I am passionate educator.

I never been to formal school after completing 10th grade. Later, I completed my 12th grade and pursued a BA in Sociology as an external student. I am working with children since the age of 18.

Instead of going to school, I spent time exploring website & software development, sales & marketing, theater, writing, design, technology, entrepreneurship and many more interests.

I started working with children through sharing how to use computer inspired by Hole in the wall project - Sugata Mitra, exploring ‘MIT Scratch’ , making Arvind Gupta toys, telling stories, playing games and more.

Slowly after lots of experimentation I realized that :

• I like being with children & young adults, I can be my self.

• and I can do creative experiments & explorations with them, which I can’t do in school or university.

I started volunteering in different schools, meeting inspiring, passionate educators and children, visited different learning spaces across India, read books & attended workshops.

And that’s how my journey started as an educator, which is evolving every day.

During this decade long journey, I worked in a formal & informal learning spaces across India. Did friendship with many children & educators.

I create transformative learning journeys for children, young adults and educators using experiential methodologies, including theater, nature-based explorations, and interdisciplinary projects.

My programs, workshops and intervention are just an anchor. My strong intention is to create a space of healing, acceptance, and co-creation.

A space which act as an incubation center for everyone.Where we learn, experiment, challenge ourselves, and thereby break barriers and grow in our lives.

My current core interest areas are

• Understanding the role of love & Relationship in education
• Project based learning, Self directed learning & non formal learning spaces
• Child development & learning
• Language pedagogy, children literature & theater in education
• Life skills education and ecological consciousness / nature education
• Citizen Science Projects, Environment, Civics, Cultural projects for larger good

My work is deeply inspired by the philosophies of J. Krishnamurti, Martin Buber , and the science of brain, learning, and child development.

Currently,

I am working with formal and informal learning environments in different capacities. Where I work directly with children, young adults, educators, researchers and learning experience designers.You can read about my current engagements at ’now’ page

I am part of the faculty team for the ‘Child Development, Learning & Special Needs’ course at Eklavya Foundation, Bhopal. And a proud recipient of the Earth Educator Fellowship (2022-23), supported by the Youth Conservation Action Network.

As an amateur writer, I enjoy crafting poetry and aspire to write stories, poems, and plays. So far, I have self-published two books in Gujarati.

When I’m not with children or educators, I immerse myself in writing poetry or documenting my ’learning experiments’.

Music, long walks, bird watching, singing, and sketching are my favorite time accelerators.

→ My personal educational philosophy

→ Highlights from my journey

→ Documentation of work

→ CV / Portfolio / Reflective Notes / Recommendations

Nature Detective (Workshops for Children age 3 to 11yrs)

It’s outdoor science, arts, nature based exploratory program for young children

[Art , Theater , Nature, Inquiry based program]

Local khoji (Workshops for Young Adults age 12+yrs)

It’s an trans-disciplinary program where young adults make films about the place they belongs to with the the environment and civic lens.

[Geo inquiry project | Citizen Science | Experiential learning | Place Based learning]

For NGOs, Schools, learning centers, homeschooling groups

• I do tailor made workshops, residential camps, capacity building sessions
• I help to develop curriculum & activity modules

Topics

• Understanding the role of love & Relationship in education / Dialogue in education
• Project based learning, Self directed learning
• Non formal learning spaces, development of ’third’ space
• Child development & learning
• Language pedagogy, children literature & theater in education
• Life skills education and ecological consciousness / nature education
• Citizen Science Projects, Environment, Civics, Cultural projects for larger good

Work with young people / youth :

I love working with teenagers / young adults to co create their ‘self designed learning journey’ / Gap Year

learning objecteves

Affective domain | Language | Creativity | Socio Emotional learning | System Thinking - Complexity | Integrated learning | Environmental Consciousness

Know your facilitator :

Mihir Pathak

Experiential Educator

{Nature - Theatre - Project based learning}

Hi, I am Mihir - passionate Educator based in Ahmedabad - Gujarat. I am working with formal and informal learning spaces for the last 12years.

I Facilitate, Experiential learning journeys For Children & Young Adults

I believe that Transformative learning emerges through authentic relationships between children and adults, shaped by shared, powerful experiences.

Tools I use

Theater, Storytelling, Nature Exploration, Music, Movement, Art, Tinkering, inquiry projects, citizen science, film making, Creative Writing, Travelling

My Background

• Studied Child Development, learning & Special Needs (At Delhi University & Eklavya Foundation - Bhopal)

• Studied Applied Theatre & Theatre in Education (At Theatre Professionals , Rangbhumi - Mumbai)

• Studied Storytelling, Children literature writing, Waldorf Education (With Dr Ankit Dwivedi, Sheetal Paul, Aban Bana)

• Earth Educator Fellow 22’, Studied Green Educator Course & Facilitating Geo - Inquiry Projects (At Youth Conversation Action Network, Green School Bali, National Geographic Society)

• Studid ‘Facilitating Creative learning’, ‘Development of Educational Technology’, ‘Fundamentals of Tinkering’ & ‘Creative Coding / Computing’ (With Eric Klopfer, Mitchel Resnick, Mike Petrich & Karen Wilkinson - MIT Media Lab & Explpratorium)

• Fellowship & Grants : Earth Educator Fellowship 23’ , Gaur & Chopra Escape Velocity Grant 2024 - 25, Hacking The Education System Fellowship 2017, Nagarathna Memorial Grant 2025

My Experience

• 12 years of practice as an Educator (Read my journey )
• Facilitated ‘Child Development & learning’ course at Eklavya Foundation
• Facilitated ‘Experiential learning’ course with Tata Trust
• 50+ workshops with Educators
• 50+ workshops with children (work log)
• My articles are published in educational magazines like Teacher Plus, Farbas Gujarati, Sandarbh, Pathshala Bheetar - Bahar. (Read my writings & blog.)
• Collaborated with Gov educational bodies like GCERT, NCERT
• Collaborated with artists, researchers, educators from MIT Media lab, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Nature Conservation Foundation, Srishti Manipal Institute of Design, Maharaja Sayajirao University.

Notable Work ( media coverage )

• Food Camp (3 day residential camp with children to explore science, sociology, art - culture of central theme Food. Transdisciplinary Approach)
• Voice of Vishwamitri (Group of teen age children studied vishwamitri river in Vadodra, Gujarat and presented their work in Climate Festival, BLR as Geo inquiry Project) (Collaborator - Nidhi Pal)
• Hoshangabad Sarita Mahotsav (3 day festival to explore science, sociology, art & culture of Narmada river | Place based learning)
• Time Exhibation (Art installation - Exhibition ‘A Matter of Time - an exploration to see time beyond clock and money’ 11th Feb 2024 | Project based learning) (Collaborator - Nidhi Pal)

Get in touch

+91 9537068736 | learningwalamihir@gmail.com | learningwala.in

English

• Meet an Educator: Mihir Pathak - Early Bird (Nature Conservation Foundation)

• A Step Away From Traditional Indian Education ft. The Learning Wala STUDIO - The Goodness Journal

• Earth Educators set to take lessons on Nature to children across India

• A conversation on tinkering with our learning facilitator Mihir Pathak

• Interview on Traveler’s University Website

• My experiments with learning in a remote tribal village of Gujarat

• 19 year old village lad drops out of college, starts an alternative education centre

Hindi

• Hoshangabad Shiksha Sarita | River Festival 2022 (Video)

• Interview in Pathshala Magazine 

Gujarati

• Interview in Kodiyu Magazine (Gujarati)

• Interview in Farbas Gujarati Magazine (gujarati)

• Teacher’s Day Article | Mid Day

Webinars

• Wholesome Conversations with HOLISTICEDU ft. Mihir Pathak @Learningwala Studio 

• My Learning Journey With Children

• सीखना जीवन का मूल भाव है

• Webinar with Aditi (Aarohi life Education) hosted by Praveen

• Creative Educator Series Session #4 featuring Nidhi Pal (Nidhi’s first interview. Published on 19th Jan 2025)

My learning experiences with children (Classroom experiences, Toolkit for facilitation)

Jashn e Taleem (यह ब्लॉग मध्यप्रदेश के होशंगाबाद ज़िल्ले में चल रहे प्रोजेक्ट ‘Holistic Initiative Towards Educational Change’ से जुड़े साथीयो के अनुभव और चिंतन को साझा करने की कोशिश है ।)

Khoj (Resources, Ideas and Inspiration for Gap (Bridge) Year/Alternative Explorations in India!)

Articles in different magazines

Article on Tinkering - Teacher Plus Magazine

Article on Project Based Learning - Sandarbh Magazine - Hindi

Article on Project Based Learning - Sandarbh Magazine - Gujarati

Gamle Mein Jungle by Vinod Kumar Shukla | Book Review

Published poem for children - Man Moji Kabutar

Article on ‘How to develop imagination skill’ - Balmurti Online

Article on ‘Science of learning’ - Mid Day Gujarati

Article about our work at eco clubs / Eklavya Foundation (अज़ीम प्रेमजी प्रकाशन द्वारा निबंधों के संग्रह में पहली बार प्रकाशित।) - प्रकृति-कला के ज़रिए कलाबोध का विकास , Same article at Vikalpsangam website

Self Published Books

Silent Zone | Hindi Story

Bilori Kaanch | Gujarati Book - Poems & Essays by Mihir

Kiki & Krisha | Gujarati Story Book 

Collection of earth centric stories - Curation

I like writing poems in gujarati & hindi –> (Instagram Highlight link)

I live in Ahmadabad, India with my partner Nidhi. I regularly write weekly notes and occasionally write blog posts. You can read my raw notes and ideas here at my digital garden.

Work

(Full time engagement)

Learning Facilitator / Balgokulam Foundation, Ahmadabad

I work with curriculum designers, researchers, learning facilitators and children to design and test the experiential learning curriculum for children age 3 to 8yrs.

(Side Projects)

Learning Facilitator / Khojbeen Mandali (<– check out the offering page)

We (Mihir & Nidhi) are facilitating experiential learning journeys for children and young adults through Nature exploration - Theater - Inquiry projects.

Current Work :

• Writing literature (stories, poems, songs, theater) for children age 3 to 10yrs.
• learning calls with Sajhe Sapne (every Saturday) and The circuit project (once in a month)
• Documenting past projects, creating zine / articles

Archive

• Now 2024
• Now March 2025
• Now Oct 2025
• Now Jan 2026

Inspiration: nownownow.com | last updated on 19th Jan 2026

This week was spent attending a close friend’s wedding and working on the children’s literature project in Bhopal.

We are finally planning to register a non-profit organisation — just to secure funding for the children’s literature project and other initiatives. I am surprised and in awe of the universe’s plan.

For many years I was trying to work individually and resisting the idea of registering an NGO, but when the time is right and the intention is right, everything else falls into place.

I would like to believe that things are ‘happening’ — I am not putting much thought into it. The universe has grand plans, and I am simply taking steps as they come, doing whatever feels right.

I am feeling very happy about my dear friends A & R’s wedding. They did a court marriage and hosted a reception for close friends.

It has always been difficult for me to socialise when I am in Bhopal — too many memories, too many different equations with people. But I still love going back to meet close friends.

Nothing much beyond that for this week. Just putting down the day-by-day entries:

• 23, 24 — Office
• 25 — Took a day off from office
• 26 — Bhopal (wedding)
• 27 — Bhopal (wedding)
• 28 — Bhopal (children’s lit work, meetings)
• 1 — Bhopal (children’s lit work, meetings)

Personal Branding 101 by Saurabh Garag

Build in public. Put out regular updates on social media about what you are working on. Updates should have photos, videos, and short captions about your activity. It’s about the process — so keep it raw and spontaneous. Not planned photoshoot posts. Real, in-the-moment process.

Your social media — Instagram and LinkedIn mostly — is your first portfolio. Keep it focused and oriented towrds your ethos. Instead of only marketing your programs, offerings, or work, share real insights that are genuinely helpful to others. For example, if you run nature-based learning workshops, don’t just post green photos of children. Show something real. Talk about an interesting fact about a species. Talk about what research is telling us about why nature exploration matters for children. And then tell parents and educators how they can do a simple activity with children at home, in their backyard, or at a public park. You are empowering them. You are not just marketing — you are sharing real solutions. That’s how engagement grows.

Your network matters. Fellows and alumni from TFI, India Fellow, Gandhi Fellow, APU, or TISS get access to strong networks quite easily. But if you are none of those, you need to build your own — and you can. Email people. DM someone if you genuinely like their work. Congratulate them. Reach out the moment you see even the tiniest possibility to collaborate. Don’t fix the agenda — keep it open. Share other people’s work on your social media. This puts their work in visibility and signals that you care about the cause, not just about who is doing it. Whether you do nature education or someone else does it in your city — it doesn’t matter. What matters is that children get good nature education.

Volunteer as much as you can to build your portfolio. Whatever work you love and want to do in the future — go volunteer with the people already doing it. You admire Organisation A’s program design and want to learn from how they work? Offer your skills. Offer your time. Offer whatever you have at your disposal. That is how you refine what you know, make a small but real contribution, build your network, and grow your portfolio — all at once.

The week was kind of hectic. Most weekdays were spent at the office. I took two days of leave and went to Vadodara to take care of some family-related work.

On Saturday, I did a session with Sajhe Sapne students — (Sapnewaali) sharing my life journey and career path. They asked very interesting questions about my life choices and how I did what I did. From the session, some possibilities came up:

• One Sapnewaali wants to learn website development
• One Sapnewaali wants to learn portfolio building
• One Sapnewaali wants to do a ‘Child Development’ course from Eklavya Foundation

I also had a call with Rashad (The Circuit Project). We discussed program design, fundraising strategy, and more. We are slowly making progress.

I also had a call with S (a writer helping me write articles about our — Mihir & Nidhi’s — past projects). We are slowly moving forward.

I didn’t mention in earlier weekly note — I bought a sketchbook/journal/notebook from a pop-up stall at Anant University on 22nd September 2025. It cost ₹350 and it is really, really nice. The pages are thick and perfect for my ink pen to glide across. It also works well with watercolour. I use this notebook as my idea book.

I also have one more big notebook I bought from Sky Blue Stationery (23rd Jan 2026), using the ₹1,000 voucher our office gave as a Diwali gift. (I still have 500rs reamining) This big notebook is very helpful when I want to write something uninterruptedly. The large pages give me clarity of thought and creative freedom — I do less scribbling and more writing in this one.

My pocket notebook is over. There’s a new one sitting in my carton, but unpacking and finding it feels like too much work right now. So currently I’m just using the idea book and the big book.

I am still processing the emotions around the children’s literature project. I was planning to publish stories and other things I wrote during my facilitation work with children — but a magazine is something new, and it is a commitment. It felt sudden. Too many collaborations are happening all at once, and alongside that, a lot is going on at home. So it is overwhelming.

I am still contemplating this decision. But I am okay now.

I realised that I wanted to be a writer / editor / creator since childhood. This is full circle. It is a natural extension of my work. But it requires doing a lot of other tasks beyond just writing and thinking creatively — funds, collaborations, communication with different stakeholders, distribution, editing, registering and maintaining an org, and what not. But I think I am ready for this challenge. I just need a little cushioning from the team. B is there. She is reliable. Designer friend N is also very excited about the project. I think we will be able to do it. I just need to trust myself and trust the team.

How is this a natural extension of my work?

A few instances from my childhood:

• I used to go to the public library in Padra, my hometown. In Grade 7 or 8 — I don’t remember exactly — there was a career guidance programme, and the librarian himself came to my house to invite me. (Yes, some people do their jobs very passionately.) I went. The chief guest gave a lecture and at the end asked, “What do you all want to become when you grow up?”

I said — “Journalist.”

• I don’t remember exactly how that came up, but I always wanted to write. I used to write poems in school. I visited the school library regularly. I also loved music and was part of the prayer choir. Languages were my favourite subjects.

• I was a regular newspaper reader. I had the contact number of a local journalist from Divya Bhaskar. I also used to visit a local independent newspaper called Vavazodu News and asked their founder about how to become a journalist or column writer. I used to make blank calls to local journalists — total fanboy behaviour.

• I used to read a magazine called Safari — a science magazine introduced by our science teacher. Inspired by it, I started my own handwritten magazine called Samvad. I think I took the name from an ETV show by Jay Vasavda. I don’t remember exactly what I used to write in it — but I do remember putting talcum powder on the pages to make them smooth and glossy, because other magazines felt like that.

• When floods came to Padra, I used to roam around on my cycle, daydreaming and acting like a journalist.

• Sometimes I wanted to write columns. Sometimes poems. Sometimes advertisements.

• In 11th–12th grade, I made a blog called Prayog Ghar — a WordPress blog that became a popular science communication blog, where I wrote simple articles in Gujarati about science in everyday things. “How does this work?” kind of stuff. Blogging has been a continuous thread since 2013.

• In 2016, I started an e-magazine called Kelavni.

• In 2020, I self-published a children’s book — Kiki and Krisha. Took pre-orders and sold 200 copies, without any investment, without any prior experience. I collaborated with people and made it happen. I am so grateful to Sharvari for the illustrations, and to Bansi, Mitali, Jubin, and Geeta for making it such a beautiful creation. It was basic, not mature — but I did it as an experiment.

• In 2023, I self-published again — Bilori Kaach , a collection of my essays and poems.

• Later I did courses in children’s literature writing (Teacher Author), theatre in education, storytelling, nature education, and child development and learning.

• In my facilitation work with young children, I use stories, songs, puppets, and theatre heavily. I create original stories and songs.

All of these became small, small instances that led me here — to starting a children’s magazine.

I am drawn to the work of Gillo Theatre Company and Tiny Tales. I love Yuvan’s work because he writes — books, blogs, Instagram posts. I love the personalities of designers and illustrators (Allen Shaw is a favourite). I actually started working with children because I wanted to do creative things. I don’t want to put myself in a box. As an experiential learning educator, I can do theatre, write stories, go for nature walks, do science experiments, make toys — everything. Love for everything. Love for wonder, aesthetics, language, creativity, the affective domain, and life itself.

When I work with young adults, I also bring in creative writing, theatre, filmmaking, and research and making projects as my pedagogy.

Daydream:

I am daydreaming my life as an educator–writer–creator. Writing new stories, writing, singing and composing new songs with children, doing nature detective sessions, going to different literature festivals with our little magazine, doing storytelling sessions, writing and directing and acting in theatre for young audiences.

There will be other tasks to run the show — some full-time work, some management and admin. But it will be fun.

I am sure about one thing — I am going to learn how to work in a team. Sometimes that means letting go of your own opinions and ideas to make the final product better, letting the show go on, and giving space to other team members. I know I will learn a lot from this. It feels like a good challenge for me.

I’m sure my teammates also have backstories that brought them to this project. They come with backgrounds in education and design — one is a dentist turned educator turned children’s literature person, and the other is an architect turned illustrator.

I want to stay grounded. I don’t want to get carried away with the ego of “we are starting something.” I want to be a small contributor to this thing. I’m okay if it gets shut down after a few issues.

This project is a natural extension of what Nidhi and I want to do at Khojbeen Mandali. We started Khojbeen Mandali as our own little space in experiential learning facilitation — working with young children through nature, theatre, and project-based learning, and similarly with young adults.

We have developed two programs so far: Nature Detective and Local Khoji. Through Khojbeen, we mostly want to:

• Direct facilitation with children and young adults through workshops or tailored long-term programs
• Document our work and share best practices as curriculum design and program design services and consultancy
• Publication of children’s literature
• Theatre performances for young audiences

This magazine, focused on 3 to 10 year olds, is an extension of what we want to do at Khojbeen. It’s part of an ecosystem of things for young children. For example, some children come to our nature journaling workshop and then take a Hoopahoop - Magazine subscription. Those same children come to see our theatre performances. Everything is connected.

Sometimes I strongly feel that I want to work only with young children — the 3 to 10 age group. I have a lot to offer here, and my inner child truly comes alive in this space. I also have something to offer young adults, drawn from my own recent journey and transition in adulthood — but it mostly relates to self-directed learning, portfolio building, career navigation, and creative real-life projects.

Both age groups excite me, but I struggle to shift my mindset when I move between them. Going forward, I’m thinking of doing direct work with and for young children, while for young adults I’ll help organisations design programs and curriculum. I’ll take it step by step and see what feels right. For now, this is where I stand: I work directly with young children, write for them, and offer consultation to organisations and initiatives working with young adults.

Recently published blog posts :

• My Matrix for Choosing Work and Side Projects
• How to Build Your Portfolio

Insta posts :

View this post on Instagram

Overall, things are okay. Nidhi and I are both struggling to balance work and home responsibilities together. Slowly we are learning — supporting each other without letting frustration creep in.

This week, we were again caught by the traffic police for accidentally driving on the wrong side. We really need to sort out our driving licences as soon as possible. The incident left us feeling quite low on Sunday night. But this time, we are determined to actually follow through on it.

But why do I do what I do?

• I love being with children and young adults
• I love creative mediums — writing, filmmaking, theater, nature exploration
• I want to see how education can be a tool for living conflict-free
• And most deeply — it is a sadhana. My first and foremost priority is to be light and free from within. As a human, I have skills and I need to work, but this sadhana continues.

My Ethos

With young children: nature exploration, theater, project-based learning.

With young adults: self-directed learning, third spaces, citizen science, projects, socio-emotional learning, and life skills.

The Four-Factor Matrix

When I choose full-time work, I look at four things:

1. Ethos — Does the work align with how I believe learning should happen?

2. Money — One stable source of income. Enough to save, enough to survive in a city with some dignity.

3. Practice Ground — One place where I can do direct work with children on a daily basis. A place to try ideas, document them, run pedagogical experiments, explore new children’s literature, theater, research. If not direct contact with children, then close and direct engagement with a group of educators or a team — something where I can impact, experiment, and make meaning out of it.

4. Bonus factors — the team, the culture, the organization’s history. How close is the workplace to my hometown? How expensive is the city? Will I find friends and a community of like-minded people there? Is there long-term growth?

Where I’m Willing to Compromise

Finding work that ticks all four boxes is genuinely difficult. I have made peace with that.

I am now okay working on large-scale projects that aren’t perfectly aligned with my educational philosophy — private schools, large CSR projects — if some elements from my ethos are present, if there is good money, and if I get some form of direct engagement with children or educators. I will do whatever I can within my capacity in that space.

In short: I can compromise on ethos (1) and bonus factors (4) if money (2) and practice ground (3) are solid.

Context also shapes the decision. Right now, for example, I’m thinking about finding work near Bhopal because my partner Nidhi’s hometown is close by, and she needs to travel there frequently due to a medical emergency at home. Geography becomes a factor.

Similarly, if I’m at a point where I urgently need to save money — for a family need, a health emergency, or simply to build a financial cushion — money becomes the primary driver, and I might compromise more on ethos or practice ground.

