually performed in groups and synchronized and therefore invites students to join in.

Hiral Singh will now take over the leadership from Medha Keskar and will also be a member of the university senate in the future. "I would also like to try to incorporate the perspective of - international - students here, as the Senate is responsible for many university-wide issues." But there is also a lot for Hiral Singh to do as head of the C.I.S.: The organization of the events requires a great deal of sensitivity, as many festivals are also celebrated differently in the various states of India, so that in Weingarten many things are implemented somewhat differently, especially in culinary terms. "We also want to set up an association so that we can better plan our budget for our activities, among other things." All RWU students and staff are cordially invited to these activities in the future.