Overseas student at SU shares his experience

GANGTOK, 23 Nov: Tourism takes much of the credit when it comes to highlighting Sikkim on the global map, however, the academic experience of Tatsuki Shirai may now perhaps make the outside world reflect on its academic potential as well.
Tatsuki Shirai who hails from Japan has been a student at Sikkim University for almost a year and is now heading back home following the expiry of his visa. Mr. Shirai, who also happens to be the first overseas student in Sikkim, expressed that it was an honour to have studied here and informed that the experience was “challenging yet exciting”.
Tatsuki Shirai, a student of Cultural Anthropology at SU, while sharing his experience with media persons today, informed that he was guided by his professor at his University back home to continue his fourth year of graduation in Sikkim. On the reason why he came to Sikkim, he informed that he wanted to explore foreign lands and the scholarship helped him. It was also because Sikkim being a state with diverse cultures suited his subject, he added.
He joined Tadong Government College in July 2010 in the monsoon semester where he stayed for just 6 months as he could not agree with the academic system there. “The College was more like a high school, rigid rules and rigid syllabus where the teachers are more concerned with completing the syllabus and students do not expect much more,” he expressed.
As such, after his monsoon semester he requested Sikkim University for admission. But since he was an under graduate he was taken in by the University as a guest student. In this regard, he expressed his gratitude to the VC, Mahendra P Lama for his consideration.
At SU he could get what he had expected though “Eastern Himalayas” was a new and challenging subject for him, he admitted. When he completed his Spring Semester in SU he decided to stay further and with the help of the University he extended his visa and took up field work, his interest being the Hindu culture here.
For his field work, he went to Hee in West Sikkim and studied Limboo culture from August to October and prepared a report on “Limboo Village Life: Shamans and Community”.
He expressed that the Shamans were one group which interested him as he personally feels that such people also existed in Japan earlier but it is not an accepted concept there at present. 
He has now gained much knowledge about the people, culture and languages here, and can also speak a few words in Nepali. “It feels like home here,” he said and informed that this has been the longest stay outside his country for him. 
People here, he expressed were more helpful and friendly and share many common characters with the Japanese like their shy nature and hospitability.
Sikkim University for him was an opportunity to explore more where he found the entire working system “innovative and creative”, he informed. 
He will be joining his former University, Hitotsubashi, in Japan in April 2012. He stressed that he has no regrets of spending his leave year (as given to the students in Japan after their third year) as it has “broadened his horizon of thinking”.
Since SU and the University in Japan where he is pursuing his graduation have not signed an MoU, he will not be qualified as a graduate even though he has spent his entire year studying. In this case, he may lag behind his counterparts but he prefers to believe that his “stay in Sikkim has enriched his life”.
“I have gained more than I have lost,” he expressed.
He also plans to include Sikkim in his thesis but that depends upon his professor, he informed. He believes that Sikkim has the potential to be the destination of field studies where he expressed that it would be great if he can continue his studies on Sikkim.
Though SU cannot provide him with the regular academic report, it has decided to recognize him with a certificate of acknowledgement with his achievement of 16 credits, informed the academic co-ordinator, SU, CB Sunwar.
Mr. Sunwar, giving the example of Mr Shirai, expressed that it is not the students that lack potential but that the students here are not provided with the space to think liberally. For SU he is an exceptional example of what it can produce, he added.