The decision always comes from a combination of these four factors, weighted by where life is right now.

After Stability Comes the Butterfly Effect

Once I have meaningful work aligned with my ethos, financial stability, and a daily practice ground — I invest remaining time and energy into what I call the butterfly effect: small, intentional acts in a chaotic world. Unpredictable in outcome, long in impact. An investment in the ecosystem.

This is where side projects come in.

How I Choose Side Projects

In my earlier years, I only chose work that gave me direct, daily contact with children. Money and other factors didn’t matter much. That was the right call then — I needed to build experience, intuition, and grounding.

Now, with over a decade of that behind me, I choose side projects differently. I look for broader network impact — work that builds the ecosystem, not just my own practice.

Some examples of what this looks like:

For young children, I want to engage in original theater for young audiences, nature exploration, and creating original, contextual, critical, and creative children’s literature.

My focus right now is on writing new stories and poems that can become books, theater productions, or find a home in a bi-annual children’s literature magazine in Gujarati. This sits at the heart of my ethos — theater, nature, and project-based learning woven together. A magazine is not just a publication; it becomes a recurring reason to show up — in libraries, learning centers, and schools — doing storytelling sessions, theater performances, and nature explorations with children. It turns a single creative act into an ongoing relationship with communities of young readers. In coming months I am focusing to work based on this mental model.

I am also documenting my past projects around experiential learning, nature education, and related work. We will publish these as zines and articles — both online and in print — so that other educators can use these playbooks in their own contexts.

Career curiosity also guides my side project choices. For instance, I am doing learning calls with different organizations to learn and contribute to curriculum design and learning experience design through volunteering.

All of it is guided by Skill building and Career/personal curiosity and volunteering (contributing to a larger ecosystem — small acts, long bets, butterfly effect.)

• This week was hectic. Not getting time to write deailed notes.
• Week days spent in office work
• week days evenings and weekend went in children litreture project meetings, learning calls with different orgs.

Mon to Fri - Mostly office work. I did some tasks related to the children’s lit project whenever I got a chance.

Wed - I had a meeting with B about the children’s lit project. Slowly it is taking shape. We found someone for designing and layout who can be part of the core team.

Fri - We got the grant money in the account. Now we can collaborate with different people with more confidence.

Sat & Sun - Spent time working on the child lit project. On Sunday the child lit team had a meeting.

Nidhi and I finished one year together in marriage. 8th Feb Sunday, today is our anniversary. We went to Gidima South Indian restaurant for dinner. Nothing fancy, no gifts, nothing. Simple dinner and spending time together. We had very bad memories attached to our marriage day so we need to slowly work on telling a new story about the day.

On 26th Feb one of our close friends’ marriages is coming up. The three of us will try to go to Bhopal for the same.

Slowly things are coming into place.

26th Jan - chutti, B was at home. We mostly talked about children’s literature, the idea of starting a children’s lit magazine.

one friend already tried this project before but she couldn’t take it further.

This idea is a long overdue project which me and B have discussed many times. Last time when H came, me, H and R also discussed the same idea and fixed the date that we need to publish it in May 2026. But after that both of them got busy and I, as a super enthusiastic person, couldn’t resist involving B in it and starting to work on it.

I started taking steps without waiting for R to respond, and also began bombarding his WhatsApp with lots of ideas—I wanted him in this journey at that moment. Because of this move, maybe my speed and rapid prototyping attitude, R didn’t appreciate the approach, so he messaged that he doesn’t want to be involved. He’ll be back in Ahmedabad on the 7th. H is also busy. So now I’m thinking, let me go ahead with whoever is ready to work with me right now. I cannot wait until everyone’s priority aligns with mine. I really respect them and will involve them, collaborate with them whenever they’re ready. Until that time, I’ll work on whatever I can. This complication made me really sad, almost like a breakup. But it is okay, it happens. I am learning how to collaborate with clear communication.

So me and B started—started curating stuff, started writing new stuff, translation, finding illustrators and more.

This is a dream project for both of us. I got a small grant from Sudha Mahesh Educational Grant for starting library activities + starting a children’s lit magazine.

This grant will help us pay some honorarium to illustrators and printing costs for 1k copies. It is a good start I think. We are planning to do two issues per year—one in summer vacation and one in Diwali vacation.

27th to 30th Jan - mostly office work

31st and 1st -

Saturday I was at home only, it was a working day for Nidhi. I did some curation work for the magazine.

Sunday morning Nachiket (Nidhi’s APU batchmate, currently working in APF) visited us. He is currently working in Badmer and he was traveling to Bhopal, so he stopped by our place.

In the afternoon B came and we worked on the magazine, had lunch together. In the evening four of us went to Manek Chowk to have dinner.

It was a fun - sad - hopeful week.

Manek Chowk’s food was not that great. We ate pav bhaji, sandwich, jamun shot, chaat. Jamun shot and sandwich were nice… didn’t like the pav bhaji because of too much masala.

Major update of the week is - how can we work with people on passion projects? With transparency, collaboration, non-violence, democracy…?

I also reflected on my actions that honestly why I am doing this project? is it fame ? is it validation? is it contribution to children literature ? is it need as an educator? I think partly everything. This is also escape for me from deep sadness - stress because of home conflicts. Yes I want validation after 13 years of work, Yes I need little bit of fame.

• I really like collaborating with artists, writers, illustrators.
• I like writing and experimenting with mediums
• I feel the need of good children lit in Gujarati, no body is creating it so we will create and use it in classroom.
• I see this project as an opportunity to engage with children from different schools, learning centers, book fairs and more. Feel loved by friends, be part of the community. That helps, helps to not get burned out in this highly difficult sector.

I show them a picture of a man cutting a tree.

I ask a simple question:
“How do you feel when you look at this picture?”

Hands go up.

One child says,

“I don’t like it. We should not cut trees. Trees give us oxygen.”

Another adds,

“It is nice. We can make a table from the wood.”

A third says thoughtfully,

“If we cut a big tree, we can get fruits easily from the top.”

Later, I show another picture—a man killing an ant by stepping on it.

Responses come quickly:

• “It is bad. There is God inside the ant. We will be punished.”
• “It is okay to kill the ant because I feel scared of ants.”

The Educator’s Dilemma

As educators, moments like these often leave us uncertain.

Do we correct them?
Do we explain what is right and wrong?
Do we guide them toward “environmental values”?

Or… is something else needed here?

Is it possible to work with the affective domain at this age?

Yes—but only if we understand how children think and feel between 3–6 years.

To do this well, two frameworks are especially helpful:

• Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
• Bloom’s affective domain

What Piaget Helps Us See

According to Jean Piaget, children aged 3–6 are in the preoperational stage.

At this stage, children:

• Think concretely, not abstractly
• Learn through images, stories, and symbols
• Often repeat adult language without deep understanding
• Experience the world primarily through their own feelings

So when children say:

• “Trees give oxygen”
• “God will punish us”

Piaget would not see this as ethical reasoning.

Instead, this is symbolic imitation—children borrowing words they have heard, not concepts they have reasoned through.

What Piaget Does Not Say

Piaget does not say children cannot feel empathy or care.

He only reminds us that:

• Logical moral reasoning is not yet possible
• Abstract explanations will not land meaningfully

This is crucial.

At this age:

• Ethics cannot be taught
• Affective experience is fully alive

So if we stop trying to teach values and instead focus on felt experience, we are working developmentally correctly.

Bloom and the Affective Domain

Bloom’s taxonomy is often used only for thinking skills, but Bloom also articulated a clear affective domain—which is central in early childhood.

Bloom’s Affective Levels (Simplified)

For young children, the first three levels matter most:

1. Receiving – noticing, paying attention
(“I see a tree being cut”)

2. Responding – emotional reaction
(“I don’t like it”, “I feel scared”)

3. Valuing (emerging) – showing preference or care
(“We should walk carefully”, “I like trees”)

Higher levels—organizing values or forming ethical systems—belong to later childhood and adolescence.

So when children express fear, care, usefulness, or punishment, they are operating exactly where Bloom says they should be.

A Key Shift for Educators

From Judgment to Noticing

Instead of asking:

• “Is this right or wrong?”
• “Should we do this or not?”

We ask:

• “What do you notice is happening?”
• “What do you think the tree or ant might be experiencing?”
• “What happens inside your body when you see this?”

This moves children away from borrowed morality and toward direct affective experience.

How to Work with Such Moments

A Simple Process

1. Hold All Responses Without Correction

Fear, care, usefulness, punishment—all are real experiences.

Instead of correcting, mirror:

• “You’re feeling scared.”
• “You’re thinking about using the tree.”
• “You’re worried about punishment.”

This creates affective safety.

2. Use Imagination to Deepen Empathy

Young children enter the affective domain through imagination.

With the tree:

• “If the tree could talk, what might it say?”
• “Who else lives on this tree?”

With the ant:

• “Where was the ant going?”
• “Does it live alone or with others?”

There are no right answers. Silence is welcome.

3. Let Contradictions Coexist

Some children feel fear.
Some feel care.
Some think about human needs.

Instead of resolving this, name it:

“Different feelings are present here.
More than one feeling can exist at the same time.”

This itself is deep affective learning.

4. Be Careful with Abstractions

Concepts like:

• oxygen
• God
• punishment

…often bypass lived experience.

Bring children back to the sensory and relational:

• “How does it feel to sit under a tree?”
• “How would it feel if someone stepped on you?”

Ethics grows from experience, not instruction.

5. Close with Small Care-Actions

Not moral conclusions.

• Walking carefully and watching the ground
• Touching a tree gently
• Observing ants without disturbing them

This completes the affective loop:

feeling → relationship → action

What This Work Is—and What It Is Not

This is NOT about:

• Teaching environmental morality
• Fixing children’s answers
• Forming values too early

This IS about:

• Protecting the child’s capacity to feel
• Allowing empathy to arise naturally
• Laying the ground for later ethical understanding

In Essence

Piaget reminds us of the limits of thinking in early childhood.
Bloom reminds us of the power of feeling.

Environmental consciousness in early childhood does not begin with rules or explanations.

It begins with attention, imagination, fear, care, and relationship.

Affective education is not about telling children what to value.

It is about keeping their ability to feel deeply alive.

This blog post is written with the help of ChatGPT. Prompt and final editing is done by Mihir Pathak.

Mon to Fri - mostly office work.

Monday we met Raj. Had a nice discussion children litreture, language and offcourse ‘developmental sector’.

Friday evening, office friends came to home. It was a long overdue visit.

Saturday - In the evening, I visited Vidyun Foundation’s learning center. Met Devki and Vishnu.

They are doing interesting work with young adults in the Rakhial area of Ahmedabad. They want to focus on English literacy with children. Right now, they are experimenting with project-based learning, focusing on how children can learn reading, writing, speaking, and listening through this. For example: making newsletters, making videos, preparing drama, and more.

I liked their facilitation style. I suggested doing more library activities like storytelling, watching films together… this will help children get new vocabulary and listening skills, which will ultimately help with speaking, writing, and reading everywhere.

They also want to start a micro school next year. I want to collaborate with them more. Let’s see how it turns out.

Sunday - We went to Navjeevan Trust campus with our children’s book collection. They are hosting a reading club/reading space for adults. We wanted to see if we could introduce a reading club for children. We offered our children’s book collection for the same.

It was our first visit. We found that children are not coming to the space. We need to promote it in a better way so the footfall of children increases. I bought Gujarati essay book called ‘Vaadh’ from farmer’s market at Navjeevan. The author of the book is acully farmer and he was selling the book along with honey he harvested form his farm.

In the afternoon, office friends came for lunch. We ate baingan bharta, gajar halwa, dal, roti… it was a nice afternoon brunch. I feel that this is what life is all about—spending time with family and friends who love you, care for you. Till now, work was driving all the chapters in my life, but now slowly I am investing in friendships, relationships. Yes, it takes effort to nurture these things. It is not always effortless and natural; you need to create space for it.

Meanwhile, I am writing lots of short stories for children. In my office also, we need stories to put as examples in our curriculum, and apart from that, I am writing new stuff so we can publish as a book or magazine through Eklavya or self-publication.

I am so happy and feeling grateful to the universe that I am getting the opportunity/time/resources to basically work on children’s literature.

Other things are good overall. I am learning to not take stress in small things.

Nidhi is also settling down in her workplace. She is leading an after-school program called ‘Young Naturalist’ at her workplace, where she will design and facilitate a nature education program with young children. I am so happy that she is getting the opportunity to work with children + nature education.

Chalo, see ya..

12th & 13th Jan - Office

14th Jan - It was Makar Sankranti / Uttarayan in Gujarat. I am not very interested in flying kites. Actually, I never learned it since my childhood. My father used to fly kites—I used to try out—he was super excited about all the festivals: Diwali, Uttarayan… I was a little slow, silent, not excited in celebrations itself. It was not a stimulating thing for me at all. This time also I did nothing. We woke up late, spent time with family. I had a catch-up call with Tanya from Nature Classroom. We had a nice discussion about the Nature Assessment Framework.

15th Jan - Bansi came home. We had lunch together, and in the evening we went to Kamla Cafe. Bansi loves this place, and we do too. Bansi gifted me new books from Eklavya Publication. I feel so happy to see Bansi happy and growing: she is leading the publication process for books in Indian languages (except Hindi and English). She is very passionate about her work. We had a discussion about new stories in Gujarati. I shared a story written by me in Gujarati about an ant and a spider. We also discussed publishing a nature activity book for primary-grade children. In the evening, I had a meeting with Stephnia. She is helping me document my past projects in the form of articles and zines.

16th Jan - Office. Most of the people were on leave because of the long weekend, but Nidhi and I both went to the office. I spent most of the time drafting my stories. I think Nidhi, Raj, and I should meet every week and share stories and feedback. That will be helpful.

17th Jan - It was a working Saturday for Nidhi and a holiday for me. I had a learning call with Sajhe Sapne and a catch-up call with Nishna Mehta. We talked about nature writing, conservation outreach, and theater for young audiences. Nishna also gave me an assignment to explore materials and see how it unfolds. There are three major tools for early years which are mostly non-verbal: dance, material, and physical theater. It was a good conversation. Basically, things are progressing in different aspects.

Children’s literature - Raj, Bansi, and Harshal are helping. My dear friend Chaya Upadhyay also called and asked me to write stories for young adults which she can publish in her magazine.

Theater - Nishna is helping.

Documentation - Stephnia is helping with writing. For illustration also, many friends are interested in helping.

I also reached out to CEE people to see if we can start a Nature Educator Meetup in Ahmedabad together.

Book club / Library - Navjivan Trust Campus from next Sunday.

Collaboration with orgs working with young adults:

• Nazaria Arts Collective
• Sajhe Sapne
• Project Circuit

I am fixing these three orgs for now. So yes, things are moving.

18th Jan - It is suuuuunnnn day. We bought nice idli and uttapam and had brunch. Finished some home tasks: getting the mixer repaired, getting oil changed for my scooty, and other tasks. Reading blogs from Indie Web Club is my favorite activity. After writing and publishing this weekly note, we are going to watch a movie called Laalo. We didn’t book tickets. I saw that BookMyShow is taking 138 rupees as convenience fees for three tickets. I thought, let’s try if we get tickets directly from the box office.

Tomorrow we are meeting Raj to discuss stories. I am excited for that. Overall, things are good. Sometimes I get tense because of the khit-khit of the house owner, otherwise things are okay. I am also thinking of buying a second-hand AC because in this house there is no AC, and in summer it will be difficult to stay here without that. We have a cooler. Let’s see, we will figure out something.

Website updates:

• On January 1st, I added a dropdown menu to this website. It’s working well on desktop but not on mobile browsers. When I try to click on the dropdown menu to open the weekly notes section, it opens the blog page instead. I need to long press to make it work on the mobile Chrome browser.

• On Saturday, I added a ‘search’ option to this website. Both features were long overdue. I wanted the search option so I can search for topics and events from my blog posts and weekly notes. Pagefind—the tool I used for the search facility—is super light and very impressive with search results. It uses minimal JS and is very easy to set up. The UI is also nice, and it’s open source. I’m really happy that I set it up step by step in just 15 minutes with the help of ChatGPT.

How I refill the ink in my pilot kakuno fountain pen

Whether it’s ants, spiders, honeybees, or other small insects, fear and discomfort are common reactions.

Butterflies are the exception. They are welcomed with wonder and awe — largely because we have labelled them as beautiful.

What’s interesting is that this wasn’t always the case.

When children are very young, they often show no fear or disgust toward insects or the living world around them. They touch, observe, follow ants, watch spiders, and ask endless questions. So what changes as they grow up?

Conditioning.

The stories we hear repeatedly shape our beliefs and emotions. “Bees are dangerous.” “Ants always bite.” “All spiders are poisonous.”

Over time, these stories settle into our bodies as fear and avoidance — long before any real experience.

This raises an important question for me as an educator: Can we re-story our relationship with insects and the more-than-human world?

In small ways, we are trying.

Recently, I worked with young children on a project where we wrote new stories about ants and spiders. We turned them into musical puppet shows — not to romanticize insects, but to re-introduce them as fellow living beings we can relate to.

We explored insects through:

• games like insect bingo
• magnifying glasses and microscopes
• slow observation walks
• stories, music, and puppetry

These experiences gave children the space to reconnect — not through information alone, but through emotion, curiosity, and relationship.

Stories are powerful. They shape how we see the world — and how we treat it.

As an educator, I see my role not just as teaching facts, but as using stories responsibly — for the larger good, to nurture care, sensitivity, and a sense of belonging with the living world around us.

Perhaps changing our ecological future begins with changing the stories we tell our children.

In early childhood education, language is often treated as a technical skill—letters first, sounds next, grammar rules soon after. But children do not enter the world thinking in alphabets or sentence structures. They enter the world experiencing meaning—through the body, emotions, relationships, and action.

This is where the idea of semantic grammar becomes important.

1. What is Semantic Grammar?

And how is it different from Chomsky’s Universal Grammar?

Semantic grammar refers to the universal structures of meaning that all humans share, regardless of the language they speak. These are not rules of sentence formation, but patterns of understanding such as:

• Who is doing something (agent)
• What is happening (action)
• What is affected (object)
• Cause and effect
• Time (before, after, now)
• Space (inside, outside, near, far)
• Emotion, intention, relationship

Every human language expresses these ideas, even though the words and grammar may differ. A child understands “someone pushed, something fell, it hurt” long before they can say it in a grammatically correct sentence.

This is very different from Noam Chomsky’s idea of Universal Grammar, which focuses on innate syntactic rules—how sentences are structured in the mind. Chomsky’s work is concerned with form; semantic grammar is concerned with meaning.

In simple terms:

• Chomsky asks: How are sentences formed?
• Semantic grammar asks: How does meaning arise?

For young children, meaning always comes first.

2. Why is it important to work on semantic grammar with children (ages 3–6)?

Between the ages of 3 to 6, children are building their inner map of the world. They are learning:

• How actions lead to consequences
• How people relate to each other
• How emotions feel in the body
• How time and space work
• How intentions differ from outcomes

This learning does not happen through explanation. It happens through lived experience.

When we support semantic grammar at this age, we are strengthening:

• Thinking
• Emotional intelligence
• Social understanding
• Curiosity and inquiry
• Confidence in expression

How to work with semantic grammar (3–6 years)

At this age, the focus should be on experience → reflection → expression, not on correctness.

Some simple ways:

• Action-based play: pushing, pulling, pouring, building, breaking (“What changed?” “What happened next?”)
• Story without text: picture sequences, puppets, role play (“Who did this?” “Why?”)
• Nature observation: ants carrying food, leaves falling, water flowing (“What is it doing?” “What happens if…?”)
• Emotion naming through experience: (“Your body looks tight—are you feeling angry?”)

Language emerges naturally when meaning is clear.

3. Why teaching phonics and grammar is not good pedagogy at this age

Phonics and formal grammar focus on symbol systems—letters, sounds, sentence rules. But for young children:

• Their thinking is concrete and embodied
• Their learning is implicit, not analytical
• Their attention is driven by curiosity, not abstraction

When we push phonics and grammar too early:

• Children may learn to decode without understanding
• Language becomes performance-oriented
• Fear of mistakes enters learning
• Expression becomes narrower, not richer

This does not mean phonics or grammar are wrong. It means they are developmentally mistimed.

Without a strong foundation of meaning:

• Reading becomes mechanical
• Writing becomes formulaic
• Language loses joy

Children need to live language before they study it.

4. Semantic grammar and implicit learning

And how to make it explicit (later, gently)

Semantic grammar is learned implicitly—through repeated experiences, patterns, and relationships. Children absorb meaning without being taught rules.

This is not a weakness; it is a strength.

Implicit learning:

• Is deep and long-lasting
• Does not create pressure
• Allows each child to move at their own pace

So how do we make it explicit?

Not by worksheets or explanations, but through:

• Reflection (“What did you notice?”)
• Storytelling (“Tell me what happened”)
• Drawing and mapping
• Revisiting experiences
• Gentle naming of patterns

For example:

• After many experiences of cause and effect, a child begins to say “because”
• After many shared stories, sentence structure stabilizes on its own
• Grammar becomes visible after meaning is stable

Explicit learning should emerge from lived experience, not replace it.

Young children do not need to be taught language as a system. They need to be supported in making sense of the world.

When meaning is strong, language follows naturally.

Semantic grammar reminds us that education is not about filling children with correct words, but about helping them discover and express what they already understand.

Grammar should enter education not as a set of rules to be mastered, but as a reflective tool that helps children notice, refine, and deepen the meanings they are already living.

Children’s literature, theatre, and libraries do not teach language; they cultivate the soil in which language, thought, and social understanding can grow.

This blog post is written with the help of ChatGPT. Prompt and final editing is done by Mihir Pathak.

Monday: Office work

Tuesday: Office work

Wednesday: Had a short meeting with Samagata Foundation Team about the children’s library project.

Thursday: Vaibhav bhai and Soma didi visited Ahmedabad. Soma didi is working on a project based on ‘semantic grammar’. We had a session at the Community Education Center with the help of Mahendra sir. Blog post on semantic grammar.

Friday: Office work. In the evening, I had a call with an artist called Ishani for my documentation project.

Saturday:

• Had a short catch-up call with Srishti.
• Had a call with Sajhe Sapne alumni—it was an orientation call to see if they want to contribute to the documentation project I’m doing for my past project.
• In the evening, I had a call with Nandini from Nazaria Art Collective. We discussed each other’s work and the possibility of me contributing to their summer film school curriculum, bringing ideas from self-directed learning, project-based learning, and related stuff.
• In the evening, I met my dear friend Harshal who publishes Kulfi children’s magazine in Marathi, and one more friend, Raj, who works with Parag - Tata Trust.

