"India was an amazing experience. It has helped me bring focus to my life."
21-year-old Matthew Narracott visited India for the first time this January. Resident of Canberra, Matthew currently is pursuing his Bachelors in Science from the University of Sydney.
He signed up for the Generate Worldwide study tour 2016 hoping to discover a new place while he works towards completing his graduation. He initially developed cold feet after signing up for this study tour but with his mother's pursuance, he finally did get onto that plane to New Delhi.
"Getting onto that plane was the best thing I have done in my life," he shares. Matthew along with 12 other participants, all of them students at Australian Universities, spent over 13 days in New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
The batch met various people who work with NGOs helping women and underprivileged children. The group also visited the world's wonder - Taj Mahal in Agra and the pink city - Jaipur.
"Agra was amazing. It was majestic but then we also saw a side of Agra that depicted that how the whole place depends on tourism. That aspect was interesting. We then went to Jaipur and we also saw a bollywood movie - Bajirao Mastani," Matthew shares.
On a more serious note, the group had a chance to work on short Impact Projects that looked at finding solutions to the local problems.
"We were divided into groups and to my amazement, we found that how the western solutions were not appropriate for Indian problems. Our mentors pointed out in our chats that solutions had to keep the cultural differences and viewpoints in mind. That was a huge learning," he said.
Matthew strongly believes that his trip to India has helped bring back focus in his life. The journey has been almost spiritual in nature and he hopes to return to India soon.
