What does it mean to be a Bronco?
I chose to attend Santa Clara University for my undergraduate degree when I was hardly 17. I had finished my high school sojourn a semester early in December 1995 (though I technically got my degree and graduated in June 1996). I then traveled to South India where I enrolled in Kalakshetra Fine Arts Academy for a few months.
During that time in early 1996, I got acceptance letters from a few universities in California. This was a time when mobiles did not exist, and our applications were all by hand and post. So actually, my parents got my acceptance letters, and over a few phone calls from a family friend’s land-line phone, and lots of time thinking at Bessie Beach in my teenage years, I decided I would be best off staying at home and going to Santa Clara, whose mascot is Bucky the Bronco.
The story between me and the Broncos didn’t really start there though. Sure, I went to my classes, joined some campus activities, and made a few friends. I talked to my teachers (professors, really), and sat by the rose gardens. I attended service learning projects– with glee and gusto. I grew in my thoughts and my perspectives.
And then I graduated, and I left. Got a job, and then another one. Got married, got divorced. Life moved on.
Until one day, I found myself back in India, this time in Bangalore. I started working with various communities (rural women, HIV+ communities, special needs children), teaching them philosophies and practices of yoga. I started small, thinking it would be a side gig that would give back to society, empowering communities.
Soon, I started getting some calls from other groups and schools across Bangalore. I realized I would be better off with other yoga teachers joining me. I reached out to my TTC Batchmates from SWIHA and my Peace Studies Buddies from Austria and Costa Rica on Facebook. A few rounds on Facebook, and I got in touch with a girl named Madeleine.
The first time we Skyped, she had an SCU banner behind her. She even kind of gave me a resume introduction, telling me she was a Bronco. “Wait. Santa Clara University?” “Yes,” she said. “Oh! I went there too! We didn’t have an International Development major then.”
This was the beginning of my becoming a Bharat Bronco. I recognized the trust I could place in this young woman who was coming from halfway around the world to help me learn from the children I was serving. That was 2012.
The two of us were together for a few months, when she went back to the US. Maddie came back a year later, with the intent to help me set up and register an NGO. That’s how I started my non-profit (NGO), Prafull Oorja Charitable Foundation.
One night, on a bus ride to Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, I got a curious email. It was from the SCU Alumni Office. There was something about a Christmas gathering in Indira Nagar, Bangalore, for any Broncos who were in India. In those wee hours of the morning, in a moment of excitement, we decided to go.
When we showed up at Vishal Verma’s house– with a surprise guest (Nicole, a non-Bronco friend, was visiting from the US), we were greeted by warm friendly faces. Vishal was very welcoming to us and to all the others who gathered that evening.
In 2015, SCU Magazine published a small article on me and Maddie and Prafull Oorja’s work. Through that, a group from Leavey Business School called Global Fellows reached out to me and asked if we would consider hosting a couple of interns for the summer. Tanya Monsef was such a pleasant and professional person, and we were in desperate need of help with Prafull Oorja, so our response was a resounding “YES”. That year, we got 3 Global Fellows, 1 Ignatian Fellow, 1 recent graduate, and 2 random others from the US known to Maddie. For the next three years, Prafull Oorja received 2-3 fellows every summer, and thanks to the Bronco connection, we grew. We traveled to Kerala together and taught more communities there.
That first alumni event piqued my interest. When I visited California the next year, I took some time to meet people like Kathy Kale and Zach Plaza in the Alumni Office. Wow, and they graciously gifted me some swag items like shades and keychains, pens and pencils, to distribute to the alumni at our next gathering. I think we also got a banner and a flag (I still have the flag, as pictured above).
Over the next few years, we spent time contacting other SCU Alumni, and building the Bangalore chapter. Alumni office would send us an updated database every few months, with names and contact information of those living in India, and we would reach out to these people. Several of our founding members such as Sheshadri Vasudevamurthy and Subhashini Parasuram also invited batchmates they new personally to join. We had a few more meetings over brunches and lunches across Bangalore. A few times, Becky Konowicz in International Admissions came and met us for drinks or dinner, while we interacted with new admits and potential students.
In 2016 and 2017, I traveled to Mumbai for my work with Prafull Oorja– expanding our operations. At those times, I met other Broncos, such as Prashant Maniar, Murtaza Harianawala, and Milan Mehta. The same thing happened when I was in Chandigarh, where I met another Bronco (whose name, in my old age, I cannot recollect.) Wherever I went in India, I found Broncos. Even now, a fellow research scholar in my department at BHU has run-ins with Jesuits in different parts of India who have studied at Santa Clara’s Jesuit Institute.
In the Covid era, Shesh began an online speaker series, getting us to interact with professors such as Naren Agarwal and my own dear professor Marilyn Fernandez (among others). It was a way to keep the momentum going, and it got more people involved from around the world. Covid had its own blessings in disguise!
Now, in the post-covid era, there’s a new energy being infused into the Bharat Broncos, as we call ourselves. New people in our company, new ideas in the air and running on the ground. While the major of people are still from Leavey, I’ve never felt that it was a barrier for me to be an Arts & Sciences undergrad alumni. I’ve forged friendships with a few people on a 1:1 basis, based on our personal interests. People like Sriram Sundararajan and Ankush Joshi have And as Bharat Broncos grows, I see my friendships evolving more and more.
This is my story of becoming a Bharat Bronco. It’s one of trust, of respect, of growth, of relationships, of networks, of support, of community. A warm welcome wherever I am.