Sunday: Vaibhav bhai was here at home last night. It was his birthday on Sunday, so we went to Arvind Sadhna Kendra near our home. After that, me, Vaibhav bhai, and Mummy went to have lunch at Kamla Cafe. In the evening, we went to Navjivan Trust Campus to attend Navjivan Talks. This time it was about the memory of an interesting publisher called ‘Shivji Ashar’.

It is really happy to see that we are celebrating very interesting Publisher of Gujarati language.

Me and Raam also had a chat about starting a children’s reading club during their Sunday reading club happening regularly at the Navjivan campus. He was excited about the idea. Me and Nidhi will start it on a Sunday after Makar Sankranti.

Vaibhav bhai left for Mumbai from there.

• For the next few months, I am going to focus on the documentation project. My dear friend Rahul Hasija helped me with some funds. Now I am finalizing a team to execute the whole thing.
• We will start a children’s reading club at Navjivan Trust Campus (I have applied to Samagata Foundation and Sudha Mahesh Grants for this project—let’s see how it works out).
• What else? Will see how Nidhi will start her work after she comes back from Kanpur.
• Apart from that, things at home are silent right now. Don’t know what will happen next.
• Nidhi will come on Tuesday. I will take a break from work during 14th and 15th Jan and spend good time with her.

I am overall very excited about how my and Nidhi’s work is getting clarity and space in this big chaotic world.

We (Mihir & Nidhi) are facilitating experiential learning journeys for children and young adults:

Age 3 to 11 years [Nature Exploration, Theater, Senses Development, Stories, Music, Children lit, library]

• I regularly take sessions with this age group in my full-time job at Balgokulam. (ongoing) Some interesting field note - Re - Storying
• Nidhi will engage this age group if she joins CEE full-time. (Feb 2026)
• We are starting a reading club + children’s library soon. (late January 2026)
• Working with the Children’s University team to develop integrated learning modules. (ongoing)
• Apart from this, I want to write stories, poems, and drama for children and work actively on Gujarati children’s literature. (ongoing)

Age 12+ years [Projects, Self designed learning, Citizen Science, Theater, life skills, Future of work & life, local Khoji, Climate Action, Third Space]

I am actively seeking organizations where I can engage directly with this age group or contribute to program development/curriculum development.

Learning Calls:

• Nazaria Art Collective: Providing inputs for their summer filmmaking program around project-based learning and self-designed learning. (Feb 2026)
• Sajhe Sapne: Contributing inputs to their overall curriculum. (Feb 2026)

I need to meet few more local orgs to see the possibility of collaboration.

• City as a lab (Every year I review projects done by children participated in city as a lab programs) (this year’s review is done)
• Next three - four month I Will be focusing on making a playbooks/documentation/publishing. (ongoing)

I am worried about the future—what types of jobs will be there, how we will survive, how to earn enough money so we can support our old parents. Lots of questions and insecurities are there, but somewhat there’s trust in the universe. Let’s see.

We were also thinking of moving to Bhopal so Nidhi can visit her home more often to see her family. But it is difficult to get work in Bhopal. Also, Ahmedabad is a great place to work if I want to collaborate with Gujarati artists and other educators from here. Let’s see. Will figure out something. For the next one year, I think I want to be here so I can document my work and be ready for the transition.

My mental health is overall low, but I will work on it in the coming months.

It is okay if I do not want to start ‘classes’ or a learning center, or take paid workshops where I constantly market myself, where parents look at my practice as a product and themselves as customers.

It is okay if I do not belong to any specific subject or age group, because I am afraid that the conventional schooling system will choke my creativity and experimentality.

It is okay to be an independent educator, working with small groups of children, creating unconventional learning experiences and collaborate with others

It is difficult to work on your own terms and sustain as an independent educator in this complex ecosystem, but I am slowly learning to hold this complexity & finding new ways to engage with it.

I am happy to share that last year, Nidhi and I collaborated and engaged with around 12 organizations all over India—ranging from nature education, primary schools, organizations working with youth, child development, peace education, maker spaces/self-directed learning, and design education. We contributed whatever we could, apart from our full-time jobs. I really felt happy about our work.

45+ learning calls, 20+ sessions with children, 1 Residential Camp, 15+ teachers were engaged, 1 learning module got created + new friendships, laughter and love.

We also got supported by Vijaya Foundation and Nagarathna Memorial Grant

Think about it—we are now part of the impact story of every organization we engaged with.

What a great way to start the new year.

I am very very grateful to everyone who supported this journey.

If you are an org / learning space / individual working with children or young adults, do check out our offerings and reach out to us.

Got married (2nd Feb 2025)

Shifted to Ahmedabad — Joined an organization working in Early Childhood Education.

Started ‘Khojbeen Mandali’ to work with children & young adults through nature exploration, theater, inquiry projects and more. Got a lot of clarity on my position in the educational space. It is my 12th year in this space. (check out our offerings)

First garba experience — Played garba for the first time and visited Navshakti

Fountain pens & microscope — Bought a Pilot Kakuno fountain pen and a few interesting ink bottles. I really like geeking around fountain pens and inks. I also bought a digital microscope this year—very useful to see insects.

This year I explored topics close to my heart — Indian Knowledge System, Panchkosha, Development of Aesthetic Sense, Development of Affective Domain, and the work of Gurdjieff and Aurobindo.

Therapy — For the second time in my life, went to a therapist

Family conflict — Experienced it at its peak

Writing & documentation — Did lots of edits on my current website, wrote posts about education, Indian knowledge system, children’s literature, pedagogy and more. Wrote weekly notes—sometimes late, sometimes two weeky notes combined, but consistently throughout the whole year.

Discovered Hardik Dave — His music/singing resonates with me. Attended 2 of his baithaks and Navshakti Garba organized by him.

Reading beyond work — Finished Electric Train, Mane Fom Chhe, and some parts of 3 more books.

Health journey — I am at a much better place. We found a naturopathy center in Thaltej which is really good. The treatment worked for me.

Relationship — Nidhi and I learned a lot during this year in our relationship—moving house, setting up a new house, finding jobs, working on health, facing home conflicts and more.

Work

At Balgokulam Foundation, we are trying to make a PBL curriculum for children aged 1.5 to 8 years, rooted in IKS. Right now we are doing research-based pilot projects with existing schools.

What New Things I Tried

Designing a pilot project for 3 to 6-year-old children on environmental consciousness — From designing pre-tests, activities, writing stories, music, rhymes, procuring puppets, facilitation, to writing observations. Of course it was teamwork, but it was a new thing for me to design a pilot project for a specific research-based curriculum. We also performed one drama for children based on Gijubhai Badheka’s story.

Collaborations & Learning Calls

Apart from full-time work, I got associated with many projects in small ways. The idea is simple: if our core vision is aligned, we will collaborate in any form.

• Learning calls with Sanjhe Sapne
• Learning calls with Masters students from Srishti Manipal University
• Learning calls with Project DEFY team
• Learning calls with Earth Educators Fellows — Attended the second residency in Coonoor (June 2025)
• Collaboration with Nature Classrooms for piloting ‘Nature Education Assessment Framework’
• Invited Nishtha to take an employee engagement session at Tatvic; Nidhi also co-facilitated
• Nishtha and Seemran put up a stall at Inner Circle garba ground about ‘sexuality and Navratri’. Nidhi volunteered. I also went for a night—it was a different experience.

Nidhi’s Work & Our Collaborations

• Two sessions at Mihir’s workplace → (1) with children on leaf art (2) with educators on nature-based learning
• Nature education module for middle school children + teacher training in Mumbai | Thinktac Project
• Volunteering for documentation | Education for Dialogue, Maitri and Justice
• Nature Education Session at NT Patel School, Kanisha - Khambhat (Gujarat) | 16th & 17th July 2025
• Creative Writing Workshop with Sakha Fellows | Vadodara | 20th July 2025
• Summer Film Making Camp | 23rd to 25th May 2025
• Workshops at Tatvic | Natural Color Making + Fun with Science | 19th & 20th April 2025
• BVC 7, Workshop 2 | 11th to 15th April 2025
• Nature Education sessions at Anusandhan learning center — field notes here (work in progress)

Current Status & Way Forward

In 2025, because of family/home conflict, I couldn’t focus on many things. I left a few projects which I wanted to do. But it is okay. My priority was different. Now I am at a little more stable place.

I understood that working as an educator in this chaotic world of school systems, NGOs, funding, impact, per-child cost, marketing, classes, programs, curriculum—is difficult. It is a complex system. Now I am comfortable with complexity. I do not have the best solution to deal with it, but I am slowly trying to be okay with it.

I feel jealous/FOMO when I see people’s work on LinkedIn, but now I am in a better place.

It is okay…

It is okay if I do not want to start my own NGO because I am afraid that I will not be able to raise funds, because I am afraid that my program will not be at par with traditional measurement tools.

It is okay if I do not want to start ‘classes’ or a learning center or take paid workshops where I constantly market myself, where parents look at my practice as a product and themselves as customers.

It is okay if I do not belong to any subject or specific age group, because I am afraid that the conventional schooling system will ruin my creativity and experimentality.

Questions I’m sitting with

Then where do I belong? Where is my tribe? How can I feel that what I am doing is meaningful? How to earn money? How can I find a place where I can stay, work, and make connections with children for a longer time?

My Practice (12 Years)

In the past 12 years, I have developed my practice with children and young adults. I have identified my tools, I have identified themes and learning objectives I want to work with, I have tried different programs/models—for example, residential camps, investigative projects, third spaces for teenagers, and more.

For younger children, I tried the whole language approach, creative computing, integrated learning, PBL, theater, and more.

After lots of experimentations, Nidhi and I have developed two programs:

1. Nature Detective — for younger children (theater - storytelling - nature exploration - inquiry-based program)
2. Local Khoji — inquiry project-based program

Two Key Realizations

1. Finding one practice space

To be in this game now, I need to find the place where I can do unhindered practice, experimentation, and build authentic relationships with children + where I get monetary support to run the home in the city (or find a place in a village and shift there).

2. Butterfly Effect

I believe in the butterfly effect—do small things, contribute to small things continuously. Just like contributing to open-source projects. Without any expectations. Choose a few projects aligned to your ethos and take small steps every day.

I am divided into working with two age groups:

• Children aged 3 to 11 years
• Young adults aged 12+

One part of my brain is saying that I should pick one age group and deepen my practice in that. But the other part says, it is okay to have multiple working areas, you can still manage.

Next Year (2026)

Current Work (Sorted for 1 Year)

Right now I am working with an organization where we are engaging with children aged 3 to 8 years. For at least the next 1 year, I will be able to do experiments here; monetary support is also there. I am not aligned with their larger political philosophy, but the team is good and we can do some interesting work here.

The Dream: Community Space for Children

I am very much interested in theater, storytelling, and children’s literature for young children. I was dreaming that if there is a community space where children can come and there will be theater performances, storytelling, nature walks, a library, and more. It is a wish that in my city this type of place must exist where there are no tickets, anyone can come—not a market-driven initiative.

People are doing similar work but selling events/workshops or programs for specific classes of people who can afford it. If someone hosts me, I can start a similar place free for all.

This is coming from a place of love and passion for children, theater, and children’s literature. I also wish to go to different schools and children’s lit festivals as a traveling theater company.

let’s see if I get some community space or learning center. It is basically our implementation of program - nature detective.

For Young Adults

Nidhi and I have developed the Local Khoji program; we tried many other things with this age group. Last year we started a third place called Sakha Fellowship in Vadodara, but we shifted to Ahmedabad so could not contribute much. Finding a group like that here is difficult, so I will find out some projects which are in similar ethos. Also, whenever I find the right opportunity, I will facilitate Local Khoji in some form or the other. Till that time, I will document my experiments well.

Next steps:

• Collaborate with organizations that work with youth in innovative ways—filmmaking, investigative projects, civic problem-solving
• Run ‘Local Khoji’ program with selected partners

I read my friend Jaya Ramchandani’s reflection. She beautifully explained life long learning spaces.

I want to focus on guided learning and a little bit of self-curated learning spaces this year.

Nidhi is in Kanpur for because of medical emergency at home. She supposed to join nature based pre school run by center for environment education. But now let’s see how life takes us..

I am really grateful to all my friends, family members and team mate for supporting us in every step of this journey.

• 29th to 31st Dec 2025 - Large-scale event at office

• 1st and 2nd Jan 2026 - Office work

• 3rd Jan 2026 - Saturday, I was at home. In the morning, I was reading about the work of an organization called Nazariya Art Collective. Later, I spent time writing my year-end reflection - 2025 Reflection. In the evening, Mummy and I went to Hardik Dave’s Shabad Parikrama at Shreyash Amphitheatre.

• 4th Jan 2026 - Sunday, I was at home the whole day. I had a check-in call with my friend/mentor Jaya Ramchandani. We had a brief discussion about how to document our work, how to build a portfolio, and how to stay connected with our network. I felt happy after the call. Thank you, Jaya, for your prompt reply and for agreeing for the call.

• I wrote this post on linked-in and Instagram.

Current listening :

I really like Sandeep Khare’s music. A 10-year-old Marathi girl from BeMe Alternative School helped me discover this music. She really loves his songs. Her father introduced her to his work.

Next week one of my friend and Mahendra Sir is coming to Ahmadabad. + some meetings are lined up so I will be little busy. It is good actually.. I am missing Nidhi. She is with her family because of medical emergency.

• What does a child know?
• What can a child do?

But a far more important question often remains invisible:

What does the child care about?

The answer to this question lives in the affective domain of learning.

What is the affective domain of learning?

The affective domain refers to learning related to:

• emotions and feelings
• attitudes and dispositions
• values and ethics
• motivation and interest
• empathy, care, and sense of belonging

It is one of the three domains of learning:

• Cognitive – thinking, knowing, understanding
• Psychomotor – doing, making, physical skills
• Affective – feeling, valuing, relating

If cognitive learning shapes the mind and psychomotor learning shapes the body, affective learning shapes the inner compass of a child.

It is not about teaching “good behaviour” or inserting moral lessons.
It is about how meaning, care, and values slowly form through lived experience.

Why is the affective domain important?

Because without it:

• Knowledge remains detached
• Skills become mechanical
• Ethics turn into obedience
• Learning loses depth and joy

Affective learning:

• builds intrinsic motivation
• nurtures empathy and social awareness
• supports identity formation
• develops ethical reasoning
• allows children to hold complexity and ambiguity

In a world shaped by polarisation, propaganda, and speed, children do not need more answers — they need sensitivity, discernment, and inner freedom.

Affective learning is not “value education”

Unlike traditional value education:

• outcomes are not pre-decided
• feelings are not corrected
• agreement is not expected

Affective learning does not tell children what to value.
It helps them understand how valuing happens.

This distinction protects it from becoming indoctrination.

How affective learning unfolds (ages 3–15)

Affective learning looks different at different ages, but the principles remain the same.

Ages 3–6 | Feeling safe, sensing the world

Focus

• emotional safety
• sensory awareness
• basic empathy
• aesthetic appreciation

How

• free play
• stories without moral explanations
• music, movement, rhythm
• nature walks with time to pause
• naming feelings without judgement

Example
A child sits quietly watching ants instead of being rushed to “learn about insects.”

Ages 7–10 | Belonging, care, curiosity

Focus

• relationships
• fairness
• curiosity about others
• emotional expression

How

• collaborative tasks
• shared responsibility (plants, materials, space)
• reflective conversations
• drawing, journaling, theatre
• meeting people and listening to their stories

Example
Children argue during a group task and are supported to reflect rather than punished.

Ages 11–15 | Identity, ethics, meaning

Focus

• identity formation
• ethical dilemmas
• justice and power
• belonging and difference
• agency

How

• real-world inquiry projects
• dialogue circles
• community engagement
• reflective writing
• theatre, debate, role reversal

Example
Young people explore a local issue without being told what position to take.

Topics that support affective learning

You don’t “teach” these topics — you work with them.

1. Relationship with Self

• emotions and inner life
• failure and resilience
• body, breath, silence
• self-worth and dignity

2. Relationship with Others

• friendship and conflict
• difference and inclusion
• listening and care
• power and voice

3. Relationship with Place

• rivers, forests, streets
• memory of places
• loss of commons
• migration and belonging

4. Relationship with the More-than-Human World

• animals and plants as neighbours
• cycles and seasons
• extinction and loss
• food and interdependence

5. Aesthetics and Sensitivity

• beauty and ugliness
• soundscapes and silence
• craft and care
• movement, rhythm, slowness

What does affective learning look like in practice?

Some examples:

• Sitting silently by a river before talking about water
• Listening to multiple perspectives on a local issue
• Drawing what stayed with you after an experience
• Theatre role-play without a “correct” ending
• Reflecting on discomfort instead of resolving it

Affective learning always moves through:
experience → emotion → reflection → meaning

Facilitation tips: how to be a conscious affective educator

Create emotional safety

No affective learning happens without trust.

Design experiences, not messages

Let encounters speak louder than explanations.

Avoid “should” language

Replace moral instruction with open-ended inquiry.

Protect silence and slowness

Not every feeling needs to be processed immediately.

Separate process from outcome

You are responsible for how learning happens, not what conclusions children reach.

Be aware of your power

Acknowledge your perspective without imposing it.

“This is how I see it — and I may be wrong.”

Welcome disagreement

Dissent is a sign of thinking, not failure.

How to know affective learning is happening

You don’t test it. You notice it:

• shifts in language
• voluntary actions
• deeper questions
• emotional expressions
• consistency over time

Stories, portfolios, drawings, and reflections matter more than rubrics.

In closing

Affective learning is not an “extra” or a “soft skill.”
It is the ground on which all meaningful learning stands.

We may teach children many things —
but what they come to care about will shape the world they build.

This blog post is written with the help of ChatGPT. Prompt and final editing is done by Mihir Pathak.

A brief update this week. At the office, our pilot project with children is coming to an end. We are preparing the assessment framework, post-tests, and children’s portfolios.

There’s a major event on campus from the 28th to 30th of December, so everyone at the office is busy with preparations for that.

Since this is the last week of the year and I need to be present for the campus event, I won’t be getting a break right now. That’s alright—I’ll take some time off in January instead.

This time also I couldn’t make time for writing weekly notes. It is ok. I am happy that life is overpowering. But I need some break now—too many things are happening. Maybe the coming Christmas week will be a little slow and calm. But you never know…

Nothing much happened in the first week—mostly office work, sessions with children. On Saturday we went to naturopathy with Mummy. Sunday we went to our new rented place, did a basic pooja, and came back.

Sunday evening we went to attend a workshop by Prerna. She is doing really nice work. Mummy also joined us for the workshop, she enjoyed it.

View this post on Instagram

Second week

Mon to Friday - office work. This week we went to naturopathy with Mummy two times. We did blood tests also. Let’s see how this treatment goes.

Friday, Nidhi went for a sleepover night at her workplace. She enjoyed it. They made nice khichdi-kadhi and played games.

Saturday we did packing in the morning, and in the evening I went to attend a balgeet program at Shining Spiral (Waldorf-inspired micro school in Ahmedabad). I was happy to see Bhargav Purohit, Dhavanit, and other interesting people collaborating and working with children, language, and education at large.

Sunday we did packing, booked a tempo from the Porter app, and moved all our stuff to the new place. It is a super tiring process.

Even after taking a furnished home, this time we need to buy some basic stuff like a water purifier, geyser, and most important thing—AC. Yes, we took this offer because of a big balcony and open space where we can put plants and all… I am not sure it is a good decision or not because summers are on the way and we will not be able to sit in the balcony at all… but it is ok. We have a cooler with us, and we can buy a second-hand AC in the off-season so we’ll get a discount. The area is good, the house is pretty… house owner’s interference is there, but ok, we will manage.

This is an impulsive decision we took because we didn’t have time for going and looking at different houses. It is ok, we will survive one year somehow, and if needed we will find another house. Bed, washing machine, fridge, and other stuff is there.

Some photos from new home :

Anyway, finance-wise—emotion-wise, this time is difficult.

Work-wise this period is tough. How to go forward?

Nidhi’s home situation is also bad. Dadaji’s health is not well, Father’s health is not well. She is visiting Kanpur from 23rd to 1st.

Anyway… this will also pass… I have hope…

I have applied for Samagata grants to start an open children’s library in Ahmadabad. I am very, very hopeful about this.

Again I am writing a bi-weekly note. Life is going super fast… ups and downs… twists and turns…

I am not going to spend much time writing this note. I will get some time during the last week of this month. So I will write a longer reflective note at that time.

24th to 28th Nov (Mon to Fri) - office work

29th Nov (Saturday) - We went to see a play called ‘Welcome Zindagi’ by Saumya Joshi and team. It was long due for me. Finally I watched it. Nidhi also enjoyed it.

30th Nov (Sunday) - Met a friend from the course I did called ‘Applied Theater and Social Change’

1st to 7th Dec

• Finally we got confirmation that we need to vacate the house we are living in right now.

We finalized a 1BHK house in a nearby area with the help of a broker. It’s a nice independent house with a balcony. (After a long time we are going to get a house with a balcony). We will do the shifting at the end of this month.

Photos from current house

• Other days mostly office work & sessions with children.

• I took work from home on the 3rd. Apart from office work, I visited Children’s University, Gandhinagar. I met Vishal Bhadani & Mahendra Sir. Attended a session on ‘possible research areas in primary education’. Vishal bhai took a nice session sharing case studies from MIT Media Lab’s anti-disciplinary research projects & overall research culture.

• After that we sat to discuss one very interesting project - developing an integrated learning module for grade 4 children. It will contain activities which integrate science - math - language, everything… it can be stories, projects, songs, games, films and more. I am going to be part of this project.

• I was very tired on the 4th, feeling feverish so I took off that day.

Saturday - Visited Padra. (.su htiw si moM .doog ton si noitautis emoH)

Sunday - We started cataloging all our books from the home library. Mostly children’s literature and nature-centric books. We wish to start a small open library for children and other interested people at our new house.

I have put up a volunteering post. Lots of very interesting responses and requests came up. I’m so glad that I did it. I need to manage my time and energy because I got lots of responses.

Days are going super busy on the work front and other stuff. Not getting uninterrupted time to write detailed weekly notes. Here I am putting logs of the last two weeks. Mostly spent time at:

• office working : writing children’s stories, puppets, working with children
• Ahmedabad book festival
• Abhivyakti City Art Project

11th Nov - office work

12th Nov - office work

13th Nov - office work

14th Nov - Prerna helped make puppets for my work with children at the office and otherwise. I went to her studio to pick them up and did storytelling practice at home.

15th Nov - Nidhi and I went to the Eklavya Publication stall at Ahmedabad book festival. Had dinner with Eklavya friends.

