Photo Guy Ackermans She did her bachelor’s degree in Food Technology in India, founded her own company during a gap year, and is now in Wageningen for her master’s degree. Creative Arohi Natu (23) loves cooking, singing, and nature. ‘But not the Dutch weather.’
‘After my bachelor’s, I started a small business. I bake gluten-free millet cookies’, Natu says. ‘While I’m in Wageningen, my mother runs the company. The knowledge I gain here, I take back to India to apply to my business. That’s why I’m also taking some management courses here.’
Rain and snow
Natu is a creative person. ‘I love cooking and baking, painting, and recently I did embroidery for the first time. I made a butterfly. During all these hobbies, I like to sing. I even took lessons in Indian classical music, some years ago. Yesterday, when it was pouring with rain, I sang a song about the rain in my home language, Marathi.’
The Dutch rain is something she wants to talk about. ‘I like Wageningen and the Netherlands, except for the unpredictable weather here. I’m used to a daily dose of sunlight on my face.’ Despite this, Natu did not have winter depression. ‘I didn’t have time for that as studying was so hectic this winter’, she laughs. ‘This winter I saw snow for the first time. It doesn’t fall in Maharashtra, the part of India I’m from. There, it never has strong winds, and even though it can be cold in winters, it’s never cold enough for snow. The snowfall in November was quite exciting for me.’
Study rhythm
‘I actually only looked at one university and that was Wageningen,’ Natu recalls the period before coming here. ‘I also lived at my parents’ house until last summer. Getting in here was easy because I had good grades. But I had to get tremendously used to the Wageningen rhythm. In India, the year was divided into two semesters, instead of six periods. Especially period three is really hard work, which I would like to see differently if I were the boss of WUR.’ Examination is also different. ‘In India, they asked more theoretical and technical questions, while in Wageningen, we have to apply our knowledge more. And the group work … Dutch people are very direct! It took a while, but by now, after nine months, I think I’m used to it.’
You can read her first column (about Dutch directness) here.
