The Fletcher School

 Class Address by Anupriya Ghandikota

Dean Bosworth, distinguished guests, and graduates… Good Morning.

First, allow me to assure you all that there will be NO classical Indian dance performance today…at least not from me.

Second, I want to express to my fellow graduates, my friends, how honored I am to be standing here today in front of the finest people I have known.

Friends and family, allow me to introduce you to the Fletcher class of 2002.

We are from 43 countries of the world.

This class in particular can boast that 51% of us are international students.

We are diplomats.

We have helped negotiated trade agreements and peace treaties.

We are Vice-Presidents and Managers.

We have led a division on a command ship for NATO.

We have interviewed world leaders and many of the unknown people who have shaped
world events.

We fundraised with Gorbachev.

We have worked at the United Nations and just about every other international organization.

We have educated students from kindergarten to university.

We are Rhodes finalists, Truman scholars and Fulbright scholars.

And at least one of us is a member of a women’s motorcycle club!

We are mothers and fathers.

We’ve climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and trekked across the Sahel.

And if you delve deeper in examining who the Fletcher student really is, you’ll realize that we’re a peculiar bunch that hold steadfast a very sub-terranian culture. Allow me to elaborate.

When Sasha Gupman and his soon-to-be lovely wife Katherine were planning their honeymoon, they weren’t looking at St. Martin, the Cayman Islands, or Hawaii as possible destinations even though Sea Thomas agreed to strum his ukulele to their hearts content. No, Sasha Gupman was fixated on going somewhere that no brave Fletcher soul had ever traversed. He saw his HONEYMOON as a CHALLENGE. Inner Mongolia? Nope..done. Cuba…that was the Fletcher class trip of last year. So what one area of the world had never been inhabited by a Fletcher student??? The answer? The Marambio Island in Antarctica. I kid you not….This is a typical Fletcher student.

Before beginning a grueling PhD program and rigorous training at Merrill Lynch, Adam Treanor, Sandra Sequiera and Carl-Michael Simon have decided to spend the summer travelling the world. Where are they going? TAJIKISTAN and every other country where they do not speak the language. A summer vacation filled with every imaginable challenge….This is a typical Fletcher vacation.

But what is the real testament of our peculiarity? It’s this common fear that plagues us at night of feeling abandoned intellectually once this great Chapter is finished. How do we remain stimulated and challenged? Who will engage us in a debate about nuclear testing and the WTO? We are frightened that very soon after today we’ll lose our edge and that we’ll end up tossing our New York Times away and taking up a subscription to People magazine. This is the fear that keeps us up late at night.

But this won’t happen my friends.

WHY?

Because our dear Fletcher faculty have taught us well.

In addition to mastering the blitzkrieg fashion of reading 1,000 pages a day, we have all subscribed to a new way of learning.

We have learned that “getting to maybe” is sometimes better than “getting to yes” and that there may be no such thing as international law and even if there is, who decides???? Indeed, it is difficult to leave Fletcher without a changed world view. The different perspectives that prosper here make it impossible to ever think in black and white again. The questions that we have asked of ourselves are contrary to the gospel of our beloved Professor Jacque…and indeed, ARE terribly complicated.

I have personally come away from Fletcher not thinking that every problem has an immediate solution, but that there are solution-makers who will outlive the problem and who will always think on a higher plane.

And this brings me to my final point and that is the greatest lesson that I have learned from each you, which I believe can only be explained by sharing my experience with you as a dancer.

Many of you know that I love dance but what you don’t know is how as an eleven year old I struggled to love it.

Being raised as an Indo-Canadian and as someone who knew little about the Hindu mythology that classical Indian dance is founded upon, I was convinced that I would never master the correct expressions or movements. I was frustrated and anxious and dreaded my weekly practices. But I grew to learn and love and appreciate this art form only because there was a community that helped me overcome my fears. My dance teacher spent hours teaching me that you dance for the lessons learned and not for the applause or accolades. My parents encouraged me by teaching me about Indian history and religion. My fellow dancers, who generously shared ideas and space on stage, taught me how to share in life. My sister encouraged me to infuse dance in my social justice work so I began to dance for fundraisers and at senior citizens’ homes.

I bring up this small and seemingly trivial point only because it reminds me a lot of what has happened at Fletcher this year. I learned from you, much like I learned from my dance mentors, that during times of adversity only A COMMUNITY can overcome the trials and tribulations that life throws you by helping you think about alternatives.

When this year is recorded in history books, the world will recall tremendous loss and tragedy. It was a year unlike any other. We lost a sense of security after September 11. We lost assurances in Afghanistan. Many of us lost loved ones and an ability to comprehend in the Middle East. And in our own Fletcher community this was a year of tremendous personal loss…the loss of loved ones was profound.

During times of adversity, most people look inward … but this exceptional group of people sitting here today, looked inward and outward.

We didn’t live in our academic ivory tower. We lived international affairs. World leaders could certainly take a lesson from us…how we mediated and grappled with frightening issues, such as cross-border terrorism in our own homes.

And we each coped in different ways, mostly through ingenious and creative forums. Poetry nights were organized at people’s houses, students opened up their homes and the Blakeley kitchen to have discussions over dinner, open mike night allowed people to share and learn through poetry and song, a radio show was started to bring perspectives and lifestyles over the air. Our Student Council took a difficult step and organized a forum to begin dialogue amongst those affected by events in the Middle East.

And what was amazing to me was how in an environment of incredible diversity, at the height of turmoil and uncertainty in the world, how we became the solution-makers who thought at that higher plane. This to me is the example of true leadership and it is the lesson that will remain clear and strong in my heart after leaving Fletcher. In future years, in whatever professional guise we undertake, we, like dancers, will know how to rely on a community of creative individuals to think of lasting alternatives. This is the way the world will turn.

You…you have taught me so much about the importance of shaping the next step even during times of uncertainty, would probably agree with Maya Angelou who has written

History, despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.

Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.

Lift up your hearts,
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.

Here’s to our beginnings. THANK YOU.