Abstract

Sharada Nayak. If you know the name, more than likely when you hear it, you smile, and then your mind catapults you into remembering a story about the woman who has become synonymous with India. For over thirty-five years Sharada welcomed U.S. teachers and administrators to India as director of the Education Resource Centre and later as executive director of the United States Information Agency in India. Anyone fortunate enough to have received a Fulbright or Fulbright Hays Summer Abroad grant knew immediately they were in caring and competent hands when Sharada greeted them at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport. Equally they knew their life had been enriched and challenged because of the opportunity of seeing a new culture through the eyes of one of its most endearing ambassadors. Memorable teachers help us understand who we are in the midst of a complex interconnected world. What most of us, under Sharada’s tutelage, learned about India has been reflected in the windows and mirrors of our own history, values and in the way in which we live our lives. How many of us continue to reflect on the lessons we have learned not only because of our travel, but because of the woman who introduced us to ourselves in a strange new land?

Keywords: Biography, Education, India, South Asia

How to Cite:

Weil, J. & Turkovich, M., (2002) “EAA Interview with Sharada Nayak”, Education About Asia 7(2).

Rights: https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/eaa-interview-with-sharada-nayak/