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Impressions of Participants |
Nine months back, twenty participants from thirteen different countries were provided with the opportunity to undergo the third postgraduate course in Satellite Meteorology and Global Climate. The participants arrived in the first week of August with a little bit of trepidation and a lot of enthusiasm. There was a tinge of sadness at having left their homes for such a long period and a little bit of excitement at the prospect of meeting new people together on a journey of discovery in space technology and applications in Meteorology.
The apprehensions of participants vanished in no time as the staff of CSSTEAP welcomed the participants into their fold with such love and kindness that they never missed their families. It has been a matter of great honour and pride for the participants to have undergone this training at a premier institution like the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad of Indian Space Research Organization.
During the last nine months, we were provided excellent training, both theoretical and practice at the old Space Applications Centre and later at the New campus at Bhopal both of which had the best infrastructure possible for imparting this training. Backing up the outstanding facilities was the expertise available in house to impart the best quality training to the participants. The training schedule was very rigorous but stimulating with a lot of assignments, tutorials, professional discussions and seminars which exposed the participants to wide spectrum of space technology applications in meteorology and oceanography.
The training faculty were all experts in their field of studies, and were drawn from all parts of the globe with the only thing common to all of them was their eminence in their area of specialisation. The instructions were imparted in the most professional manner and were comparable to the best at the international levels. Our interactions with such an eminent body of scientists, operational meteorologists and educationists, not only broadened our horizons but also set in us a resolve to try and emulate them.
As part of the course, we were provided with the visit to some of the best institutions/organizations in the fields of Remote Sensing, Meteorology, Physical Oceanography etc. which gave us different kind of exposure to related fields.
We are committed to ensure that the knowledge, skills and expertise that we assimilated and acquired here will be improved upon and applied when we go back to our future assignments in our respective countries. We are also sure that this training has prepared us to improve in our jobs and cope up with the new tasks/ challenges that may come up in future. But one thing is sure that this opportunity has given us the courage to face up to the technological challenges that may confront us.
The most exciting part of the course was the opportunity that it provided the participants to witness at close quarters and embrace the great culture of India, magnificent in its variety, stupendous in its openness and extraordinary in its celebrations of life. You can take us out of India but you will not be able to take India out of us because its rich cultural, historical and social diversity as a nation has become a part of us. A country so rich in tradition that it shines like a beacon in the comely of nations.
And as the time draws near for us to say our goodbyes, that sickening feeling of bidding farewell to our families is again making an appearance. Such were the bonds of friendship that had developed during the period of stay here that the mere thought of leaving leaves a lump in our throats and tears to our eyes. But then the time has come for us to leave and bid goodbyes with a heavy hearth but a lot of nostalgic and sweet memories to carry back home.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to authorities of United Nations, Govt. of India, Govt. of our countries, Chairman ISRO, Director CSSTEAP, Director SAC, Course Director, course Co-ordinator, Heads of our organizations and the faculty members for providing us the opportunity to participate in this course and for all their support, guidance and help. Special thanks are also due to the Vice Chancellor, Andhra University for giving recognition to this course. We express our sincere gratitude to all those whose indefatigable efforts made our stay absolutely pleasant, comfortable, fruitful, enjoyable, pleasurable and the course a great success.
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