7th April to 16th April 2025 (Monday to Wed)

This time I am a little delayed in writing my weekly note. This week was super busy.

Monday was a normal work day at the office.

I made a very basic version of the VoV website on WordPress. I need help in curating content and page design ideas. I’m not getting enough time to work on it.

Tuesday & Wednesday we had a ‘storytelling workshop’ at the office by Vikram Sridhar.

On Wednesday evening, we left for Bhopal. Nidhi got a confirmed ticket because of tatkal booking, and I got an RAC ticket (I booked it a few days ago). Finally, we slept on Nidhi’s seat and gave the other seat to the RAC fellow. It was a tiring journey.

Eklavya is our second home. Whenever we go there, we meet our close friends and colleagues. This place is super welcoming - welcoming you, your ideas; it’s not just a workplace but a family for nomads like us. We share everything with each other, from personal life to work life.

This visit was special because we were visiting Eklavya for the first time after our wedding. We got lots of gifts & hugs from our friends there. I didn’t expect that.

Almost every day we went out to eat with friends, which was the best part of the trip.

Thursday: During my last visit, I tried veg khow suey at Amer Bakery, Bitten Market. This time also we went there with friends and had it. I loved it.

Khavsa: Gujarat connection of Khow Suey

Khavsa, a popular Gujarati street food, traces its roots back to Burma (Myanmar), where it is known as Khow Suey. The dish’s journey to Gujarat is linked to the Memon community, who had strong trading ties with Myanmar. They adapted the Burmese Khow Suey to Gujarati tastes, resulting in the spicy, textured Khavsa we know today.

I bought new footwear from Bata. It was long overdue. I didn’t think much - went into the showroom with the idea to buy sandals but came out with Bata Quovadis chappals. They look like Birkenstock, but the build quality is very different. Overall, I liked them. They’re very comfy and go well with my overall look, which is mostly cotton shirts with cotton cargo pants.

Friday: We went to Shahi Durbar and had wonderful mango & guava ice cream. Had dinner at The Indian Coffee House. I’m always fascinated to learn about the history and co-operative model of ICH. This time I learned more about its history from a friend and also read something on the internet.

The Indian Coffee House chain has a significant historical connection to leftist movements, particularly the Indian Communist Party. During the 1950s, the Coffee Board’s decision to shut down the chain sparked a workers’ revolt led by communist leader A.K. Gopalan, which ultimately led to the coffee houses being handed over to worker cooperatives. This event solidified the coffee house’s identity as a space for left-leaning political activity and discussion.

Now I realize why ICH isn’t present in Gujarat!

Saturday: We went to The10 with all friends from the ‘Child Development Course’. We had a continental dinner - pasta, burrito bowl, broccoli risotto, nachos… I don’t often consume this type of food. It was very new to me. I especially enjoyed the burrito, nachos, and falafal.

I shared my life updates with friends in detail. I was surprised that a few of them were regular weekly note readers. Meeting with friends, cracking jokes, sharing life updates was the best part of the trip. I am really, really grateful for all the friendships I’ve made in this life.

Sunday: Nidhi and I went to ‘Swadeshi Handicraft Mela’ with another group of friends. We heard from another friend that it’s very affordable and interesting. I had the impression that handicraft melas are expensive, but we found very affordable and cool cotton shirts (ikat prints, block prints), Chikankari kurtas, cargo pants, and more. We also met some artisans from Kutch and bought handmade cushion covers from them. We also bought a wooden key stand. It’s cute but was an impulsive and costly purchase. We spent more than 5K but got an amazing stock of clothes, especially for me because I don’t easily find cotton cargos and shirts at this price. Nidhi also got some interesting items for herself.

Monday: We gave an ice cream treat to all the course participants. In the evening, we screened ‘Laapataa Ladies’ in the workshop hall. Most of the audience was female. It was a nice experience to watch it together.

Tuesday: It was the last day of the workshop, and we tried to meet everyone in the office. Had short meetings with Tultul and Rajesh. We planned a course review meeting for next month and discussed some writing/publishing projects:

• Article about project-based learning experiments done with children by Nidhi and me
• Some articles written by Mahendra sir on aesthetic sense development and other topics like affective domain in education
• Translation of the book ‘There is Nothing There’ (Nature Classroom) in Gujarati
• Getting books from CEE for Pitara
• Collaborating with Yuvan Aves to publish his books/articles/poems in Hindi

we bought books from Eklavya Pitara store for our office & some selected nature related story books for Nidhi’s sessions at learning center.

We took a train to Ahmedabad on Tuesday night. On the opposite berth, there was a 4-5 year old child with her parents. I asked her if she wanted to listen to a story from big book. We ended up exploring ‘Saljam’ together as we traveled."

Wednesday: We are back in Ahmedabad. I will join the office tomorrow. This week will be busy. We have a summer camp at Ravi bhai’s office on Saturday-Sunday. I am going to take a one-day session with a school associated with our office.

We made progress on our financial planning front. We bought health insurance for both of us. It was tough to think about, compare the plans, and figure out if it was the right decision or not. Our friend, a financial advisor, helped us a lot by listening, clarifying our doubts, and reassuring us.

I got to know that Delhi University’s B.El.Ed course is shutting down. Two of our faculty members are associated with the same course. It’s sad to hear about this. It’s the most comprehensive course I’ve seen for teacher education, with a nice balance of practice and theory.

This time during the child development workshop, I was observing other faculty members - how they take sessions, how they go slow, explaining concepts with examples and analogies. I do the same, but sometimes I hurry, don’t go deeper, give monologues, don’t use the blackboard effectively, and just talk.

They facilitate deeper understanding of concepts, whereas I sometimes jump straight to classroom application.

But I’m happy that I’ve come a long way with my facilitation style. I will keep all this in mind for the next workshop.

Today I had my first mango of this summer - ‘Banganapalle’. For dinner we went to atithi restaurant for aam ras & roti :)

Mummy is doing okay. She took Papa for an eye checkup. We found out that Papa needs to undergo cataract surgery. They found a hospital where they perform the surgery for free. I need to take leave from the office and accompany them for this.

I am realizing that I am an attention seeker, egotistical person. I want to be in the good books of everyone, I always want to prove my point and be on top… in my universe I am at the center. What should I do to be grounded? Listening is one thing I want to focus on from now onward.

Photos