A redefining experience

K.S. Mochish is a Doctoral Fellow at the School of Media and Cultural Studies of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India. He received a travel grant to present the paper "Negotiating Gender and Caste Publicly: An Analysis of the Struggles of a Woman Tribal Leader in Wayanad, India" to the Gender and Communication Section.

IAMCR's 2015 conference was the biggest multi-cultural academic event I have ever attended and provided me new experience and learning through interacting and observing the delegates from different  socio-cultural  backgrounds and  nationalities. I truly believe that these international interactions and exposures provide a person from a developing country like India a greater scope to redefine one’s future academic and personal life.

Getting an opportunity to participate and present a paper at IAMCR 2015 with the financial assistance of IAMCR was one of the greatest opportunities I have received in this early stage of my   academic life. It will certainly guide my future academic endeavours and give me greater focus and enthusiasm. Presenting my paper, “Negotiating Gender and Caste Publicly: An Analysis of the Struggles of a Woman Tribal Leader in Wayanad, India”, to the Gender and Communication Section provided an opportunity for sharing my thoughts and opened a new horizon of critical engagement. The after presentation discussions were productive and gave me new insights into variety of different angles for my current research focus.

My sincere request to IAMCR is to continue with the financial support for people from the low income countries because this support enables us to take part in a gigantic multicultural platform like IAMCR and to share our knowledge and experiences. I have immense faith in the positive role that experience and academic interaction during the conference plays to expand the capabilities of people from these regions through sharing and engaging in critical discourse with similar professionals from across the world.

My longstanding desire to visit new cultures in different continents became possible only through the financial assistance of IAMCR. It not only made my paper presentation possible at IAMCR but also gave me an opportunity to understand and experience the multi-cultural fabric of Montreal, Canada. My world view was further increased with multiple new perceptions about the western world.

I would like to thank IAMCR for giving me this opportunity to explore a totally different academic atmosphere through supporting my travel to Montreal and allowing me to participate and present a paper at the IAMCR 2015 conference. I hope it provided a mutual leaning opportunity – both for me and for IAMCR. I hope to incorporate my new critical insights into my research engagements in my home country. I believe that the experience I gained through attending this conference will contribute to enhance not only my academic life but also the academic atmosphere around me.

K.S. Mochish
School of Media and Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

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