Two recent Knox College graduates and one current student are participating in internships in India this summer. This experience was recently highlighted by receiving the opportunity to attend an event with the President of India.

Emiley Brand and Marta Schneider, who graduated in June, along with current student Jessica Oakley, were selected to work at Parmarth Niketan ashram -- a spiritual center complete with yoga, music, study and, uniquely to Parmarth, a collection of non-profit organizations -- in Rishikesh, India, about 160 miles (250 km) northeast of the Indian capital Delhi.

The interns, accompanied by Knox College Trustee Susan Blew, traveled from Rishikesh to Delhi in June for a reception with the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, to celebrate the recent publication of the International Edition of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Written by a worldwide team of 1,000 scholars, the 11-volume reference work was initiated more than 25 years ago by Pujya Swamiji, the spiritual leader and president of the ashram where the Knox interns are working. This event was attended by influential faith leaders, members of parliament, celebrities and other members of the community.

"It was just an incredible feeling to be in a room where people of such different beliefs (including Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam) came together to honor such a great accomplishment for the Hindu religion," Brand wrote on her return to the ashram on June 23, in her blog, http://emileysinindia.wordpress.com/

In addition to attending the event, the interns helped facilitate it. "In the beginning of the morning we were assigned to check guests into the [presidential] palace, so we got to meet many social and political leaders of India," Brand wrote.

The students are active in a variety of tasks through the Projects Office of Parmarth Niketan. Brand is helping the ashram develop an educational program for local teachers, focusing on the Ganga, a sacred, but also heavily polluted major Indian waterway. Schneider helps to maintain the website for Ganga Action Parivar -- one of Parmarth's non-profit organizations -- in addition to creating media content for the ashram. Oakley provides in-depth research for proposals compiled by the non-profits. Individuals from all over the world have visited the Projects Office to participate and learn more about the work.

At Knox, Brand majored in biology and minored in environmental studies, Schneider in economics and Asian studies; Oakley is majoring in international relations.

The students' expenses are supported by grants from Blew, the Knox College Stellyes Center for Global Studies, the Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study, and the Straus Internship Fund.