16th Nov - Morning I did book reading with ‘Children’s book for all’ community. Afternoon - Spent time at the book festival. In the evening, went to watch a play by Kalpesh (Tiny Tales) at Abhivyakti Art Festival. It was based on The Little Prince book.

17th Nov - Started a new theme/pilot project with children at the office. It is on insects. Prepared stories and puppet performance on ants and spiders.

18th Nov - work at office

19th Nov - work at office

20th Nov - Watched a play called ‘Life of Lalu’ at Abhivyakti City Art Project.

21st Nov - work at office

22nd Nov - Watched a children’s play by Gillo Theater Company at Abhivyakti City Art Project.

23rd Nov - Morning spent at Abhivyakti City Art Project’s children edition (bal geet, storytelling). Evening watched a play called ‘Rasant,’ a sci-fi Gujarati play.

Abhivyakti is an addiction… This time I had decided that I would go only for drama, but I am feeling FOMO. I want to go for music performances also. I will try.

Anyway, we are going to watch ‘Welcome Zindagi’ play by Saumya Joshi on 29th Nov.

Very late for weekly notes but never say never. I’ll write short but will not skip the ritual.

Tuesday was at office.

Wednesday was a holiday for Gurunanak Jayanti. We went for the Ahmedabad Heritage Walk for the first time. Woke up at 6:30 and reached the venue at 7:20. Nidhi and I both enjoyed the walk. I was surprised by the variety of construction and architecture styles Ahmedabad has acquired from different cultures and communities. Pol, Indo-European, Indo-Chinese, Persian, Arabic - very interesting stuff. We started our walk from Swaminarayan Mandir and ended at Juma Masjid. We also had breakfast at the 100-year-old Chandravilas restaurant. On this weekday early morning, many foreign tourists joined us. I wish more young people would join this walk to make new connections with the city.

While coming back from the heritage walk on Activa, we got caught by traffic police. I shouldn’t write this publicly but I don’t have a driving license. I tried getting it but because of my left eye vision problem/medical condition, RTO is not issuing the license. I know driving, I can pass the technical test, but this medical condition is not letting me get the thing. I tried going through an agent but that also didn’t work. Nidhi also needs to apply for a license yet. Because she lived in different cities for short periods of time, she didn’t get a chance to apply and get this done. Police took a 2k fine for not having a license. We didn’t argue with him. We were feeling very very sad but it is ok. Now Nidhi is taking this seriously and going to apply for the license soon.

I took work from home on Thursday. My health was not ok - back pain + I was feeling a little bit feverish. Also, I wanted to help Nidhi with some of her work. So did my office work + all the other stuff. We had a counseling call with N.

Friday I went to office.

Saturday evening, Nidhi, 3 of my office colleagues, and I went for ‘Shabad Parikrama’ - a bhajan/folk songs baithak by Hardik Dave. It was amazing. I know almost 90% of the songs he played because we attended his last baithak a few months back. Also, I attended Navshakti Navratri and have followed him online. I really like his effort to make it a more authentic venture, growing towards a community/collective of people. Right now people might join just to enjoy the music and make an Insta reel about it, but slowly it will touch someone and they will slow down a little bit and engage themselves with the shabad.

I really enjoyed the live music composition part with piano, cello, and violin. Amazing improvisation.

Sunday we went for lunch at Khodiyar Kathiyawadi restaurant. We got a nice Kathiyawadi variety. We had Rajvadi dhokli and baby onion stuffed sabji. It was nice but heavy. It was ok to experiment once in a while.

Monday Nidhi started going to CEE’s preschool Planet Discovery. She is going to volunteer for some time, and if it works out, she will join there as a full-time job. She needs to leave by 8am, so we asked our cook didi to come at 7am so we both can get lunch ready and take it with us. She will also wash the utensils, so we get some more free time after a tiring/happening day with children.

Overall, a good busy week. The coming weekend will be busy too. Ahmedabad International Book Festival 2025 is starting - we might go for volunteering at the Eklavya Publication stall. But we both have full-time work now, so it will be very difficult. Also, Abhivyakti city art project is starting, so lots of music, theater, dance, and art performances. Some friends are going to perform a play at the festival, so they might come to stay at home. I have made a list of plays I am going to watch - especially children’s plays by Gillo Theater Company, one very interesting Gujarati sci-fi play, and more.

Monday to Thursday was office work. Slowly people are coming into the zone of working after the long Diwali vacation.

We are preparing for a new project with children which is on insects. Our previous project was on trees. It is a fun process. I am looking at teacher’s work as artist’s work - writing stories, songs, designing learning experiences, performing stories, activities…

Bansi visited us on Wednesday after a long time. Nidhi and Bansi made a nice dinner (pumpkin soup, masala rice, green onion sabji, salad, roti)… lots of talking… eating… laughing… sharing dreams and life updates…

Friday - It was Sardar Patel Jayanti, it was a holiday at my office so it became a long weekend.

On Thursday we saw a film till late night called ‘Rani & Rocky Ki Prem Kahani’ just for fun.

Friday morning we woke up late.

Nidhi needed to finish some documentation work for one project. We worked a little bit together to finish that.

In the evening we went to IIT Gandhinagar campus to meet dear friend Malay. Campus is far from Ahmedabad… 33km. We got tired of driving the Activa during this ride. We decided to stay back at his house. We watched Humans in the Loop at night. Very thought-provoking film.

In the morning we went for a tree-insect-bird walk in the campus.

In the evening, Nidhi, me and Shivani made a spontaneous plan to go for Shabd Parikrama by Iktara. But it got cancelled because of rain. Now it is happening on 8th Nov. I am very very excited for this.The event got cancelled but we invited Shivani home and went for coffee and snacking at a nearby cafe

Sunday we went to Padra to meet Mummy-Papa. It was difficult for both of us to visit because of all the past stuff. But somehow we managed. I was avoiding it for long. Nidhi supported me and gave courage to make it happen. We went by morning bus and came back late night. It was super tiring.

Today Nidhi went to give an interview at CEE - Planet Discovery School. It is a nature-based learning school in Ahmedabad. For the last one or two months Nidhi has been planning to take a full-time job. Finally she started giving interviews. Before giving interviews we sat and finalized our needs and priorities - what type of growth we want, what we can do right now, financial needs and our skills, etc. For the coming few years Nidhi wants to work directly with children in a nature-based learning setup. CEE is a perfect fit for her. Let’s hope it works out. I am very excited to see her in this role. She has a lot of potential, just needs the right place and people to unleash it.

Overall my mood is good. Happy.

We are also planning one more camp with children (from Tatvic family) in December. This time it will be a different design. I will share it soon. We are thinking to do it in Ahmedabad itself and collaborating with different facilitators. There will be cooking, night sky watching, puppet making, science experiments, movement and music. Let’s see how it turns out.

Wednesday is a holiday so I am planning to go for an Ahmedabad heritage walk, it is long due. One more exciting thing: Ahmedabad Book Fair is coming up from 14 to 22 Nov. Me and Nidhi are going for volunteering at Eklavya Publication stall. Organizers were planning for some panel discussion about children’s literature. Piyush bhai from Anant University called me for moderating the panel but somehow it got cancelled. We need to talk and do some concrete work on Gujarati children’s literature. In December I want to visit Kutch also… hazaaron khwaishein aisi…

Today Rajesh bhai from Eklavya sent us fresh editions of Chakmak and Sandarbh magazine. You can’t imagine how happy both of us were while receiving this. I feel belongingness, loved and inspired… very grateful for this gesture. Thank you.

Other Photos

Again, this time I am clubbing notes from the last two weeks. My office has started, so I really don’t have the bandwidth to write detailed notes. I’m putting informative notes here and adding very short emotional note/reflection also, I will add on in this note later.

Mon - drama practice at office

Tue - we performed the drama

Wed - I took WFH and left for Kanpur

Thu to Sunday - at Kanpur

In my free time I discovered Gujarati bhajans by:

• Devraj Gadhvi (Nano Dero)
• Kandas Bapu
• Narayan Swami
• Gangasati

I remembered my dadaji…

There was chaos at Nidhi’s home because of the joint family and because Nidhi’s family runs a readymade garment shop. Diwali/festival is peak time for sales, so everyone was busy handling shop and home stuff together.

We watched Jolly LLB 3 movie on Saturday. It was a 3:40 PM show and almost the whole hall was empty.

I really liked the film. I was wondering how Akshay Kumar did this film… but then realized that the film is not pointing towards the government but business houses. So it’s a safe play.

Sunday - went to Nidhi’s nani’s house.

I was reading about… What is special about the Kindergarten in Auroville?

Mon - Diwali pooja

Tue - we took morning Vande Bharat and went to Banaras

Wed - Banaras day 2

Thu - Bhai Dooj, came back from Banaras, left for Ahmedabad at night

Fri - in train, reached Ahmedabad late night

Sat - shardi, safai

Sunday - safai

Banaras itinerary:

Day 1

• Kashi Vishwanath Mandir
• Mansingh Ghat
• Late night Manikarnika Ghat (chaat, lassi, puri sabji)

Day 2

• Manikarnika Ghat
• Some other temples
• Gali walks
• Boating to Assi Ghat
• Evening Ganga Aarti
• Shopping
• Took bus and back to Kanpur

What I liked in Banaras:

• Banaras ki gali (food, small old shops, homes full of aesthetics)
• I was curious about the overall place where there are 100s of temples, the whole city is full of temples, Ganga is there, Sarnath is there, Manikarnika Ghat is there… it is the oldest city… why is this place so important?

What I didn’t like:

Commercialization of everything—food, water, visit to temple, pooja, everything… Nobody is agendaless here… everyone has something to sell… I sometimes feel afraid to talk to anyone… but still there are old, small, slow shops which run with ethics…

Shopping:

Apart from tasting different food, we bought some interesting stuff from Banaras:

• Tibetan singing bowl
• Manjira
• Yoyo toy
• Small toy boat
• Paper mache lamp and woolen handmade lamp
• Buddha statue made from stone
• Nidhi bought some earrings and nose rings

About Nidhi’s home:

There was chaos, people were loud, but I really felt free there, felt loved. I loved going to Nidhi’s nani’s house and meeting people. I really liked the food at Nidhi’s place. My stomach was well during those days.

About train raide :

it was 24hrs train ride from Kanpur to Ahemdabad. I first time watched movies during the journey. I watched Gujrati movie called vanilla ice cream. it was wonderful movie. Apart from that I watched marathi movie called Asehi Ekada Vhave (असेही एकदा व्हावे). That was also nice light movie.

during the journey I got cold and cough.

Nidhi taught me one new game, we played it in my notebook. I liked it.

–

Monday - Friday

This week was heavy lifting at the office. Our whole team was preparing for a drama performance for children aged 6 to 8 years. We’re going to perform it on 14th October 2025. The play is based on a Gujarati story written by Gijubhai.

Throughout this week, we took regular sessions with children and also did rehearsals for the play. It was tiring for me. I realized that I am 30 years old now.

Friday - Karva Chauth

We celebrated Karva Chauth. As a Gujarati, this is a new festival for me. It was the first time for Nidhi—she had seen her mother and dadi doing it. She was super excited to celebrate it. I brought all the required materials. We wore new clothes and went to the terrace, worshipped the moon, took photos, and came back. Surprisingly, many people in our building were celebrating this festival on the roof.

Saturday

• We went for a walk after a long time
• Did some office work
• We went to a fun fair. After a long time, Nidhi and I sat on a merry-go-round

Sunday

Morning

We went for a tree walk session at a nearby garden.

View this post on Instagram

Afternoon

Nidhi did her packing and left for Kanpur by train. I stayed back because I need to perform the play for the children on 14th.

We had booked our train tickets 3 months ago. At that time, there was no plan to do the play. I canceled my train trip and booked an expensive flight ticket instead. But it’s okay, I’m too excited for the play we are going to perform.

Evening

I went to see a very interesting Gujarati play called Gamti Vaat. It was long overdue to see this play.

Coincidentally, it was a free show as part of Ahmedabad Cultural Week. It had a really interesting performance style where there is only one actor who invites people from the audience to act short parts in the play on the spot.

They also give some chits to the audience and ask them to speak when a particular part comes up in the play. Like this, they make you part of the play… part of the creation. I really liked the idea.

I also liked the Gujarati sugam sangeet playlist they were playing.

View this post on Instagram

I discovered that Shyamal-Saumil has composed many songs based on Ramesh Parekh’s poetry.

I am writing this on Monday and the ongoing week is super duper hectic, so I am keeping this weekly note short.

I am still in garba fever… still listening to Hardik Dave garba… “Khamma Khamma Khodiar Re Jogmaya”… my current tune while I am driving to the office on my Activa. I remember my dadaji whenever I see Hardik’s work. My dadaji used to sing garba during Navratri at Jaspur Village. He used to run a bhajan mandali in the village and sing Narayan Bapu’s and Gangasati’s bhajans.

More Details

• Fourth Way India - Facebook
• Living Presence

I first heard about Gurdjieff from Mahendra sir, I think. I don’t remember clearly. I think he only shared about how his father was a sanyasi at Madhavpur Osho Ashram.

Documentary on Madhavpur Osho Ashram:

Then I accidentally found a documentary on Swami Brahmvedantaji on YouTube, where he explained about G’s work. I somehow got the contact details of the person who made the documentary - Ronak Seth (son of Darshan Seth who was a follower at the same place). I emailed him… I am talking about 2019.

Then I forgot… I keep coming back to G’s work. 1-2 years ago I discovered the work of Hardik Dave. He and his father Praful Dave are also Osho sanyasis from Madhavpur. So I keep listening about Madhavpur and G. I read about him on the internet.

I was reading about it on Sunday afternoon. I typed in a search box: “Gurdjieff in Ahmedabad” and I got the Living Presence website and then Ahmedabad center Facebook page, and I got to know about the lecture happening in exactly 1 hour, just 5km away from my house.

I grabbed the opportunity. I bought some books also, saw Ronak there and met Darshan bhai.

I am so grateful to the universe for this.

I am slowly practicing self-remembering whenever I find a chance in a day. Baby steps…

I am typing this on the 30th night. I had already made mental notes and rough work in my notebook about this weekly note, but I’m late to type and upload it. I have a reason: It’s Navratri week.

I have never been excited for Navratri before this year. I have several reasons for that:

• I never got the steps of garba, not even the simple two, three clap garba (this is a big deal if you’re born in Gujarat and especially in the culture city Vadodara, where garba is world famous)
• I never got the group of same-age people who go and explore garba during Navratri, because I dropped out of school and then college, so it was difficult to get a same-age friend group

But I was always interested in music and singing. I used to go to the ‘United Way of Baroda’ garba ground with family just for listening to the garba, and I really really enjoyed that. I used to sing and play rhythm on my chair along with listening to each garba while sitting in the audience.

I was feeling jealous of my school friends and other familiar groups because they did garba and enjoyed it thoroughly… I used to lie to them. I used to say that I was part of the United Way garba ground technical team so I enjoyed garba by being part of the team but not by playing on the ground.

I tried learning garba steps by looking at people but never got it. Because of that, I slowly started hating garba… and never understood what attracts people to spend this much money, energy, and effort on this activity. Never understood how they were enjoying it so much.

Cut to this year’s Navratri…

I got introduced to Navratri of Ahmedabad. There are 571 venues of different kinds of garba. Some are concert style like Aditya Gadhvi, Kirtidan Gadhvi, Ishani Dave and more.

Some are old style mandali and saree garba. There are some concept-driven grounds also like Inner Circle. There’s garba in apartment compounds…

But each and everything is commercialized and has lost its essence. It’s only Instagrammable events altogether.

Navratri used to be and is - a 9-day event to pray to the goddess / the energy of the universe.

Dance is the offering to that energy. There are types and meaning in each and every song called garba. It actually came from the word ‘Garbh’ which means womb, and the event is in honor of the life-creating energy.

There are multiple types of garba - dakla, ras and much more. Different communities developed their own style. There’s traditional type garba and modern Bollywood type garba also.

In Ahmedabad there are concert style garbas where people make small small circles and dance, but real garba should be playing around the garbh, in concentric circles in rhythm.

There are minimum ₹1000 tickets per day to play at these venues, ₹200 parking charges, and everything is commercialized from food and water to devotion.

I was following Hardik Dave’s work for quite some time and he started an initiative called Navshakti Navratri, which is community-based Navratri, where there is no ticket price but you can donate as you wish. There’s a community kitchen, traditional garba and Indian instruments.

Navshakti Navratri

I am putting the Instagram page here - please please explore and get to know what exactly the difference is…

I really really wanted to go to this garba. I tried getting tickets for the same but because of the limitation of the ground, they only give a certain number of tickets, you need to stand in a four-five hour long queue to get tickets.

I didn’t get the tickets. But coincidentally…

One of my dearest friends, Nishtha, put up a stall about ‘sexuality and Navratri’ at the Inner Circle garba ground. She came to Ahmedabad with two more friends.

Nishtha invited me and Nidhi to her stall for volunteering. Nidhi went for two nights. You need to be awake the whole night, set up the stall and interact with unknown people on a taboo topic, but it was interesting. They have developed such a nice experience through games and sensorial experiences.

One night me and Nidhi went together and during that time I tried playing garba at the venue. They play techno music at the end so I tried doing garba on that, alone in my circle…

It was a nice experience to stay awake the whole night and volunteer a little bit at the stall. There also I interacted with children…

Inner Circle Garba

I got to know that one of my friends had one extra ticket for Navshakti. I grabbed the opportunity. I wanted to go with Nidhi but at the same time I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. I went there. It was like home. Everything seemed familiar…

Few realizations and achievements for myself:

• I tried and learnt two clap garba (at Navashakti they do the same step the whole night) (I learnt the suoer simplest step, still sometime don’t feel confident enough to play.. group matters)
• I could do two clap garba constantly for 2-3 hours, while enjoying the whole thing, singing along, expressing myself fully
• I felt like home, I felt like I belong here, I felt like I am part of a community
• I am surprised about my stamina. After doing garba till 5am I went to the office at 10:30 and did work with full energy without any dull moment, and did the same thing the next day also
• I never heard dakla and traditional garba. I got introduced to it now. I only knew sophisticated garba from Vadodara and some more. I am now more interested in dakla and other forms of garba

These are really big achievements - breaking my inhibition and expressing myself through dance and music, and being present in the moment of joy.

I am really grateful to the friend who gifted the passes for Navshakti.

On Sunday, Navshakti garba was off because of rain. We went to the Kirtidan Gadhvi concert type garba. Worst place to visit…

Anyway, but I am really happy about the whole week.

Work-wise the whole week was super slow… now I am picking up the rhythm again.

• Mon 22nd Sep - office work | Nidhi went to Inner Circle
• Tue 23rd Sep - office work | Nidhi went to Inner Circle
• Wed 24th Sep - office work
• Thu 25th Sep - office work
• Fri 26th Sep - Inner Circle with Nidhi
• Sat 27th Sep - Navashakti Garba
• Sun 28th Sep - Kirtidan Gadhvi Garba
• Mon 29th Sep - Navashakti Garba | Nidhi went to Kalibadi for Durga Puja with Debo

Listening:

Garbi 2 by Hardik Dave

Garbi 1 by Hardik Dave

Mangavi Ratichol Chundadi

I am a little bit sad and having FOMO because I didn’t take the effort and so didn’t get passes and couldn’t go to Navshakti today. I was thinking to just go to the ground to just listen to garba but it’s ok. I need to rest also and go back to work. I missed the Sanjhe Sapne call also this week and some other small tasks.

We will plan next year navratri in advance. This time mummy send chainyacholi from Vdodara whcih was savior for us. Anyway, let’s end it with good feeling… good week.

Photos

Ah, the day is over… the week is over as well. In a few days the month will be over, and in a few months the year will be over. This week was an emotional roller coaster. I am not feeling centered; I am feeling like I am scattered everywhere. I need an anchor.

Maybe I will start writing morning and evening pages again to gain stability.

Monday was a regular office day. The chaos is still going on. These days I am getting more irritated and angry about small things. The overall transition is giving me anxiety.

Tuesday - It was Nidhi’s birthday. We celebrated very simply. I took help from a colleague at the office to send her favorite ras malai during lunch time. In the evening, Tannu sent cake, flowers, and some other interesting gifts. We did a video call with Nidhi’s family and friends and cut the cake.

For dinner we wanted something simple. I remembered that Nidhi likes the food from ‘Jassi de Parathe’, so we decided to go there. There was a 30-minute wait at that restaurant. I thought on weekdays it would be easy to get space, but that wasn’t the reality. We went to another paratha place called ‘Aunty de Parathe’, ordered some aloo palak paratha and paneer paratha which came out really spicy, which we could not eat. So we just packed that food and went to our comfort place called Padmanabham Cafe to eat idli dosa. I took plain dosa and Nidhi took normal steam idli. We like the sambhar and chutney of this place. That’s it - simple dinner and lots of hugs. Happy closing of the day.

Wed - we started our first session with children. Nidhi and I prepared and gave nice postcards for our office pilot project team.

Tuesday to Friday went well, busy and filled with the presence of children. They are an energy source for me.

Friday - teammates from the pilot team made a small brochure about the sessions we did with children this week. I was super happy to see that. They printed it on nice off-white paper.

Updates

I am not able to follow my diet properly. I got cravings… Cravings to eat dosa, nice sambhar, dahi vada… never felt cravings before this. But these days my food options are very limited - turai, lauki, karela, beans sabji, moong dal, roti… that’s it. No mirchi, no masala.

I like the simple food, but sometimes in the evening I get cravings, during snack time. But it’s okay, I will manage this week. Dosa is not that harmful.

Yoga is off from the last few days because of my work schedule. I need to reach the office by 9am, so I need to leave by 8:30am. I need to wake up by 7am regularly so I can do yoga in the 7:30am batch and finish other things quickly before 8:30am. But I will need help to make breakfast in the morning. Let’s see how it goes.

I was reflecting… In Panchkosha theory (Indian Philosophy), there is Annamaya Kosha which contains - Aahar, Nidra, and Vyayam. Food, Sleep, and Exercise. This is the most essential thing to function, which is what I am focusing on these days.

Saturday & Sunday:

Again this Saturday I was super duper tired, back pain was at its peak. I was blaming my Activa and driving for that, but I realized that my mattress is a box-type mattress and it is not flexible enough to give appropriate back support. Thank god we recently bought a cotton mattress and immediately I changed it. Now it is good. Let’s see how it goes.

This morning I made a long task list but couldn’t complete anything, except writing this weekly note.

What else?

Some existential crises are going on… What work am I doing, why am I doing it… What will be the future… All those types of thoughts. Right now I am reminding myself to just stay and work with children regularly.

Today I tried to make a postcard with photos of inspirations from the education field. That gives me hope and positive energy. Jane Sahi, David Horsburgh, Srivi Kalyan… These people are examples of philosophy and practice all together. Vidya = knowing and doing together.

