CREDIT: JACOB AMMENTORP LUND (THINKSTOCK)
Fanshawe is a welcoming place for international students, but sometimes those students have a hard time living with others of the same origin, since they may speak a different language or have other differences. Sticking together rather than fighting is the way to go, one student believes.

Fanshawe College has been serving international students for more than 20 years. Students from more than 70 countries are representing their countries and making their mark internationally.

Speaking of which, there's no doubt that more than 300 students are from India and living the ultimate Canadian dream, but what students don't know is that the majority of them still haven't left India from their hearts.

Geographically speaking, every country is divided into the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western region. So is India, but students coming down to Fanshawe from these regions are sort of forming community groups and have started a cold war amongst each other.

It's the Northern vs. the Southern, or Northern vs. Western. This behaviour shift can be experienced in classrooms, lectures and public places of this campus and city where Indians speaking the same native dialect will be more human and understanding towards each other than to those from another region.

It's the basic human psychology that a person is most expressive when he speaks his native language and feels homely and safe with people of same belief. This phenomenon doesn't end here. A lot of students are affected by this group criticism and there's a literal division of type of people.

Fanshawe being a college where it doesn't matter who you are, yet the majority of Indian students are promoting this type of behaviour where a North Indian is not allowed to talk to a West Indian or as a matter of fact no student of the different region is interested in talking to each other.

What this does is it creates an imaginative impression about someone and you pass on rumours and that mind-set forward. Even though in your college time you have never spoken to that person, if they're not of your region back in India, you will not befriend them.

A lot of Indian students feel like prisoners in their own houses since they share their rent with Indians of different dialects. They don't get along with each other and as a result, they feel left out, neglected and rejected at times just because they don't share the same type of “hello” in their language.

Regardless of what the Indian societies might say, there are a lot of students who don't pay much attention to the culture difficulties and are rather living, learning, earning and eating together with their own team. Fighting the odds together rather than with each other. This type of maturity and understanding is what is needed in difficult times.

We all are miles and continents away from our home. Rather than increasing each other's problems, we should together support each other and pass along the strength we require, during both the good and bad times.

Probably the majority of you are going through the same problems, handling finance, adjusting to the weather, learning rules and regulations of the different country, getting homesick now and then. Focus on that.

Be more accepting of each other in terms of humanity rather than rigid just because someone doesn't speak Punjabi or Gujarati.

Help out each other as much as you can. Don't make someone feel helpless, dirty or unwanted in their own house.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.