HSE University-St Petersburg Holds Pakistani Culture Night (original) (raw)
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On November 9, the building at Kantemirovskaya Street hosted the Pakistani Culture Night. The event gathered more than 80 people, including the students and alumni of St Petersburg universities as well as Raja Qadeer Ahmed, the representative of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The initiator and the mind behind this event was Syed Junaid Abbas, international student of HSE University-St Petersburg.
Daria Perova / HSE University — Saint Petersburg
Now, HSE University-St Petersburg has more than 50 students from Pakistan—this is one of the most numerous international communities at the university. To introduce the students to the Pakistani culture, the university organised a festive evening devoted to this country. The idea for the event came from Syed Junaid Abbas, student of the Master's programme 'Data Analytics for Business and Economics'.
The event started with a welcoming speech by Olga Gaidova, Director of the International Student and Alumni Centre. The organiser highlighted the significance of international cooperation and the exchange of cultural experience and thanked the participants for their interest in this event.
Olga Gaidova
Director of the International Student and Alumni Centre
For international students, it is truly important to keep in touch with the representatives of their culture. It eases the adaptation and, in the end, helps to integrate successfully into Russian society. We are happy to support such a student initiative and create the space for informal communication, networking and experience exchange. We're looking forward to new suggestions from students from various countries!
Syed Junaid Abbas continued the evening with his speech and talked about the adaptation to a new country, the difficulties he had to face and how he has overcome them. One year ago, Syed enrolled in the preparatory courses at HSE University-Moscow. When he realised that there was no student community from Pakistan in Russia, he decided to create it himself. He did not only organise cultural events but also ran a videoblog where he shared the details about the enrolment and studies at HSE University with applicants from different countries.
The meeting introduced the guests to the traditions, customs and culture of Pakistan.
The participants prepared a stand-up about what it is like to be an international student in Russia, recited poetry in the traditional format 'mushaira' and performed national songs and dances. The performances were made both in English and in national languages—Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu.
The event finished vividly with the performance of students, in which they showed various dancing styles of the Pakistani districts and presented the cultural diversity of their homeland. Besides, the participants performed several traditional dances: bhagra, jhumar, and attan—each of them has their own history and meaning. After that, the guests were offered to try the national dish biryani, enjoy the tea and communication.
Syed Junaid Abbas
1st-year student of the Master's programme 'Data Analytics for Business and Economics'
On behalf of the whole Pakistani student community in St Petersburg, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the team of the International Student and Alumni Centre at HSE University-St Petersburg for organising such a successful and nice event. Thanks to your support and hospitality, everyone felt like a part of the large HSE community. We genuinely value all the efforts you've put in to make this event unforgettable. I hope that in the future, we'll have an opportunity to introduce all HSE students to the culture and customs of Pakistan. For me, it's very important to share the culture of my native country, Pakistan, because it helps people to understand our traditions, values and lifestyle better. When we open the doors of our culture to others, we create bridges of understanding and respect. I believe that such an initiative helps to strengthen the friendship of the peoples.