padhaaro .co m http://www.padhaaro.com/blog/shanti-peace/

Felicia Fo llum

Shanti = Peace

As an American f rom the least populated state in the US, India does not exactly scream peacef ul with itsdensely populated streets and constant honking, not to mention it ’s crazy mob of people wanting to look atf oreigners….that being said, I absolutely loved my trip to India, plan to go back and am even learning Hindi.

Shantiniketan, located in West Bengal, was an exception to this overwhelming chaos stereotypically associatedwith India. Our f inal stop on trip to India f or an art class was the peacef ul town of Shantiniketan. Shantiniketanwas a town surrounded by small villages and consisting of chair shops every couple blocks.

We spent a week at the Shantiniketan School of Visual Art and Design (SSVAD). While in there we met someinspirational artists, prof essors and built some great f riendships. I spent the week exploring the library atSSVAD and artist studio spaces in the af ternoon, rode my bike through the terracotta mural and other artsyvillages in the morning while it rained, and explored the local village wedding dances at night.

Shantiniketan, like many college towns in America, was very diverse. By the end of the week I had made plentyof f riends and at one point people even thought that I was a local school teacher. It was nice to go f or a bikeride to the chai shop and meet up with people I had met throughout the week. Shantiniketan is an artsycommunity with plenty to see and listen to. The Saturday market is a must-see while visit ing, as is theRabindranath Tagore museum.

Af ter experiencing the art and culture this lovely town has to of f er during the day we met with f riends, dranksome home brewed rice beer which seems to be a Bengali f avorite and attended a wedding ceremony atnight. The last morning in Santiniketan, I rode my bike to the chai shop just a f ew blocks away and was pleasedto f ind that I actually knew two of the people who were there so I stopped and joined them f or some hot chaiand breakf ast.

Santiniketan was the perf ect way to end a f antastic trip through India.