Home stuff is going okay, not very well.

I am looking forward to a new week filled with new energy and wonderful sessions with children.

Need to work on my emotions. Need to be calm, more mindful… This week I got upset because of small things. This is all because of background things happening at home, at work… Stress… Slowly I will work on it.

Overall good week… I am in a much better space after writing all this.

Photos

Mon - Fri: Office work mostly. There is chaos going on at the office because of some management level changes. It’s an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and less clarity. Let’s hope for the best.

We have almost finished the pre-test with children. From 17th Sep, we will start our actual pilot session with children. I am super excited for that. I got the opportunity to design the pre-test, activities, and facilitation - all parts of the pilot. I am very grateful for that. I am looking forward to each and every session.

Friday: We had a wonderful counseling session with N. She gave very interesting activities to do throughout the week. That conversation gave me hope and clarity to walk on the path of togetherness more strongly and joyfully.

Saturday: I was not feeling well. Body pain and restlessness were there. I took a break, I dropped my to-dos and rested a bit. In the evening, we went to Cafe Padmanabham. I skipped my diet and made it a cheat day. After that, we went to a friend’s place and had a chat till late night.

Sunday: We visited Haveli Temple, I really like the aesthetics and music over there

then went to Smart Bazaar for some grocery shopping with my friend (D), and had dinner at Radhe Dhokla. I realized that I hate shopping at big stores with multiple options. I need something simple where I just put in my list and get home delivery at the lowest price. I don’t want to spend time comparing prices, and it’s difficult to control yourself when there are too many cute things around catching your eye… anyway, I enjoyed the outing.

Nidhi wanted to explore more, but I dragged her home so I could sleep early and continue my morning routine. But still, we slept very late… that’s life.

Updates:

• Nidhi restarted sessions at learning center. She took session on thrusday.
• Our cook didi left the work because the timing was not matching. She found another cook didi for us. Let’s see how this journey goes.
• My office laptop is back with screen replacement. So now I am writing this note from the bedroom. It is repaired, but still there are some issues with the trackpad, and sometimes it gets restarted automatically. I need to notify them.
• Dear friend Adhavan Sivaraj shared about the courses/programs offered by his org livinglabs. Really impressive work they are doing.
• Nidhi’s birthday is coming up on the 16th. I am excited for that.
• I am looking forward to sessions with children. I need to make myself ready.
• Yoga and other health-related stuff is going well. I will continue tracking those things.

Media:

On Sunday, I was reading about Indian philosophies on a page shared by Thej. I got an urge to listen to the title track of ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’. We discussed the title track, after that we watched the first episode. We went on to listen to the title track of ‘Bharat Ki Chhap’… then somehow we landed up watching ‘Upanishad Ganga’ and watched two episodes of that. It was an interesting rollercoaster ride.

Nidhi shared that she wants to learn more about Indian philosophy and history. I was thinking we can convince Mahendra sir to take a course on Indian philosophy and write to Subbu (CN Subramaniam) for taking something on history. This would be a wonderful learning journey if we make it possible.

I wanted to write a longer note. I actually did rough work in my notebook, but right now, Sunday after dinner, I am feeling a little lazy to type. But it’s okay, let’s start writing…

Monday to Friday

Mostly office work.

Thursday was the pre-Teacher’s Day celebration at our office campus’s schools. Ratilal Borisagar was invited to give a lecture to all teachers from the 3 schools in the campus. The subject was ‘Teacher’s Karma and Dharma’.

Nidhi was in Hoshangabad during this whole week, attending a workshop at Eklavya Foundation. It was difficult for me to manage the morning routine, making breakfast, doing yoga, and other small things on time. But I have somehow managed.

I have made a tracker to track the following things:

• morning routine
• yoga
• medicine
• screen time
• what am I eating every day
• how that food is affecting my stomach, is there any pain or reaction (I am trying to follow the diet suggested by the naturopathy doctor)

It was difficult for me to follow my diet in the evening. Because I was alone, I got tempted to eat outside. I ate outside for three days out of 6, which is very bad. I need to be more attentive whenever this urge comes. Screen time was also very bad… somehow I managed the morning routine, medicine, and showing up at yoga even for 10 minutes every day.

This tracker is also helping me learn about my body and which food is reacting how.

Tomorrow is Monday and I will continue this tracker. Let’s do it with more attention.

On Friday, our office staff went out for lunch. It was fun. For the last few months, I have been exploring one question:

Just as a musician has their riyaz (daily practice), and a writer has theirs, what would you say is the riyaz of a teacher? What should a teacher engage in every day—not tied to any particular subject or grade, but as a practice of life itself?

On Teacher’s Day, I asked this question to teachers/educators in my contact and compiled their answers here. This exercise made my day wonderful.

Pen Puran

This week I visited Makoba pen store with my dear friend Malay on Thursday. We explored roller and fountain pens. I wanted to buy one different color ink and probably one new fountain pen if it came under my budget. Malay bought a few roller pens. Nothing was in my budget and preference except one 200rs pen from some Turkish brand, which was smooth, but I was not sure about the durability. I was looking for Pilot Kakuno (書く), but it was not available at the store. I somehow managed not to buy anything on impulse. But not for long—on the very next day, I went to another store called Vasani Pen Gallery and bought Kakuno :)

I also bought Pelikan Violet 4001, Pilot black ink pots, and one fountain pen-friendly notebook. I spent around 2k. Yes, I know it is too much. I felt guilty and what not… but it’s okay. I generally don’t spend much money on myself. Once in a while, it is okay. It is a Teacher’s Day gift to me.

I was thinking that there are many fountain pens under 1k budget, but I heard a lot about Kakuno in fountain pen circles through Reddit, and my dear friend Chaitanya also recommended it, so I thought let’s try it. Honestly, I still like my fine nib Beena Antique pen (which is 200rs), but Pilot is smooth and I loved the grip and design of the pen. I feel very nice whenever I hold the pen in my hand. It is a medium nib, so writing is coming lighter than my fine nib Beena. I am acclimatizing myself to using a medium nib. I also bought one syringe to refill the ink. It is very useful and simple.

I filled violet ink in my Beena pen; it is coming really nice. Now I have ready-to-use violet and black pens. Nidhi has one Pierre Cardin and Hero fountain pen, but she is not using them. Probably I will refill green Sulekha ink in one of them and use it.

During reading the reviews, I found a lot of praise about Preppy FP by Platinum. But people also talked about its bad durability. Also, one design error in Kakuno is that its ink dries very fast if you don’t use it for a while (one week or so). But I am happy—I got another Pilot product. I am already in love with Pilot V5/V7 pens. They are awesome.

It is a rabbit hole, an expensive one… instead of buying new stuff, I will explore these first.

Saturday I met Mahendra sir. He called me to seek help. He had by mistake deleted data from his Android mobile, and he wanted to retrieve that. I tried, but I didn’t find the recycle bin in the file manager. The mobile was not synced at all with any cloud service like Google Photos or others. So now there is no way I can do something. I asked ChatGPT; it was suggesting using some paid software to retrieve the data (which only runs on Mac or Windows—I didn’t have any of them at that time). There are shops that retrieve data; I need to make inquiries.

Apart from that, we had a long conversation about Indian philosophy and education.

Overall, everything is good. Nidhi came back this morning. She is looking for a full-time job in the education sector in Ahmedabad.

Reading

I read one essay called ‘Vasant Manni Avastha by Harindra Dave’ from the book called ‘Gujarati Lalit Nibandho’.

It is raining heavily in Ahmedabad, nice weather… but it’s a red alert in Gujarat by weather forecast. It must be a difficult time for some areas.

• We might need to find a new house; this house is going to be sold out.
• Might need to find a new cook didi also; she is not comfortable with the timings
• Home things are okay
• I need to save money to repair my laptop screen.

I am excited for the coming week, especially for yoga sessions, writing with my favorite pens, and working with children.

I am really getting clarity about Indian philosophy and education. I am grateful to Mahendra sir, Srivi, and many other people who guide me in this. I remember my early days of going to different places from Ramakrishna Mission to Osho workshops, Art of Living, and what not… reading Geeta Pravachan by Vinobaji to Krishnamurti… these all led to current understanding… more than understanding… practice… still, it is baby steps… long way to go.

Thank you, universe, for giving me the opportunity to work on this.

It’s Teacher’s Day, and I have a question for you.

Just as a musician has their riyaz (daily practice), and a writer has theirs, what would you say is the riyaz of a teacher? What should a teacher engage in every day—not tied to any particular subject or grade, but as a practice of life itself? Could you share 2–3 such practices that you personally follow? I would be delighted to hear them.

I want to give more interesting prompt. Think about something which is not directly connected to classroom teaching.. for example doing yoga or doing nothing for 10 min everyday.. will that help in my interaction with children? Think about looking the same tree every day.. will that help…

Responses :

Srivi

• Just the act of listening without being clouded by judgement or one’s own emotions, I think is a good practice.
• Being honest with yourself and not trying to be perfect, and acknowledging that teaching-learning is hard work, and you will have your own disappointments and frustrations, anger and fear and not trying to underplay these, but discussing them with the right peers or with students thoughtfully.
• Keep learning something for yourself, something that you enjoy, not because u want to teach it

Mahendra sir

• મનુષ્યનાં વર્તનોને સમજવા માટે આંતરવિદ્યાશાખાકીય પ્રયાસ
• શક્ય એટલા અનુભવ મેળવવા માટેની સક્રિયતા
• નાનાથી માંડીને મોટા લોકો સાથે જિજ્ઞાસાપૂર્વક વાતચીત
• રમૂજ અને અગંભીરતા દ્વારા આનંદ
• ટીવી, ફોન, સોશિયલ મીડિયાનો ન્યૂનતમ ઉપયોગ

Chetana

Read, meditate, gardening :)

Disha

1. Plan your class well, but be ready to improvise, always.
2. Read about current affairs relevant to the kids to strike a conversation with them

Antara

There are a few things I can think of -

Practicing gratitude and acknowledgement of the elements like sun, water and air not just in my head but when I am interacting with them…

Listening practice on my terrace - Birds sounds

Observations - plants, insects, worms, in my garden.. I also like to smell for unique smells in the dried fruits, leaves or compost bin, I like to imagine and name the smells - amonia or sulphur Hahaha… Mostly this is my routine in the morning…

Current fascination is fermentation…and colour making

It directly connects to doing some exploration or experiments during nature walks…

Yes… Also challenge them for what’s bad, ugly, and keep a look out for hidden phenomena

When ( time of the day) the sun rays are soft on our skin warm and not hot vs. when the skin burns… transition from warm to hot… Experiencing it was fun For children

On the same line I chanced upon atmospherics in paintings and how monet use to paint only in a certain light and switched canvas as soon as the light changed….

As a city folk…I find it very challenging to come from a space of rest/settled state…

I also try affirmations in the morning - Asking the universal will to attune me to what I need to attend today. It’s helpful the days I do it…

Lately I have realised most city folk are challenged by negative self talk and poor self care habits…

We are drowned in this condition and we just bounce around spilling it in the environment.. mostly unknowingly

Seema Hegde

Hmmm.

I had a teacher from my college, who is retired now, he used to say, one should always be up to date with the information. He was an exception among other elder teachers who would come to class without study and just blabber old, outdated things.

I think riyaz to a teacher (at least for me) is to refresh the lesson plan, no matter how many times it has been taught in previous years. There is always something new, which can be added this year.

Also, a teacher should always go beyond textbooks, experience hands on, expand their own knowledge, and in turn create interest in students.

For this, I follow a few things:

1. Reading magazines
2. Learning with students, especially while answering their questions. You see one question leads to many new things,, its like a chain reaction
3. Doing things myself

Samyak Bhuta

Students are jiv, chetana no punj ….chetanan to pind … Knowing what this jiv tatva is and what chaitanya it entails makes sense

I mean everyone is working with their material or dravya

• Musician has sound as material they shape it
• Writers shape thoughts and prose etc
• Coder shapes bits
• Teacher shapes jiv tatva

Dhara ben

Good morning, Beautiful question.

The first thing I practise every morning is “NETI NETI” recognising all the roles I play and remind myself I am beyond all of that, I mediate on the chants of nirvan shatakam every morning.

1. I take full responsibility of myself, my mind, my emotions and my body. I practise yoga 3 times a week, I dance, I go for walks, I am very particular about my diet (I let go fully when I am travelling or on a vacation) I spend good time in nature, parks, rivers, ocean .. all of these rejuvenate me.

2. I READ, I read a lot. All kinds of topics, I don’t complete a lot of books if there don’t hold my interest but I do explore. I also listen to podcast and audio books when I go for walks.

3. I love my family, very very deeply and I look after their needs, that keep me anchored and does not allow the rest of the things become centre stage. I have very few friends but they are my life lines.

Above all I keep a check on my self - Am I Happy, if not, then I check on what is the entanglement and I go back to “SHIVOHAM- SHIVOHAM”

https://youtu.be/LXtNqL2vxoA?si=BksqMD2_A48Osacv

Aditya

• Practice understanding
• Ask questions
• Consume the best content (never settle for cheap entertainment)
• Never regret your decisions

Roohe

1. Listening attentively
2. Being present and observant towards the child’s needs- said and unsaid
3. Expressing your feelings to them with utmost patience and care instead of getting agitated

Jayashree Ashok (Creative School)

Who is A Teacher?

Sri Aurobindo clearly mentions that the first principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught! What then is the role of the teacher?

A teacher is a role model, who points the way for students to unfold the knowledge that lies deep within them. Makes space for exploration, stays present and caring through many trials and mistakes and helps unfold wisdom that lies within. A Compassionate guide who holds space for self growth and learning to unfold. Helping students reflect and come to understanding within oneself. Who believes in each child’s potential and helps children see this!

Being a teacher is a path of yoga, of hard work, self discipline, self development and cultivating compassion for others. Teaching is a Sadhana that can lead one to self mastery.

Let us take back the dignity of this role - from just teaching a skill to holding a compassionate space for the unfolding of ourselves and the young souls in our lives!

Happy teachers day!

Nidhi Gulati

Mostly what I love is reading and writing, the more I read and write the better teacher I am becoming. The second most important thing is to develop a sense of calmness and tolerance through breath work, walking, taking breaks

Reva Swaraj

• Reflection
• Curiosity
• Non-judgemental attitude
• Having courage to say you don’t know

Karishma

Waah! What a question!

Mera riyaaz!

~ Khush raho ~ Connect with your needs and the child’s needs ~ Whatever is the question - Love is the answer

1. Do something that you really like doing just for yourself.
2. Self work (meditation and introspection)
3. Laughing at non sensical something even if it feels fake

Ankita Apu

Happy Teacher’s Day!!!

• One of the most important daily practices that I follow and I think every teacher should follow or think/ write/ make a voice note about how their day went and reflect upon it, what worked what did not work. This would involve how they felt when certain instances happened or when they were dealing with a particular child. As it helps, you plan for the next class, understand the child and yourself better which in turn helps you be a better teacher.

• I think many of the teachers do this as a practice- to read or watch videos that would help you understand the age group of children you’re handling, or more about your subject. Anything that can help you upskill yourself. This can also happen in a form discussion with your colleague. Not daily I would say but at least weekly once.

• Daily no matter how many classes you have facilitated to always go prepared and planned. To make a rough sketch of how you want to take things into class.

• Lastly, to have a support group could be your colleagues/ family/ friends to share your frustrations without getting judged. It’s important for your mental and emotional well-being as a teacher.

Most of them are just basic things which many of the teachers follow. The last one I think is also important and at times neglected. Teaching and dealing with children is not always rosy.

I hope I answered your question.

Additional Response: Connected to my last point, yes, it would help.

To engage in your interest it could be drawing, taking a walk or as you said doing absolutely nothing. I do have an hour after I come from school and just lie down to decompress for an hour. Of course, it will be subjective depending upon the person’s personality and interests.

Dancing is another go-to for me. Once in two months or at times every month when I feel overwhelmed or overworked, dancing helps me regulate.

Alok Ulfat

Don’t ask just witness without judgement. Be attentive awake and engaged.

Rest and do nothing when doing something 🪷

त्यागते हुए भोग करो

Rameshwari ben

Good morning… Not one practice… Many I follow…

1. What do I need to learn new to connect with these new generation kids… through books and other sources…stories, methods, new ways, new topics etc…

2. How can I become more empathetic towards children while I am with them… especially meeting demands of corporates and still continuing what we wish to do…

3. Not loosing connection: consistency of inputs…

4. Being a mother of children - loving them and all around them and their circumstances…at times friend to them n remain available all time so they can access me

5. I work with different age groups so different connection methods I particularly try to learn them and serve

6. My end goal remains my learning and their questions, their involvement…. avoiding teaching rather communicating during sessions…

7. For anything I, we or my team do - child centric approach kai rite follow Thai shake that is what I try…..balako ne majja plus learning male e try karu, activities, games, quizzes…

8. Love myself, my improvements and them and their presence…but still remaining detached with them and outcomes…enjoy the process

9. Remaining happy…a happy teacher creates happy world…

Thank you for asking this question to reflect and engage with my ownself

Sandhya ben

Hello… Yes, I would be delighted to share.

Although it’s not that I do the same practice everyday but yes with changing times and needs I do keep changing my Riaz but do it for sure…

The very first thing is gratitude…coz I feel am blessed and happy to BE !!!

Secondly I remind myself that I carry a responsibility of BEING happy thus to extend it to the souls around me.

Thirdly what I get is much more than I give so giving 2.0

And fourth but not the last is that I am going to a place promising the Future of humanity, am lucky to enjoy it 🙏

Tanuj Bhai

Awareness of one’s relationship with students and fellow colleagues

Vaibhav

https://youtu.be/LoUIthdIglc

Mihir

• Practice genuine relationship with children as a person (This includes being non judgmental, spend informal no agenda time, joke and lightheartedness)

• Practice being attentive while you are in action (when you are planning the session, when you are interacting with children, when you are doing some activity, observing children). Be in shantam state and witness while in action.

• Practice of breaking conditioning / readiness to respond to new things. Being ready for new experiences, making yourself physically and mentally ready for adventures (Doing yoga, voice exercises, theater exercises, dance)

• Try to do mundane things with joy, attentiveness, wonder and beauty (Anything like washing utensils, cleaning, yoga.. anything and everything)

• Learn new skills or explore new subjects which you are not going to teach (any nerdy thing), keep your curiosity and wonder alive.

• Writing as tool for thinking

Bansi

When I used to work with children, it gradually became very important for me to go back to school after dinner, around 6-7 pm when the girls had more time to themselves. To chat, meet, read together, work on library stuff, to do extra padhai. It became very important to be with them when neither of us were under pressure to conform to a role, a task or a value.

It greatly affected how I carried myself in school the next day, how I persisted getting over the resentment in what I felt school as a deeply conflicting space.

Jinal

Riyaz of attentive listening without judgement (to just the surrounding sound, not music or podcast or someone talking)

Vishal Bhadani

અભ્યાસ અને અભિવ્યક્તિ શુદ્ધિ

Isha Talsaniya

Hey! Such an insightful question..

For me - constantly learning myself is a non-negotiable. Which requires myriad inputs - books, travel, conversations, courses, podcasts etc

Hence practice 1 - Life-long learning.

The other is, reflection and reflective action. Cumulative time to look back and constant awareness of actions as I perform them.

So practice 2 is - Reflection and awareness (of self and other)

All about child

First of all Happy Teachers Day! Hmmm this made me think 🤔. Meditation is very important to keep a calm demeanour. Leave all your negative baggage behind before entering the school/ work space. Always keep the attitude of learning from your students.

Nav Nidhi

Spending time with children, be interested in them, loving them respecting them. I find this the most important. When this happens and when a connection is made, a lot of many things will start coming to the surface. I feel its also a process which unfolds in its own time and hence one shouldn’t hurry. Dont take yourself too seriously, someone who is very knowledgeable and knows the best for the children, this attitude always comes in the way we relate.

Chhaya

• વર્ગમાં જે ભણાવવાનું છે તે અવારનવાર જોવું, મોઢે થઈ ગયું હોય તો પણ
• વિવિધ પ્રકારના પુસ્તકો વાંચવા જે પોતાના મંતવ્યોને ચકાસવા મજબૂર કરે
• વર્ગ સાથે નિયમિત સંપર્ક રાખવો – વર્ગ છૂટતાં થિયરીઝ રહે છે અસલીયત નહીં.

I missed your ‘ન’ in previous prompt

Still, can’t detach myself from ‘work’, cz it has never been work only - life creeped in n out of it.

જીવનની પ્રેક્ટિસ –

For last few years I have tried following to break patterns and to do what I wanted to but couldn’t in the hustle:

1. Learning watercolor: it has become extremely interesting journey
2. Making friends of other faculty - like short story writers - I have realised that it is altogether a new universe than that of friends in education
3. Reading challenging stuff
4. Sitting quietly - doing nothing: I have found that I keep on doing one or other things like crochet or painting
5. Writing: I mostly write when I feel an urge. It amazes me how much n many चित्त has collected n accumulated: it is now helping me to become detached of them
6. Right now I am on trip with my colleagues - we are very different when it comes to approach to life, for them traveling without family is a very big deal.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Deborah

Hi Mihir, thanks for sharing the question. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, too.

In comparing a teacher to a writer, or a musician, there are implicit assumptions of teaching being akin to an art, more specifically, a performing art. The specific content of what they teach is actually secondary to how they are able to interact with, and motivate students. This is a reason why subject expertise doesn’t necessarily make one a good teacher, who is not dealing with empty containers to be filled with knowledge, but people with rich, complex inner lives who should feel motivated to learn.

This makes teaching a particularly hard occupation (I won’t go into the issues of conventional teacher training which is still running with a factory model of education). I do believe teaching is a calling, and suitable only to specific temperaments (whether these can be learned would be another discussion).

The core of teaching lies in deep empathy, and developing the skill to channelise it into specific forms of teaching. How then to continuously develop this empathy? I think it comes from the practice of daily attention and reflection. Many good teachers maintain journals outlining their daily practices, and that becomes its own piece of learning over the years. Through such reflexive practices, they are able to hone the innate knack of teaching into an intuitive skill.

Sahmata

• Listening
• Critical reflection
• Observing

Rachna Mam - MSU

Very interesting questions, thank you! Don’t think anyone is interested in teachers or teaching processes in such depth these days 😁

• An important daily practice that never quite ends is preparing for class. That includes content mastery and upgrade, time planning and pedagogical preparation. How can the same concept be taught using 2-3 methods or approaches.

