By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer
Southborough – The Rotary Club of Southborough hosted four visitors from the Republic of India May 4 through 7 as part of the Rotary Foundation Group Study Exchange (GSE) program. The GSE program provides a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 who come from a variety of backgrounds – from corporations, small businesses, community organizations, medical and educational facilities, government offices and nonprofit agencies, to name a few.
The GSE program provides travel grants for teams of participants to visit other countries for a four- to six-week period. While visiting, team members immerse themselves in the lives and customs of those in their host country. They study the institutions and ways of life, observe how their own vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal relationships and exchange ideas.
While in Southborough, the visitors stayed at the homes of Rotary member Carl Guyer and Rotary President Aripta Bhattacharya.
Among the activities scheduled for the visitors was a tour of a variety of sites in Southborough including the municipal buildings, St. Mark's School, Woodward School and the new solar electric power generating site at the intersection of routes 9 and 85.
Outside of Southborough, there were visits to Plymouth, Lexington and Concord, and the Massachusetts State House (with state Rep. Carolyn Dykema, D-Holliston).
The participants from India included Rtn. Anand Kulkarni, Rotary district secretary, GSE team leader, civil engineer and partner in Shree Sarmath Construction; Padma Dandannavar, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of KLS Gogte Institute of Technology; Latit Jain, management major from Karnataka University, Dhaward, and retail entrepreneur; and Sai Thakur, graduate of MBA program at University of Pune and currently the director of print media for Tarun Bharadaily, Pvt.
