A passage to India
This year marked the beginning of an exciting new exchange program between our school and Mayo College, a highly regarded boarding school in Ajmer, India.
In May, we hosted five Mayo students in Melbourne for four weeks, and four of our Year 10 students - Audrey and Max from Glen Waverley and Ekam and Harry from St Kilda Road - have just come back from an enthralling seven-week experience at Mayo.
Known as the ‘Eton of the East’, Mayo College is one of India’s oldest and most respected private schools. Mayo’s grounds are huge, spanning some 187 acres, and the facilities are amongst the best of any school in India.
With a shared belief in a liberal, holistic education, the two schools make for a very cohesive partnership. ‘Mayo celebrates all the achievements of their students, which is the same as Wesley,’ says Harry. ‘It creates a stronger school spirit.’
The friendship between the two schools has grown from an enduring friendship between two people - Peter Rosenberg (OW1963) and revered Mayo College teacher Thakur Raghu Raj Singh. From as far back as the late 1990s, the two men envisioned a long-term relationship between Wesley and Mayo involving both student and teacher exchanges.
Wesley alumni Jack Ayerbe (OW1963) and Frank Opray (OW1963) later became enthusiastically involved, and the group established reciprocal cricket tours between Old Mayo and Old Wesley teams from 2019, paving the way for this year’s pioneering student exchanges.
Visiting the Mayo College amphitheatre
Audrey and Ekam getting mehndi done
Audrey is welcomed to Mayo College Girls School
Nainika and Audrey lighting Diyas oil lamps for Lakshmi Puja during Diwali
Visiting the Mayo College stables
Aside from experiencing boarding school life, attending regular classes and being part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations last month, the students got to see, smell, hear, touch and taste greater India in all its diversity from a local’s perspective. Highlights included experiencing Diwali - the five-day ‘Festival of Lights’ while on homestay with their exchange buddies, staying in a family palace-cum-boutique hotel in Dungarpur and taking a week-long sightseeing tour of some of the beautiful sites, landmarks and culture that the Golden Triangle has to offer.
‘The celebrations there are all next level,’ says their accompanying teacher, Lisa Somerfield. ‘The fireworks, feasts and amazing clothing are on a whole other scale!’
As always, it’s the personal connections the students made that meant the most. Ekam’s favourite part of the daily routine was eating meals in the mess, despite the challenging spice levels in the food. ‘It’s such a great feeling to share your meals surrounded by all your friends, laughing and talking about the day,’ she says.
As well as bonding with the local students and teachers, the students shared the experience with other exchange students from Perth, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
‘The group was always laughing, playing and chatting and it was absolutely magical to watch how close they all were, despite coming from four different continents,’ says Lisa. For Max, this was very special. ‘Even though we are all from different places,’ he says, ‘we are all the same as people; we live, we laugh, we love… and I really find beauty in that.’
Audrey says the exchange has been ‘transformative and joyful’ and recommends other Wesley students apply for it next year. ‘It’s an unforgettable opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and see the world through someone else’s eyes. I’ve learnt so much - not just about India, but about myself and what I’m capable of.’
Lakeside dinner in Dungapur
Visiting the Taj Mahal
With new friends at the Agra Fort