• Openness to curiosity of students as well as being curious oneself - this is tied to mastery. Once you master the content, it opens doors to more questions and more thinking out of the box using the same mastery

• Evaluating whether students have understood and received content without dependence only on exams or tests. This helps in fine tuning content as per interest and pitching your teaching at an appropriate level

• Empathy and discipline need not be separated or seen as opposites….but as a daily practice entails mostly listening fully without bias.

Mitali Baxi

To me, this reyaz means: To work on own self much deeper, much objectively. Means, to grow cooler and cooler day by day by being more accepting, by understanding difference between expectations and real needs - of life.

I understand that when I grow wide, my increased compassion and acceptance connects me more with students and with all the people around children.

One more riyaz is to challenge own knowledge continuously to learn better for making students learn better.

What a beautiful question you asked!

For everyday practice: Reflection about the whole day is the key. For that, I dine around 6.30 pm, turn off my internet after 8 pm. And go to sleep between 10 and 10.30.

Also, whenever I get upset about anything, I start reflecting on it right in that moment.

(Till date I have found that any irritation has its root in me and only I can overcome it; the outer conditions are not at fault.)

Radika

For me, it has been self reflection so far.

Another one, Observing children, Noticing how they think, what excites them, where they struggle or what is something they don’t like. Watching with curiosity rather than judgement

Bansari

For me it is otherwise around I think because I do some practices as a person or as a human being, and those practices makes me teacher.

The most important practice is to understand that everyone’s reality is different there experience is a different and so the knowledge and their perception is. I practice this with all age groups. This practice also helps me to see every age groups as equal human beings.

Whenever I am asking a teach with a learning group, I do practice to put my self as I am. Also try to break stereotype of conventional teaching learning processes and perception of how a teacher is.

Muskan

What a lovely question :)

Happy Teacher’s Day Mihir! 😁

For me, reading something and doing some form of exercise for physical fitness are 2 important practices.

Reading opens up my mind, and is fun! Physical fitness helps balance my emotions, and thus allows me to understand myself & others better :)

Suraj

It’s interesting and takes a deep thinking

1. Continuous Learning, upgrading knowledge, attending training, reading, reflecting…
2. Adjusting methods when something isn’t work… Should have multiple methods to teach or learn…

These are from my side 😊

Pratika

1. Roz naya kuchh padhte rehna. Har mamle mai updated nahi raha ja sakta. Lekin jitna jyada raha ja sakta hai utna rehna. Naya padhna naye ideas deta hai, naya nazariya deta hai

2. Teacher ke role ki practice karna

Teacher koi insaan hota hai. Aur har insaan ke apne belief hote hai. Ab chunki wo teacher hai buae poori tarah un belief se bhare teacher ae alag nahi kar sakte. Wo teacher samaj ke 10 aur role mai hota hai, sambhav nahi aesa karna. Lekin as a teacher uski kya bhumikaye hai, ye use yaad karte rehna chahiye, taki uske niji vishwas aur mantaye uske kaam pe havi na ho.

Jo kinaam taur pe har teacher ke ho hi jati hai.

Tabhi schools mai saraswati pooja ya admission nke time ygya-hawan hote hai. Ameer gareeb bachcho ke sath bhedbhaav hote hai. Apne role ko nibhane ki practice.

Deeksha

Hey Mihir,

Apologies for the late reply.

I think first thing for me is to bring myself back to the point where everything originated for me. Which is to ask is my work making way for more sensitivity and does it helps myself and others to understand the vast interconnectedness and expance of life, or does it merely conditions others with my point of view, making the mind dull and narrow.

Second thing is to not put myself at pedestal, especially when I am with kids. I try to learn with them. Thigh I miss many times.

Thirds is a fairely new one, as a result of realisation of socio economic injustice, I tend to draw away form places which serve only class. Which is happening more and more into alternate spaces.

I thing quality education is for all and it should reach every child. Though it becomes difficult because ai have to earn and privileged space are usually the one paying teachers well. But I tend to be aware of it, even if I have to do it.

Last time I gave the text of weekly note to AI to make it spell and grammar mistake free, improve sentence structure while maintaining the tone and put it in good markdown format. But I felt it gave too many inputs. I was feeling that it is not my writing now.

This time I will try to make it more authentic, I just want spell check and grammar check - I am ok with basic sentence structure. From first grade to 12th grade I have studied in Gujarati medium and studied English as third language, there was no reading culture in the home.

I was living in small town called Padra - near Vadodara which does not offer very nice exposure on this front. So the point is my English is very basic, I mostly read Gujarati books, only read English books / blogs / research papers for work purpose, same with speaking English if needed for work otherwise I feel comfortable expressing myself in Gujarati and Hindi.

Having this type of background has pros and cons both. I have somewhat good - actually rich vocabulary of Gujarati. Good vocabulary in Hindi also because of my work period in Madhya Pradesh / Bhopal. I have my cultural rootedness in Gujarati. Gujarati folk songs, music, literature and more. I worked in different parts of Gujarat for example Valsad, Kutch, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara… this gave me exposure of Gujarat from pretty much every direction.

Now the cons.. I have very basic vocabulary in English, I feel difficulty in expressing complex ideas in English. Nowadays it’s easy because of AI tools to write and express yourself in written format but it is difficult if you are in front of someone.

I feel very embarrassed when I play any vocabulary games. With vocabulary comes culture which I am totally unaware of. But it’s ok. I am not feeling FOMO. I am happy where I am. I know basic communicative English and I am reading as much as I need for my work and exposure. I am happy about my grounding and rootedness, I know many people who know better English but they don’t have roots from where they belong to. Which is dangerous in my opinion.

Anyway let’s come back to weekly note:

As usual office. This week I have attended morning (8.30am) yoga session regularly. Except Saturday. This was good start for me. I am really enjoying yoga. But I feel 45 min session is not enough for me. I want longer in person session. Let’s see.. but I am enjoying what I am doing right now. I will stick to this schedule. Nidhi will also join whenever possible.

At work also I am trying to incorporate yoga in children’s learning experience. So exploring it deeply is my work interest also.

Wednesday was Ganesh Chaturthi holiday. We started counseling session with dear friend N. She is most sensitive and qualified person in this field, who knows me and Nidhi so we thought let’s give it a try. It is new beginning. We did first session on Wednesday and in the first session only I got to know about myself something new. This is the beauty of openness.. when you are open you will get to know about yourself..

This week at office was good. I have facilitated closing circle on Friday. We had team meeting to discuss Indian Knowledge System. Which I enjoyed the most. I look forward to mainly two things - session with children and team discussion meetings.

Saturday we went to Naturopathy check up and treatment. Except two days I followed the diet in this week. Which is a good start in this overly stimulating and tempting world. But I need to be more careful.

My obsession with Notebooks:

I love writing in notebooks, be it work ideas or writing poems. Preparing for presentation or blog post or weekly note..or just scribbling.. doodling.. I love my notebooks.

I was never into fancy handmade notebooks. It was not affordable and honestly I like notebook which is portable. Which I can carry everywhere and write in different positions. Till now I used to stock my A5 notebooks from Eklavya Foundation. Whenever I go for workshop I take few notebooks (mostly plantable paper notebook, off-white color papers from Pepaa.co). When I was in BLR, I tried using recycled paper notebooks from Rescript. It was nice. I also tried handmade paper - cloth cover notebook from one small shop near my house in BLR called Nammaangadi. It was in reasonable price around 100 - 150. Once I got very nice off white paper notebooks from Tiru in just 80rs. Now it is not available.

I have two notebooks in place for everyday work.

1. A7 pocket size notebook which goes everywhere I go in my pocket.
2. One A5 size notebook which will be in my bag.

Nowadays I am using Beena Antic ink pen. So now I need to use ink pen friendly notebooks.

Recently I got urge to buy new notebooks so I checked what I have there in my stock. I got 4 A5, 4 A6 and 7 A7 notebooks. All the notebooks gifted by Nidhi + friends. Two I bought myself.

But I cannot use all of these. Pocket notebooks are ok, ready to go. But A6 is not useful at all for me. In A5 I need to find out ink pen friendly one. So cotton papers / low GSM handmade paper will not work. I have eliminated and selected 3 A5 notebooks for daily use.

I have also eliminated classmate unruled notebook, which I tried using for few days. I don’t like cheap - shiny white paper. I like nice thick off-white paper.

In future I want to use Rescript notebooks again. Which is off-white, 70/80 GSM, recycled paper - available on Blinkit :)

I couldn’t resist myself so me and Nidhi went to Kalamkhush Handmade Paper Unit on Saturday afternoon. It was long due wish to visit handmade paper unit. My intention was to get some notebooks for gifting and if I get something which is cheap and ink pen friendly, I will stock it. I bought 3 notebooks. They are reasonable in price but paper quality is not ink pen friendly. But it is ok for normal pen user.

Nidhi went to Hoshangabad for workshop, I sent two notebooks with her for dear friends at Eklavya Foundation. Remaining one I will make music notebook or will gift someone .. don’t know. Nidhi will come back after one week. Coming week will be tough for me as our cook didi is not well.. so I need to make arrangement for breakfast, lunch and dinner according to my diet + taking care of small small things at house. My morning schedule is little tight as I want to do yoga + making breakfast + some other small small rituals… but I will manage…

How is life?

• Health: it is better, mental and physical both. Naturopathy and yoga se hi hoga..

• Finance: This month was overspending month because of festivals and other stuff. But overall everything is under control. I am continuously adding amount in MF portfolio. Next month I will be more conscious while spending.

• Work: Work is going well, soon our intervention will start with children. I am also enjoying IKS course.

Khojbeen mandali work is kind of on pause. Nidhi didn’t find time to go for the sessions this week. Because of various reasons - rain, periods, at Mitali ben’s school suddenly exam schedule got changed so that visit also got cancelled. It is ok.. I am trying if Nidhi gets internship at my office so she gets some regular time to interact with children and adults.

• Home: at home things are settled it seems. Still I feel anxious sometimes just thinking about home gives me fear.. but I am learning to be calm at this point..

• With Nidhi: Our relationship is growing, it is going into new phase. More mature and deeper phase.. everyday I am praying to universe.

• Book Reading is on pause. But I read weekly notes from Tanvi, Haripriya, Divya, Seema, Shared by seema : Namrata, Navya

Regular one : Thej, Shrayas, Adhavan. Sometimes I also use thej’s blogring or weekly notes planet

I spent time on Inked Happiness Blog reading about fountain pens, ink and paper.

Some videos I liked:

• સ્વની ખોજ, સ્વની મોજ | વિશાલ ભાદાણી

• PRABHATIYU | Jaago Ne | The ONE Song That Can Change Your Day

This is it for this week..

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth
instead of up and down—
who is gazing around
with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms
and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open,
and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down
into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

“The Summer Day” from House of Light by Mary Oliver, published by Beacon Press, Boston

How can we include these things in life of 3 to 8yr old children ?

• At this age, skills are given in seed form — not as formal training but through play, rhythm, imitation, and imagination.

• The teacher/parent’s role is to model beauty, order, joy → the child “absorbs” the Kalās naturally.

• Many Kalās that in Indian tradition appear as refined arts (music, crafts, riddles) are given through playful, child-suitable forms.

• We can includes some things as long term practice, some things as one of exposures. For example we can include art, hand work, music, drama in schedule as long term practice. Weaving cloth kind of thing as one of learning experience / project theme.

64 Kalā in Classroom (Ages 3–8)

Measure the walls.
Count the ribs.
Notch the long days.

Look up for blue sky through the spout.
Make small fires with the broken hulls of fishing boats.
Practice smoke signals.

Call old friends,
and listen for echoes of distant voices.

Organize your calendar.
Dream of the beach.
Look each way for the dim glow of light.

Work on your reports.
Review each of your life’s ten million choices.

Endure moments of self-loathing.
Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it.

Try to be very quiet,
and listen for the sound of gears and moving water.
Listen for the sound of your heart.

Be thankful that you are here,
swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait.

Be nostalgic.
Think of all the things you did
and could have done.

Remember treading water
in the center of the still night sea,
your toes pointing again and again
down,
down into the black depths.

This week was filled with profound realizations about myself and those close to me. I am discovering many things about myself when I am in a relationship, when I am with my partner. What are my triggers, what are my dislikes, what are my biases, what are the things I keep doing in loops, my thinking patterns… when my ego pops up, when my anger slips in… everything. I feel naked. I want to write all of this down in one separate notebook so I can start working on it.

Monday: As I mentioned in my previous note, we have started naturopathy treatment. The next step was doing a sonography report of the abdomen. On Monday we went to the sonography clinic. The naturopathy doctor suggested a clinic which is run by a non-profit organization and their rates are very reasonable. They charged 800rs for the sonography test.

I took work from home that day and we went to visit Shreyas Foundation School. I wanted to buy books written by Leena Sarabhai about the school. But I couldn’t get those in the library at Shreyas. They are not selling them. They are selling a very basic brochure-type book. I was very disappointed that day. I got to see the infrastructure and overall vibes of the school. That was also very, very inspiring. That day it was Leena ben’s birthday so the children were preparing for a performance. I was so amazed by the song selection and preparation done by the children. For a second it felt like my imagination of Shantiniketan.

Tuesday to Thursday: As usual, I was busy with office work. Not getting much time and energy to do something in the evening.

I had a very bad headache on Thursday late evening, so we went to a nearby doctor. It was the wrong decision - we should have waited till morning. It was just because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. But we got scared that it might be because of a blood pressure issue.

On Thursday, dear friend Nishtha came to facilitate a workshop at Tatvic office. Originally we both were going to facilitate that workshop but because of my office work I couldn’t join her. Nidhi joined her and they both conducted the workshop on Friday.

Friday we had an IKS workshop on 64 Kalas. It was really nice. I have written my notes on the same. I am really liking these sessions. I need to do some critical reading and make my understanding clearer. I need to push myself for it.

I read more about Waldorf education, history and timeline of influences on Rudolf Steiner. I found out his work is influenced by the Theosophical Society, Indian philosophy, Goethe’s science and more. It is very interesting. I want to read Goethean things so I can make more connections.

I tried 2-3 fountain pens in the past. Apart from my Pilot V5/7 pens, I use them. In December 2024, Tultul gifted me a ‘Beena Antic Pen’ and ‘Sulekha Green Ink’. I loved using it. Beena is a very reliable pen with a 3-in-1 mechanism (Cartridge + Converter + Eyedropper).

I liked the green ink from Sulekha which is called Swadhin. But after using green color for the last year I got bored of it, so after short research I bought a Parker - Quink (Black) ink bottle. It is superb… This changed my whole experience of writing. It is as dark as my V5 and smooth.

I was looking for a good stationery shop. A colleague from the office suggested ‘Sky Blue’. One of the stores is very near my house, so I went there. I was about to go for an exploration ride but at that time the shopkeeper asked, “What do you want sir?” I said ink. “What brand?” Parker. “Blue or Black?” Black… “90 rupees sir.” That’s it. I came back with the ink bottle. I am happy that I didn’t go for exploration… otherwise my monthly budget would have gone out of the way…

Saturday morning I had a Sanjhe Sapne team learning call. This time we talked about ‘Health and wellbeing for team and students’. After that we went to the naturopathy center. The doctor gave me a new diet plan which I need to follow from now onwards. Some medications are also there + I did mud pack and ghee massage treatment over there. I hope I get the strength to go through this journey. Outside food is so tempting - pani puri, ghughra, tea, sweets… but I will hold myself back. I will track it every day.

BTW my social media consumption has reduced because I have deleted Instagram and YouTube from my mobile. So I only use YouTube when I am on my desktop and very rarely use Insta for some reference in the browser. I am so happy about this change. Sometimes I feel like opening Insta but now it’s not on my phone so I go and read someone’s blog or check WhatsApp statuses. It is still better than Instagram reels. I wish to delete short-form content from everywhere. I found out that there are short video songs coming on Spotify also which are very similar to Shorts.

In the afternoon we had an art party at an office friend’s place. I enjoyed it. I made one line drawing and one zine based on my poem. Other people made paintings with soft pastels, watercolors, acrylic colors and more. I enjoyed making a proper zine for the first time. I want to do it more. I also found a very interesting Insta page around zine making. Ipsa Jain also uses this medium for science communication.

We had home-cooked lunch together. After some time people started playing UNO. It’s a game I hadn’t played, so I kept myself busy with other things. I don’t know, but there is a fear of judgment or something else… I am not able to enjoy games. Any type of competition or win/lose thing. The last time I tried was when I went to a game cafe with Malay. It takes effort from my side to make myself open to it. I need to work on this.

My zine & other art

The zine is based on my poem - My Clock

Nidhi’s Art

Sunday morning we had a call with our friends who are looking for jobs or feeling stuck in their career. It is like a sangha. We help each other, share tools, ideas, opportunities. Help each other to identify their strengths, vision and clarity of thought. We call this group ‘Kam-Kaj’.

Nishtha went back to Goa. We couldn’t spend much time because she went to meet another friend in the town. Saturday she was super tired and Sunday she was not feeling well so we just had lunch together and did a send-off to the airport.

Khojbeen Mandali & Sakha Updates:

• Nidhi did a tree walk with children at the learning center this week.
• At Sakha, we both are not getting much time to get involved. But they are doing amazing sessions and projects. They did a special session on Krishna on Janmashtami. Apart from that they are visiting nearby villages to understand life over there. They have done 5-8 visits till now. Now they are figuring out how they can engage with youth or children from the village. They are working on one more project called ‘unsung heroes’, where they take interviews of interesting people.

Overall / Self Reminders:

• I need to do yoga regularly, so I need to save my energy in the evening so I can do it at 7pm with Nidhi.
• No Insta and no YouTube is going good, I need to keep going
• Strictly home food, as suggested by the doctor
• Create an environment to read research papers and make notes.

Reading

I have started reading a book called ‘Gurudev Amara Aangne’. It is going well.

Poems

• Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
• A Summer Day

Gifts from friends

Music

• સાગર રાણો - ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી
• મોરલા હો ! મુંને થોડી ઘડી… – રવિન્દ્રનાથ ટાગોર (અનુ. ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી)

Overall things are on a good note. I am enjoying work, home things seem to be a little more settled, and Nidhi and I are also learning more about each other.

I am very grateful to my office friends for their support and love.

Next week will be more focused on following the diet, working with children. On the weekend we are going to visit Mitali ben’s school.

રવિન્દ્રનાથ ટાગોર (અનુ. ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી)

સ્વર : શ્યામલ – સૌમિલ – આરતી મુન્શી

સંગીત : શ્યામલ – સૌમિલ મુન્શી

Audio

મોરલા હો ! મુંને થોડી ઘડી તારો આપ અષાઢીલો કંઠ : ખોવાયેલી વાદળીને હું છેલ્લી વાર સાદ પાડી લઉં.

ઇંન્દ્રધનુષ ! તારા રંગ-ધોધોમાંથી એક માગું લીલું બુન્દ : સાંભરતાંને આંકવા કાજે પીંછી મારી બોળવા દેજે !

મેઘમાલા ! તારા લાખ તારોમાંથી ખેંચવા દે એક તાર : બેસાડીને સૂર બાકીના પાછી સોંપી દૈશ હું વીણા.

ઘોર સિંધુ ! તારા વીંજણાનું નાનું આપજે એક કલ્લોક : હૈયું એક નીંદવિહોણું – ભાલે એને વાયરો ઢોળું.

રાતરાણી ! તારા ઝાકઝમાળાનું મારે નથી કાંઇ કામ : ગાઢ અંધકાર – પછેડા ઓઢાડી દે ઊંઘની વેળા.

[લોકગીતોના ઢાળોમાંથી ઘડેલો ઢાળ]

માળા ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે.

ધરતીને હૈયે પે’રાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે

આઘે આઘે એની અનુપમ વાડી,

ચાંદો સૂરજ રૂડા રાખ્યા બે માળી,

વિધ વિધ વેલડી વાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા

ઊંડે પાતાળે ગાળ્યા એણે ક્યારા

રોપ્યા રાતલડીના રંગત તારા

નવલખ નદીઓ સિંચાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા

સોનલ ફૂલડે સવાર મલકતાં

સંધ્યાના થાળ ગુલાબે છલકતા

રજનીમાં ડોલર આવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા.

રાત દિવસ બીજાં કામ ન ફાવે,

ગાંડો પિયુજી લાખો ગેંદ ગૂંથાવે,

જૂજવા રંગ મિલાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા.

રીસભરી ધરણી નવ રીઝે

સ્વામીનાં દાન ત્રોડી ત્રોડી ખીજે

દરિયો વિલાપ બજાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા.

યુગયુગના અણભંગ અબોલા

સૂના સાગર કેરા હૈયા-હિંડોળા

ગરીબડો થઈને બોલાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે. -માળા.

કરુણાળુ બોલ કહાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે.

ગેબીલા શબદ સુણાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે

ચરણ ચૂમીચૂમી ગાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે

માળા ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે.

ધરતીને પાયે પે’રાવે

સાગર રાણો ફૂલડાં ગૂંથી ગૂંથી લાવે.

સ્રોત

પુસ્તક : સોના નાવડી (પૃષ્ઠ ક્રમાંક 197)
સંપાદક : જયંત મેઘાણી
પ્રકાશક : ગુજરાત સાહિત્ય અકાદમી
વર્ષ : 1997

Our true nature is a state of inner joy, peace, clarity, and connection — where we feel light, open, and deeply at home in ourselves and with the world. A person living from this true nature acts with compassion, wisdom, and balance, responding to life rather than reacting from fear or habit. Yet, we are not able to live in this space every moment because our mind gets clouded by avidyā — ignorance of who we really are — which shows up as old habits, emotions, beliefs, and conditioning that cover our inner light. Vidyā, or true knowledge, is the process of clearing these clouds so the sun of our real self can shine naturally. To do this, we walk paths that engage the whole being through the Panchakosha framework: yoga practices to align body, breath, and mind; the 64 kalās to refine our senses, skills, and creativity; and Rasa theory to understand and harmonize our emotions. Together, these tools help children and adults alike live more and more from their true nature, moment to moment.

Version 2 :

Our Ātman — the innermost Self — is identical with Brahman, the infinite reality. In its pure state, it is sat–chit–ānanda: existence, consciousness, and bliss. Living in awareness of this Self feels like natural joy, peace, clarity, and connection — a sense of being fully at home in oneself and in harmony with the universe. One who abides in this realization acts with compassion, wisdom, and balance, responding to life from presence rather than reacting from fear or habit. Yet, this abiding awareness is often veiled by avidyā — ignorance of our true identity as Ātman–Brahman — manifesting as old patterns, emotions, beliefs, and conditioning that obscure our inner light. Vidyā, or liberating knowledge, is the process of removing these coverings so the radiance of the Self shines unobstructed.

For children aged 3–8, education can nurture this natural awareness by protecting their curiosity, guiding their emotions, and helping them explore the world with wonder rather than fear. Through the Panchakosha framework, yoga can help them develop body–mind awareness and calm breathing; the 64 kalās can be introduced as age-appropriate creative arts and life skills to refine senses and expression; and Rasa theory can guide activities that help them recognize, name, and balance emotions. In this way, early learning does not just transfer information but cultivates a child’s wholeness — allowing them to grow without losing touch with their true Self, so that the seed of Ātman–Brahman awareness can flourish throughout life.

I have started my naturopathy treatment again. It is for my stomach pain (while eating outside food, slightly spicy food, or some specific foods) and headaches (during evening time, after long screen time, or during high temperatures). The naturopathy center is very close to our home. It is called Vasant Nature Cure. I was amazed after reading the history of this initiative. Really inspiring work.

I took my microscope to office and we had informal session with our team.. just exploring microscope, watching different things… our team enjoyed it. I think we should spend more time like this.

Tuesday to Thursday I was busy at the office, mostly working with children and other tasks.

It was a long weekend: 15th August, Janmashtami, and Sunday.

This time we decided to celebrate Janmashtami at home. Nidhi was super duper excited. Initially we were planning to go to Dharmpur for a short trip and had even booked tickets, but we canceled the plan at the last minute mainly because I was feeling low and tired, not wanting to travel.

Friday we did prep for Janmashtami, and Saturday evening we celebrated it wholeheartedly. I invited a few friends but they couldn’t join. One of my office colleagues / friend joined and helped us a lot with cooking and preparation of the whole thing. I am very grateful to her. I was so happy looking at Nidhi. She was super happy. She had a long-standing wish to celebrate Janmashtami at home, and I am glad that we could make this happen.

I have found one beautiful temple near our home, where I can spend some quiet time after my office hours. I am planning to go at least twice a week.

Saturday morning, as usual, I attended my Indian Knowledge System online course. I am enjoying it. Here I made some basic notes about my understanding.

I am working on one project with Srivi, which is around Indian Aesthetics and education. I need to give more time to reading and researching for the same.

Sunday we went to our office colleague’s home. We had lunch there and spent the evening at the River front. We also visited Navjeevan Publication Book store. I bought two books:

We also visited the very interesting analog photography exhibition at the same place.

I have realized that I am more drawn to poems, essays, and short stories or character sketches. I am not able to finish novels or long-form writing.

These days I am more interested in Tagore’s work and philosophy, so I’m looking forward to the book I brought about Tagore. I also like to write essays, so this time I am going to study from the other book, which is a compilation of essays from the best authors in Gujarati language.

We are getting into a routine slowly. I am learning to ’let it go,’ release tensions and many unlearnings. I am trusting the universe. Slowly we will make sure that we wake up early, do yoga, eat healthy food, and work with a fresh and happy mind. What else is a happy life? For me this is the lifelong goal - to be in touch with your true nature and live each and every moment choicefully.

Our study tables:

Nowadays I am only able to focus on my full-time work plus some research on IKS. All the other projects are kind of paused. I am taking it slowly. I am actually enjoying the work I am doing with children at my office. I am seriously thinking of shifting my focus to early childhood education and working more deeply in that area. Let’s see.

This month we spent beyond our budget on shopping and festival stuff, but it’s okay.

Updates:

• Next week Nishtha is coming for one workshop at Tatvic office. (we are doing it together)
• Nidhi and I will go to Mitali ben’s school at the end of this month.
• Nidhi will be regularly going to the learning center and volunteering for an online course at Eklavya. She is going to visit Bhopal to attend an offline workshop of the same course in the first week of September.

This week seemed to fly by. I was still writing last week’s note on Tuesday, and now the week is already over.

I spent most of this week with the children. As part of my full-time work, I’ve become a regular part of the Kindergarten pilot program. I conduct hour-long sessions with the children every day from Tuesday to Friday. When I spend the morning with the children, the entire day becomes enjoyable, though I do get tired afterward. Making 30 children sing songs and do physical activities leaves me feeling a bit drained. It reminds me that I’m 30 years old now… but it’s still incredibly fun.

On Monday, Nidhi came to the office. All of us office friends gathered together and identified the biodiversity spread across our campus.

Regarding office work - my office laptop still hasn’t been repaired, so I have to think and write in a notebook. (I’ve also deleted Instagram and other social media apps from my phone, which helps.) I often find that having a laptop with unlimited internet creates a kind of distraction.

Now, when I have actual work to do, I either ask to borrow someone else’s laptop or complete the task on my phone. The laptop at home has essentially become a desktop, so even there - when I need to do real work, I connect to the internet through my phone and work on the big screen. The key is not taking your laptop and phone into the bedroom - that makes a huge difference.

Last week I was considering something like publishing blog posts via email, but after talking with friends and doing some reading, I found a new and simple solution: prepare a markdown file in SimpleNote and copy-paste it into GitHub’s mobile app. Cloudflare handles the rest. I also tried an app called Git Journal, but encountered some metadata errors, so I stuck with the workflow mentioned above.

This way, even if my laptop isn’t available, I can at least update my website from my phone. Of course, I still need a laptop and Linux setup for editing themes and other technical work, but for blog posts (just text), this method works perfectly. I still need to figure out the best way to post images.

On Friday evening, I went out for dinner with my office friends. It was enjoyable. The highlights of this week were definitely the time spent with kids and friends.

Saturday - Raksha Bandhan: Nidhi enjoys celebrating festivals, and I thought it was a day off, we could relax… but we celebrated it in a small way. We made Shiro/halwa at home and ordered puri sabji from outside. We tied rakhi to each other, shared our feelings of gratitude with the universe, and prayed.

In the evening, I completed some work-related tasks and meetings, then went for a short ride on the Activa.

My health is fine now. Yesterday my blood pressure suddenly dropped, and I felt dizzy. I drank ORS which helped somewhat, but I still have a headache.

Today is mostly about rest and housework, with a little preparation for the work I need to do with the kids starting from Tuesday.

Today Nidhi successfully made dosa on the cast iron tava for the first time. (I forgot to take a photo)

Khojbin Mandali

Nidhi conducted two sessions at the Learning Center this week.

In the first session, there was an activity about types of trees and how to identify them.

In the second session, she worked with the children to create a local map and mark trees on it - essentially making a tree map.

After conducting the sessions, Nidhi felt she needed to work on her voice projection, so we did some voice exercises together. I firmly believe that anyone working directly with children should do exercises similar to what actors do. I’ll write more about this topic in a separate post.

Other Updates

• I applied for an IPO for the first time and was successful. So that’s my first stock investment!
• After much thinking and experimentation, we’ve decided to hire a cook for home. (We haven’t quite figured out yet whether this is our laziness or a way to save time for other work :))
• Nidhi ordered a study table from Amazon, but it hasn’t been assembled yet. I figured that instead of struggling with it myself, I’d get help from a carpenter.
• We’re experimenting with following a routine together. Slowly, slowly…
• Overall mood is good… happy, happy..

I am writing this weekly note on Tuesday evening from my bullet notes and publishing it with a backdate (2nd Aug). I put pointers in my simple note app about the week and finally elaborate on it on Sunday late evening to publish it, but many times I don’t get time on Sunday to sit and do this task, so I do it on Monday or at the latest on Tuesday.

Monday - I was thinking of starting morning yoga at a nearby place, but finally we decided to join an online evening yoga class. It is difficult for Nidhi to wake up early and go for yoga class, and the yoga center doesn’t have mixed-gender batches available in the evening - they only have female batches. So we settled on a YouTube live-based yoga class. The subscription is ₹3k for a year. They live stream new sessions every day; you can join morning or evening batches plus there’s a WhatsApp community. It’s nice. But the only thing you miss is live interaction because you can just comment on YouTube during live streaming. The yoga teacher won’t be able to see your posture and guide you. You need to do it by yourself. The benefit is you get curated yoga sessions and a WhatsApp community which motivates/reminds you about the sessions.

Lately, I’ve been looking for some app or online guided sessions for breathwork/meditation. I found something called Still. But it’s very costly for me. I like the founder’s story. I tried attending one more guided session with different app, but the facilitator’s vibe didn’t match.

Tuesday - We watched ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Nidhi grew up watching Bollywood movies, especially Shah Rukh Khan films… she still loves watching them. I never got the chance and motivation to watch any of SRK’s famous movies, so she’s taking me through that trauma journey… I somewhat enjoyed the first half (after shutting my brain off).

Wednesday - At the office, I finally started working with children/taking daily sessions with kindergarteners. I’m feeling so happy and grateful to the universe.

We met an educator friend in the evening at a cafe called ‘Native Stories’.

Thursday - I met with a small accident while going to the office. I was trying to cross the road on my Activa when a bike rider hit me. I got a jerk, and because of the weight of the helmet, my neck’s soft tissue muscles got damaged. It took three days to get back to normal. I took medicines plus the support of a neck belt.

Now, the more interesting part: while this happened, my laptop bag fell down from the Activa onto the road. Before I could pick it up, someone drove a car over that bag. Both my home laptop and office laptop got damaged. Both are ThinkPad laptops - one has an aluminum body and the other has a carbon body. The office laptop’s (aluminum one) screen got more damage. The home laptop (carbon) also got screen damage, but it’s just a small crack and flickering screen. Very bad day… but somehow I managed.

Right now my office laptop is in the ICU. I’m using my home laptop as a desktop with my LG monitor. It’s working pretty well. I’m surprised how this machine survived after a car went over it.

Friday - Took the day off from office because of the pain. Spent time with Nidhi, planning activities to do at the learning center.

Nidhi started volunteering for a course called - Education for Dialogue, Maitri and Justice (by Prof Aman Madan, Ruchi and other facilitators). She’s going to attend all the online sessions and an in-person workshop at Bhopal - Eklavya campus.

Saturday - Took the day off from work. Did morning yoga with Nidhi. Started a learning project with Dr. Srivi Kalyan around Aesthetics Education for educators and primary grade children. I will share more details soon.

Nidhi’s session got cancelled, so we went to Manek Chowk and explored Ahmedabad’s pols and did some shopping.

Sunday

Sunday was a hectic day. In the morning, we organized an online meeting for our friends working in the development/education sector who are looking for jobs or better career opportunities. We heard all the points where they feel stuck and tried to share some ideas, insights, and frameworks about how to approach this whole thing.

• Large-scale organizations give good money, but the work isn’t meaningful
• Cities have better job options, but lifestyle is better in villages
• I want to work directly with children, but field people or ground-level people get less salary while management people get more
• I don’t know what skills I have
• I don’t know what type of roles I can do
• How to find work-life balance, how to find meaning in work
• How to judge an organization before joining it

Many more queries…

In the afternoon, I spent time with my dear friend Malay. In the evening, I went with him to a board game cafe in South Bopal called ‘One 20min Hub’. We were a group of five (Malay, Mihir + Malay’s friends), and we played 3 games. I tried and enjoyed playing board games for the very first time.

I feel a little anxious in vocabulary-based games. We played ‘Codenames’… I made mistakes but still somehow managed… enjoyed it. I wish I had better English vocabulary.

Apart from that, we played Carcassonne and Splendor. Enjoyed them.

Apart from all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Malay about philosophy, aesthetics, games, and life…

Nikita di sent really good books about Shree Ramana Maharshi from Tiruvannamalai. Really thankful to her.

I got a new idea to add to this website. I want to do something like an ’email to blog post’ feature. What if a laptop isn’t available? I can just email to a specific email ID with the content of weekly notes, and some script triggers, copies that content - makes a .md file - puts it in the relevant folder of the GitHub repo and pushes it - Cloudflare Pages will build the Hugo site and publish it. I tried doing it with the help of ChatGPT, but it’s pretty complex for me. I need some help. I will try it again.

I got new borsil water bottle as a gift from Tanu :)

Photos

હરિ મારુ ગાડું ક્યાં લઇ જાય કાંઈ ન જાણું…..

ધરમ કરમ ના બાંધ્યા બળદિયા

ધીરજની લગામ તાણી

કાંઈ ન જાણું

સુખને દુઃખના પૈડાં ઉપર ગાડું ચાલતું જાય

કદી ઉગે આશાનો સૂરજ , કદી અંધારું થાય

This week was healing for me. There were ups and downs, but overall it ended on a good note.

Monday to Friday was mostly office work. Soon I will start taking sessions with children apart from sitting at my desk and working on my laptop.

Wednesday & Thursday - Nidhi went to Mitali ben’s school - Kanisa (Khambhat) for taking sessions with children. It went well. She is going to continue this engagement. She will go to take sessions once a month.

I feel so happy to see Nidhi taking sessions with children and spending time with teachers. She is in her real avatar when she is with children and teachers who love her. I wish she gets more and more opportunities to spend time with lovely people and nature.

Friday I went to physiotherapy for my back pain. It was unbearable. Physiotherapy gives temporary relief, but I need to do regular exercises. I must join a regular yoga class. Waking up early is a little bit difficult for me - I have spoiled myself. But I will definitely join the 7am yoga class batch and see how it goes for a month.

Saturday & Sunday were fully packed.

Saturday I attended two workshops from the office: ‘Indian Aesthetics’ and ‘Games & Activities for Neurodivergent Children’. I enjoyed attending the Indian aesthetics workshop. It is validating my personal educational philosophy, which is mostly inspired by J. Krishnamurti, Martin Buber, and a few other philosophers.

I published a blog post on Indian Art & Aesthetics after listening to Udayan Bajpayee’s lecture.

I had my regular learning call with the Sanjhe Sapne team. It is going well.

We went to the park in the evening and had a good 30-minute walk. Nidhi took a bath in the rain in the evening - she enjoyed it a lot.

Sunday morning we had a good walk at the park and breakfast.

We tried making our daily schedule and list of projects in hand.

Sunday evening was wonderful. We went to ‘Shabad Parikrama by Hardik Dave’. It was a long-held wish and dream to go to this event with Nidhi. She didn’t understand all the Gujarati verses, but she still enjoyed the overall vibes. I am very grateful to Hardik Dave and his team for organizing events like this. Please explore his Instagram to know more about his work.

My grandfather was a bhajanik - he was running a bhajan mandali. Hardik’s work reminds me of him.

We have ordered a study table for Nidhi. It arrived, but we need to assemble it.

I observed that my Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn feeds are all filled with posts about ‘people working on laptops’. I was looking for inspiration where someone is working with children and sharing their process, behind the scenes, struggles… I see that an educator’s process is like an actor’s process.

Adulting is at its peak - we are discussing everything about cooking, washing, shopping, and many household things.

I reached out to two or three people with requests for interesting learning projects. All replied in a positive manner. Let me process it. Hopefully something interesting and meaningful is coming up.

Overall, things are okay. I am also in a better state of mind. I am planning to make a mood board at home about my work and inspiration. Ideas are welcome.

Photos :

Music:

Mostly bhajan / shabad / sufi songs this time…

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Master class on Indian Art and Aesthetics by Udayan Vajpeyii

My takeaway : The role of aesthetics in Indian thought is to evoke rasa — the emotional essence that touches the heart deeply. This rasa becomes a gateway to self-awareness, inviting you to notice what is happening inside you as you watch, listen, or experience something.

When you are able to give full attention to that inner movement, viveka (discernment) or prajñā (wisdom) begins to awaken. From this awakening, your actions can emerge from a dhārmik space — not just in a moral or religious sense, but in alignment with inner truth, right relationship, and the greater harmony of life.

To live dhārmikly, then, is to stay close to what is alive within you. In this, art and aesthetics become tools of inner refinement. They make you sensitive — not only to the outer world, but also to the subtle stirrings of your own being

Abhinavagupta: who saw rasa as a pathway to śānta rasa (peace), the highest aesthetic and spiritual state.

Tagore: who wrote about sahaj saundarya — a spontaneous aesthetic that brings inner harmony.

Anand Coomaraswamy: who said, “The artist is not a special kind of man, but every man is a special kind of artist when he is in tune with his own dharma.”

Comparison of Platonic Aesthetics and Indian Aesthetics to help you understand the essential differences:

📘 Platonic Aesthetics (Western/Greek Tradition)

🪷 Indian Aesthetics (Indic Tradition)

I took off from the office Monday to Wednesday. It helped me a lot to stabilize myself and somewhat handle the situation while taking care of myself. I am very grateful to my team for being supportive.

Khojbeen Mandali Update:

I went to Nidhi’s learning center on Tuesday evening. We are still doing pre-tests with children. Hopefully, we will start the intervention from next week.

Mahendra sir was in town for two days. He called and we met for dinner on Wednesday. It was nice as usual—discussions about educational philosophy, teacher education, and life in general. He introduced us to a nice South Indian restaurant near Gujarat Vidyapith.

Thursday : We went to see ‘Metro in Dino…’. I liked the movie.

On Friday evening, office colleagues made a spontaneous plan and came home. We had chai, ghughra, and made a nice dinner—dal chawal, began sabji…

It was really nice to forget everything and be with friends, enjoying the moment.

Saturday was busy with a workshop/course I’m attending from the office on ‘Indian Aesthetics’. Slowly, I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’m able to make connections. I used to have these types of discussions with Mahendra sir. I want to deep dive into this and do something tangible with it in the classroom with children.

I haven’t been part of formal college education, so I’ve felt the need over the years to find learning opportunities beyond professional, outcome-driven roles. I long for a phase where I can simply be a student again. I wish to take a break from my full-time job for 2-3 months. During that time, I want to do something (facilitation/assisting someone in writing a research paper) around:

• Development of environmental aesthetic sense in children, especially from an Indic perspective
• Exploration of the affective domain, connecting it with Rasa theory
• Project-based and integrated learning approaches
• Something related to neuroscience, environment and aesthetics

Let me manifest it. If you are reading this and know someone related to this, please connect me.

On one side, I’m interested in working with older children/teenagers through projects, helping to develop self-directed learning spaces. On the other side, I like working with younger children on the topics mentioned above.

I need to think about the long term—what will be useful for making my career more sustainable. This is a very capitalistic thought… where I have fear about my career.

It’s difficult to choose paths without any fear when you’re married, in your 30s, when the world is moving at super-fast speed. I have an understanding partner; we’re ready to support each other, but still… I never thought this way when I was alone, but now it’s by default.

I just started earning some money after so many years, and suddenly I want to take a break to pursue a deeper learning journey. There should be some support system for these types of sabbaticals…

I just remembered that I never take intentional vacations or travel without any agenda since I’ve been working. From age 18, I’ve been constantly working—job after job, place after place—proving myself, working with children, teachers and organizations, learning new things, trying to establish myself in this fast-moving world.

I want to use the break to just be… without any agenda… heal myself… love myself more.

On Sunday, we went to Vadodara. I facilitated a creative writing workshop with Sakha fellows. It was a super hectic day. We started at 9:30 in the morning and came back around the same time at night. We spent almost 6 hours traveling for a 3-hour workshop. But we enjoyed spending time with young people, exploring poetry and other forms of writing with them. I will write a separate post about the same.

We need to find a way to stay back in Vadodara to rest and come back the next day.

This week I said no to one freelance project. It was related to developing modules around climate action mindset and career paths for middle school children. It was an interesting subject, but right now I don’t have the time or mental stability to sit and work on this project along with my full-time job. Nidhi is also busy with other projects. I am very grateful to the people for trusting and supporting me for this.

A friend and I are working on experiential learning / game-based workshops with corporate employees. It’s new for me. I’m learning how to facilitate Gen Z employees through games :)

What else? I’m trying to stabilize myself. Finding my grounding… I don’t want to travel anywhere this month. I want to be at home, go to the office regularly, focus on a few things.

I didn’t go to the therapist after the first session. I’m rethinking the same—should I go or not? I want to find alternative ways to heal myself.

Things will get better…

धीरे-धीरे रे मना, धीरे सब कुछ होय । माली सींचे सौ घड़ा, ऋतु आए फल होय ॥

I wanted to write this weekly note in Gujarati but I restricted myself, because many friends/readers are not from Gujarat. I don’t want to trust Google Translate for my Gujarati :) but I will definitely start writing other posts in Gujarati soon.

Us

The first half of the week went mostly in office work.

I have visited Vadodara for a family matter. Mom is with us. My mental health is at its worst. I am taking a break from office work (still doing other side projects slowly) and working on my self. This family matter is taking too much out of me. Not able to focus on any projects/work.

It is ok, it is a phase. It will also pass. I wish friends could come to visit us. I am feeling very alone. We, me and Nidhi both need support.

If you are reading this, have the luxury to work from home/take leave from work. Please do come to visit us in Ahmedabad. Spend time with us without any agenda.

I am very proud of myself that I am committed to weekly notes. Week by week documenting the journey, reflecting… just putting out words there also gives me relief… this is my medium of sharing… sharing a piece of life. Sometimes it puts me in trouble also when I put some sensitive info out there but it is ok. I am learning. I don’t want to censor so much. I read Divya’s weekly note. The way she expresses gives me hope.

Thejesh shared some very interesting stuff about ‘weekly notes’ in his latest weekly note which I liked so much. So sharing here again :

• Blog post by James - “More People should write”.

• Excerpt from the book “Field Notes on Science and Nature.” which describes the nature of weekly notes:

Taking time to write out an idea or observation forces us to pause and consider. Recording the daily unfolding of experiments—their success or failure—encourages an honest assessment of how each day’s work fits within the underlying goals and theory of the project. It takes time to create a narrative of experiments, events, and observations, but it eventually pays dividends because it forces thorough examination, which is a common characteristic of science across disciplines. In Darwin’s description of the marine iguana, for example, we can imagine him on board the Beagle, penning his zoological notes and pondering the origin of their “apparent stupidity.”

Resources on nature journaling:

How to teach nature Journaling Keeping a natural Journal

I will write my experience with nature journaling and teaching natural journaling to educators and children in a separate post.

I wanted to build a social media feed kind of page on my blog for a long time. Just like Twitter feed with short text or image. I saw an example of that on Sylvia’s website and tried making it for my Hugo site with the help of ChatGPT. Finally made the basic version which I like. I will share the link after I put something on it. I will also try to create a different RSS feed for that.

Let me tell you this, do you know some people go to their favorite shows/books/places when they are low or stressed. I go to my favorite blogs/weekly notes. Specially Thej’s blog and Kartik bhai’s blog. I read old posts. At Kartik bhai’s blog I read his reports about DebConf or other FOSS conf/meetups (Wikipedia, OSM, blogger community). It is very refreshing for me.

Saturday & Sunday was little happening. I had a call with Sanjhe Sapne team, mentoring call with Earth Educator fellow, and I attended one office work related online workshop.

Sunday I met dear friend Malay after few months. We talked about many interesting topics. One thing I shared with him was the disappearing of open source/FOSS communities. Few years ago there were communities of Wikipedians, OSM people, bloggers, Linux meetups… nowadays there are very few meetups in cities like Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Nowadays I see meetups around AI and AWS :) which is ok… I don’t know I like more of the old stuff :)

I need to prepare myself for working with children. Need to do some robust planning, some theater activities for self to get into the zone… I need to leave these screens and be more with myself.

I started reading again, very slowly I am picking up… finished last few chapters of the book called ‘Electric Train’. I am going to pick the book called ‘Rakhdu no kagad’ (which I already read in the past) again. Going back to familiar things… this is the phase right now.

Nidhi also made Puranpoli for the first time. Forgot to take photo of that :)

Health

This week was difficult. My mental health is in a very bad phase. Over the last few months, I somehow managed, but now it’s hitting me hard. I’m not able to concentrate on work. Feeling anxious, being zoned out, sleep cycle disturbed. I’m feeling that everything is meaningless. I’ve started therapy. Let’s see how it goes. It’s costly, but at this point in time, I want to invest in my health. I am very grateful for Nidhi’s support.

We bought health supplements for both of us long back, but haven’t started taking them yet. Yesterday, Nidhi made a nice poster with the timings and names of the supplements. So… let’s begin!

I want do yoga regularly, wish me luck !!

Nidhi has been unwell for the last few days. Stomach pain — maybe because of outside food in this weather. She’s better today.

Personal Website

I’ve made some changes to my website hosting setup. I started with a GitHub repo + GitHub Pages, where I edited my files on my local machine, built the Hugo site, and pushed it to the Git repo. It got published on GitHub Pages.

Then I moved to Cloudflare Pages, where I edited and built the Hugo site and pushed the public folder to CF Pages.

I have different machines at the office and at home. In the CF Pages setup, I wasn’t able to edit my site during my office chai breaks. Sometimes I get ideas, and I don’t want to wait until I sit at my personal laptop to publish them. So I went back to GitHub.

Now, I’ve put all my content files on the Git repo, and CF Pages builds the Hugo site automatically. Now I can edit my files on the Git repo from the browser. I tried using Git through the command line, but my office laptop is Windows, so it was difficult. It didn’t even understand some file names — some error came because of that. WSL is not allowed to download, so finally, the browser was my saviour.

I was concerned about the repo size because I publish images in every weekly note. I’m using Hugo’s image optimization shortcode which converts images into WebP, resizes them, and makes them responsive — so I’m hopeful.

In short, now I can log in to GitHub and edit my site (very basic functions like adding a new post or editing an existing post).

btw I have added small little black dot as favicon :)

Meet up :

Jitu (one of the members from our Sakha community) visited us on Friday. He studies Electronics and Communication at LD Engineering College, Ahmedabad. We talked about AI, programming, life, nature, climate change, and what not… We had nice Jamnagri Ghughra near our home and took a lovely walk at Eklavya Sports Campus.

Jamnagari Ghughra is a savory, fried pastry from Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, featuring a spicy potato and pea filling. It’s a popular street food, often enjoyed with spicy and sweet chutneys. The dish is known for its crispy outer layer and flavorful stuffing.

What else?

Khojbeen Mandali is on pause because of the rain. Other projects are also running slow… This month, I’ll take things slow. Do some rejuvenation for myself and come back with fresh energy.

We’re trying to post regular content on the Khojbeen Mandali Instagram handle. Please follow us if you haven’t already!

Food and Us

Nidhi made wonderful dhokli today… it reminded me of mom. (Dhokli is a traditional Gujarati dish — wheat flour dumplings simmered in a tangy, spiced lentil curry. Comfort food at its best.)

We watched Sitare Zameen Par on Monday. It was a nice film. I just wish the narrative had been a little subtler—it felt too direct for me. But still, it’s a really important subject that needs to be talked about in mass media.

For the first time, I tried kneading roti dough—with Nidhi’s help. I wasn’t confident at all, but somehow, I managed. I want to explore this more. This week Nidhi made some awesome pasta and experimental bharva taroi sabji :)

On Friday, we facilitated a session on Nature-Based Learning with research and curriculum team at my office. We both enjoyed it.

Saturday evening, we went to Priti Ben’s place. It was rainy, but we enjoyed the metro ride.

On Sunday, we visited a nearby sports campus called Eklavya Sports Academy. It’s a lush green space. We went for a morning walk for the first time. As expected, Nidhi got completely engaged in observing trees and greenery—she was more interested in looking at trees than walking! But still, we managed a nice 3–4 rounds of walking. After that, we went to DVG Benne Dosa. The food was nice but a little pricey. We had ghee masala dosa and palak paddu. We always look for good, authentic South Indian places. After living in Bangalore, we can’t eat dosa at just any regular place. In Gujarat, dosa and sambar are something else altogether. I want to make a list of places in Ahmedabad where you can eat good dosa.

In the evening, we watched a Malayalam film called Hridayam. It was a beautiful film, though it felt a bit long—it runs for 2 hours and 51 minutes.

This week, I also listened to some old Gujarati songs and watched Marathi short film.

This weekend, we had a negotiation around time. Nidhi wanted to spend more time with me, while I wanted some alone time. We somehow figured out a temporary middle path.

Apart from that, I’ve been daydreaming about something strange—I’m dreaming of getting admission into a university. I’ve never been a full-time student at a college or university. I started working when I was 19. Now, I feel this strong craving to live as a student—without tension, experimenting and researching new ideas… a curiosity-driven life.

I’ve been re-reading the PhD thesis of Jay Silver(Makey Makey, MIT Media Lab) and wondering if I could also write something about the learning experiments I’ve done with children and teachers over the past 12 years. How my philosophy of education and life has changed. How my understanding of learning has evolved. I want to document and reflect on all my past projects.

Academia scares me with its rigidity, but these days I’m thinking more about independent research—something related to nature education, experiential learning…is there something like a practicing PhD?

Sometimes, I also feel like doing something entirely different from education. I feel saturated. At times I think I should move into the livelihoods sector or ecological restoration—maybe work with farmers…

Or maybe I should take a break and just focus on writing, doing theater, learning music, studying design, aesthetics and philosophy —something for the soul. Not for money. Not to prove anything.

My relationship with money is also changing radically. Now, I spend without overthinking. I don’t ask whether something is expensive—I ask:

• Is it useful?
• Is it solving a real problem?
• Is it sustainably made?
• Is it an impulsive buy, or something I truly need?
• Even if it’s impulsive, is it eco-friendly or socially just?
• Do I want to support this kind of business?

For example, if I’m buying a pair of chappals made from sustainable materials, designed well, and if the brand promotes justice—and if I can afford it—I won’t obsess over the cost. I mean, I won’t judge it only by the price.

Even with all this reflection, I’m still in a grey zone. I’m not very clear about my relationship with money right now. From childhood, we’re taught to save, to not spend much on things or experiences. But once you start earning, once you live in a city, your relationship with money shifts.

What if I want to eat 200 benne dosas in Ahmedabad? I’ll buy them. Food should be good. Living spaces should be good. Spend money on books, travel, meeting people, hosting friends, sending gifts… doing experiments… everything that nourishes your soul.

My mental health hasn’t been great. I’ll seek help soon. My back pain has returned—possibly due to driving and sitting too much. I need to start exercising again and using a hot bag.

This week was not very hectic, but not too slow either. Overall, it was a good week, work-wise. On Monday and Tuesday, we spent time with the Nature Classroom team.

Nidhi visited Mumbai to facilitate a workshop. She felt very confident while facilitating the session and really enjoyed it. I felt so happy seeing her journey as a facilitator/educator. I’m so grateful to be a small part of her journey, and that she is part of mine.

On Saturday and Sunday, I spent time finishing small tasks that had been pending for a long time—giving feedback, replying to emails, and more.

I enjoyed working on my desk

I had a call with two of my friends to discuss their learning pathways and career paths. In the development sector—especially when you’re working with an NGO in the education space—your growth is not always predictable or linear. It’s not like the corporate world, where you get promotions at regular intervals. What if you want to remain an educator, continue working directly with children, and still grow in other aspects of life—money, new skills, new kinds of learning, or new types of projects? What if you don’t see “Project Manager” as your next goal? What should a growth pathway look like that gives you enough challenges to stay inspired, helps you feel meaning in your work, and shifts as you move through different life phases?

I have developed a questionnaire for personal reflection. Whenever I consider changing my job / taking new project, I ask myself these questions. This time, I shared them with friends who are also looking for clarity and new ideas. Let’s see if it helps. Let me know if you’re interested in a framework to think about your next move—I’d be happy to share it. We can even have a one-on-one call to brainstorm and explore together.

This framework includes reflecting on your personal philosophy / values, strengths, interests, learning aspirations, financial needs, and cultural/social/emotional needs. It’s also useful for documenting your past work and building your portfolio.

I’ve been sharing some thoughts on self-directed learning and portfolio-making with the Sanjhe Sapne team. We’re having weekly learning calls, and I’m enjoying them so much.

I’m also working with the YouCAN – Earth Educator Fellows, sharing my insights about working with children and developing programs. I’m learning a lot from each one of them. As an alum of this fellowship, I feel very grateful for the opportunity to stay connected with like-minded and like-hearted people.

A big part of my work revolves around:

• Sharing tools and creating environments for self-directed learning

I feel the need to start documenting my frameworks and ideas—maybe that will be the topic for my next blog post.

Sakha Fellowship Updates :

Sakhaz are working on two projects. One is an inquiry project around rural/village issues. They’ve prepared a survey form and visited a village near Waghodia. The second project is about interviewing unsung heroes. They started by interviewing a 100-year-old masi who runs a sev-usal shop in Vadodara.

We both feel so happy seeing the updates, but unfortunately, we haven’t been able to engage with the Sakhaz in person. We only get Saturdays and Sundays off — and those are usually packed with our other project meetings, home maintenance work, and a bit of downtime. That’s also when the Sakha team meets in Vadodara.

Technically, Vadodara is just 3 hours away, but it takes us 1 hour just to get to a place from where we can catch a bus. We’d need to leave work early on Friday evening, and we don’t have a place to stay in Vadodara either. So, all of this makes it really difficult… but we’ll find a way to join in somehow.

We really miss the energy and connection with the Sakhaz.

The rest of the week was mostly filled with office work. This week was also filled with some existential questions— Is my work worth doing? Am I on the right path? What is my relationship with money, and with my employer?

I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m in a phase of life where my ambitions to “make it big” or “be successful” in the conventional sense are getting quieter. I’m okay with slow and small now. What’s calling me more is building meaningful relationships—with peers, friends, partner, family, the larger ecosystem and support system. I want to invest in that, rather than chasing individual success. Supporting friends in finding their paths, doing projects together, sharing ideas, contacts, networks, resources—without guarding them. Meeting people without agendas. Just being grateful and feeling enough—for who I am and who others are.

I’m slowly becoming less aggressive about pushing my own ideas—trying to learn the art of listening, of understanding other perspectives.

Over the last few months—conflicts at home, changing dynamics at work, and the deepening of my relationship with my partner—have all changed me. Maybe it’s just age.I have turned 30 this May.

I was also feeling anxious during parts of this week because of some work tasks, but somehow I managed. Writing and journaling help—they slow down my thoughts and help me feel calm.

I’m considering therapy to work on my overall mental health, which has been affected by multiple things over the past few months.

Anyway… it was a good week.

On Sunday, I watched an old Marathi web series and listened to some beautiful, slow Hindi and Marathi songs.

Rain has started in Ahmedabad:

Gulmohar and copper pod flowers will soon be gone…

I remembered this beautiful poem by my dear friend Hemant Deolekar:

पेड़ों का अंतर्मन

हेमंत देवलेकर

–

कल मानसून की पहली बरसात हुई

और आज यह दरवाज़ा ख़ुशी से फूल गया है

खिड़की दरवाज़े महज़ लकड़ी नहीं हैं विस्थापित जंगल होते हैं

मुझे लगा, मैं पेड़ों के बीच से आता-जाता हूँ

टहनियों पर बैठता हूँ

पेड़ों की खोखल में रहती हैं किताबें

मैं, जंगल में घिरा हूँ

किंवदंतियों में रहने वाला

आदिम ख़ुशबू से भरा जंगल

–

कल मौसम की पहली बारिश हुई

और आज यह दरवाज़ा

चौखट में फँसने लगा है

वह बंद होना नहीं चाहता

ठीक दरख़्तों की तरह

एक कटे हुए जिस्म में

पेड़ का ख़ून फिर दौड़ने लगा है

और यह दरवाज़ा बचपन की स्मृतियों में खो गया है

–

याद आने लगा है

किस तरह वह बाँहें फैलाकर

हज़ारों हथेलियों में समेटा करता था

बारिश को

और झूमने लगता था

वह स्मृतियों में फिर हरा हुआ है।

I’m looking forward to Ahmedabad’s rains. Happy monsoon, friends 🌧️🌿

This will be a short note. Nothing much happened this week.

We celebrated International Play Day at the office, and it was super fun! The office team asked our relatives for our childhood photos and made a beautiful collage. It was really, really enjoyable to recognize each other from childhood photographs. We played games and shared our childhood memories.

One of our close friends came to spend time with us at our place. I feel very wholesome when someone comes to spend time with us without any specific agenda—cooking together, eating together, talking, sharing ideas, taking a walk together. That gives me warmth and makes me feel loved.

Nowadays, I’m realizing that spending time with friends, family, and loved ones is what’s truly interesting. I should do it more. One part of myself always leans towards interesting projects, but now I want to consciously choose the projects and people I work with, as well as my working patterns. I want to invest my time and energy in spending time and having interesting experiences with loved ones.

I’m also wondering why people aspire for job stability or working long-term in one organization. It’s because it gives you security and belonging—you get time and mental space to think about other things in life. When you stay at one organization and remain in one place (city or town), you make connections with that city. It would be wonderful to have friends nearby. Living close to your dear friends is a bliss.

Still, I don’t feel connected to Ahmedabad. I felt connected to Vadodara, Bhuj, and Bangalore. I need to make more effort.

I’m feeling very grateful to the universe. We’re both getting very nice work opportunities. I’m working with organizations and projects, directly or indirectly, that I’m really aligned with. Sometimes it’s overwhelming to work on too many projects, and I get anxiety, but it’s okay. I’m learning to manage it.

We started an online yoga class, but it’s not working well. In a week, we only did it for two days. It’s not a live class—they’re doing YouTube live with interactive chat. Let’s see how it goes. I wish to start some legitimate sports activity like cycling, swimming, or running.

We’re now regular with breakfast, making very simple things like ragi malt with milk and dry fruits, or oats.

I bought Kesar mangoes from our office’s mango orchard. They are so yummy! We made aam ras and loved it.

Khojbeen Mandali Updates:

• Monday and Tuesday: The nature classroom team is coming to visit the learning center. They are developing a nature education assessment framework. During this visit, they will test some of their work with children.
• Nidhi is going to conduct nature education sessions with teachers in Mumbai next week.
• The Sakha group is doing a geo inquiry project. We had an initial meeting.
• We had a meeting with a friend who is helping us write articles about our past projects like the Time Exhibition, Viswamitri River Project, “How About Seeing Bangalore,” and more.

I didn’t want to combine two weekly notes, but there’s no option now—it’s too late. The last two weeks were super happening, but I’ll keep it short here. Sunday is almost gone and too many work tasks are pending.

Let me start with this: I miss BLR. Weather, food, people—everything… I follow specific people on Twitter just to take in Bangalore vibes.

26th & 27th went into office work. We took a flight from Ahmedabad to Bangalore on the 28th morning, reached there by afternoon. Met Thejesh for the first time. It was nice to have a chat with him about life, work, food, and other stuff. When you read a person’s weekly notes, you feel you already know them.

We visited a friend’s place in HSR, freshened up, met another dear friend Jubin, had dinner, and caught the bus for Coonoor. Reached early morning.

We were unprepared for Coonoor’s weather (no sweater, no proper footwear for the rocky terrain). We borrowed a sweater from someone and somehow managed.

Spent 5 days with amazing nature educators who came from all over India & the YouCAN team. It was a mix of feelings—it gave me a sense of belonging to the community that I am an alumni of this fellowship. In some moments it gave me self-doubt, and in other moments it gave me profound inspiration.

We met dear friend Adithi Muralidhar at Coonoor. I did my internship under her at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education - Design & Technology Education lab, Mumbai.

While coming back, we again halted in BLR, met Ruchir, the Nature Classrooms team, and folks from Nature Conservation Foundation. Visiting Nature Classroom’s office, meeting the all-girls team, and seeing their amazing work gives me happiness, hope, and inspiration. Someday I want to build a space/org like this in my native place.

3rd June - we’re back in town—Ahmedabad. 4th I did work from home. 5th I went to the office.

I got sick on the 6th. Suddenly got fever and loose motions… it was food poisoning. Still recovering. I don’t know how I got it—maybe because of traveling or outside food or heat, don’t know. I’m thankful that it’s not covid. I’m feeling better now.

No reading during the last two weeks.

Music : We sang nice songs during the campfire at the fellowship residency. That night is memorable.

Overall mood is happy but a little stressed because of too many pending tasks at the office and also from other side projects.

Sakha fellowship work is going well. Ashish bhai and Rameshwari ben are leading it very well. Today me and Nidhi attended one team meeting, and we got some new updates.

Sakhas are taking up new projects. One of the groups wants to start a podcast for unsung heroes from daily life, one group wants to visit villages and explore the issues over there. Me and Nidhi are thinking to meet them and help them convert their project into a geo inquiry project. Anyone interested in developing and documenting geo inquiry projects with children, please let me know. Happy to collaborate. We’re also planning to host sessions on financial literacy, gender, and youth-life-related stuff. No motivation or gyan. Real problems of youth and exploration for the same.

Otherwise, everything is going well. I need to catch up with a few friends and do proper planning for the side projects.

Khojbeen Mandali Updates:

Dear friend Siddhartha helped us make the final logo of KBM. It’s a pretty simple and cute logo. Chappal is part of the logo because our central idea is exploration and inquiry, and what’s a better medium to do exploration than ‘walk’!! So the chappal (footwear) :)

We also launched our Instagram handle on 5th June—World Environment Day. Check it out here.

View this post on Instagram

If you are a school, learning center, or group of parents—please let us know if you’re interested in collaborating with us.

Some Photos :

Note by Janantik Shukla

101: 3-Day Mobile Filmmaking Workshop with Sakha Fellows at Vadodara and Nareshwar.

Inspiration is a beautiful cycle for any artist. When we inspire the younger generation, they return the favor with their fresh energy, new stories, and poetry. In the process, we find ourselves traveling back to our own younger days.

Personally, after spending time with the students during this workshop, I felt recharged—ready to face clients, making pitch, the frustration of delayed payments, and the rejections that come with keep creating and capturing beautiful stories on screen.

During the three-day workshop, we explored theatre, visual storytelling, and memory exercises. We also screened a range of short films and a feature. As part of a storytelling exercise, the students initially came up with a web series idea that couldn’t be filmed in just half a day. So they pivoted and developed four new stories—all centered around the river.

Out of those four, they managed to shoot and edit two films. While the films are still in the first-cut stage, I’ll share them once they’re ready.

Super proud of the Sakha Fellows!

Thanks Mihir Pathak for wonderful opportunity.

#Rang_Films #filmmaking #storytelling #workshop #shortfilm

Note by Mihir Pathak

We set out to explore our river — its deep connection with life, its biodiversity, and the rich socio-cultural stories that flow alongside it.

Taking baby steps, we began this journey through the powerful medium of film making. With the amazing Janantik Shukla guiding us, we discovered new ways of seeing and storytelling.

Film Making Workshop | 23rd to 25th May 2025

Note by Suraj Kori

The Sakha Fellowship volunteer group successfully hosted an inspiring 3-day Filmmaking Workshop, engaging 25 enthusiastic students from high school and college. Led by Janantik Shukla, the workshop began with an exciting day in Vadodara, followed by a two-day residential camp near the serene Narmada River.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our incredible mentors - Ashish Bhangaokar, Rameshwari Gajjar, and Mihir Pathak - whose guidance made this journey truly transformative.

From scripting and shooting to editing and storytelling, the workshop was a perfect blend of learning and fun, sparking creativity and collaboration among all participants.

Thank you to everyone who made this experience unforgettable!

Saurabh Raval Nidhi Pal Aniruddha Parasram

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This week was super hectic, and the coming week is also going to be hectic as we’re traveling to Coonoor for the Earth Educator Workshop and meeting people in Bangalore.

This week started by losing my Pilot pen. Let me tell you, I really, really love my Pilot V7/V5 pens. This wasn’t the first time I lost it—I used to lose it when I worked in schools. I generally use my Pilot pen to make notes in notebooks. I love the smoothness of the writing experience that comes with liquid ink. The V7 has a refill cartridge. I have Hi-Tech Point Pen ink, which I put into the cartridge and use the pen again. This can be done 3 to 4 times. After that, ink overflows from the joint near the nib.

I prefer black ink over blue or other colors. I also have other ink pens for which I use Sulekha Swadeshi green ink.

At the end of the week, Nidhi found the lost pen in one of my shirt pockets.

I finally cleaned my laptop’s fan. I ordered a screwdriver from Blinkit, watched a video on YouTube, and opened the back cover of my super light ThinkPad Carbon. I observed that there was no heat sink paste remaining on the processor, so I decided to buy paste from Amazon and apply it myself.

It was around ₹500 to ₹1000. I searched for local shops and asked for rates. Finally, a very nearby shop did it for ₹300.

Nidhi made thali pith. We wanted to make something tasty and fast. A friend suggested this, and Nidhi made it nicely on her first attempt. She was super happy.

I had an online learning circle call with the Sanjhe Sapne team. We’re going to have this call every month. I’ll share more about it some other time.

Office colleagues came home on Wednesday evening. We had homemade cold coffee and lots of talking. We want to host friends and serve healthy drinks like ragi malt, hibiscus tea, aam panna, and sattu.

Nidhi made idli sambar. Now we feel at ease making idli sambar. We still need to buy a cast iron tava for dosa. Any good recommendations?

Nidhi’s friend from Azim Premji University came to our home. We both feel very happy when someone comes to our place just to stay without any agenda, to spend quality time. It’s a privilege to get time to go to your friend’s place and just stay.

Friend gifted us Mithila based homemade pickles

Friday evening we left for Vadodara. We spent our weekend with children and the Sakha Fellowship team. We had wonderful filmmaking with children.

I felt very nice to meet Rameshwari ben, Ashish bhai, Janantik bhai and other sakha team members after a long time. The workshop was nice.

Nidhi or Rameshwari ben will write about it. I’ll try to share it here. Right now, I’m sharing some photos here.

Weekend traveling was hectic. We took an AC Volvo bus. It was super expensive—a normal bus is ₹100 and Volvo is around ₹320—but it was helpful in this heat and with back pain.

Khojbeen Mandali Updates

I had a call with Adhvan about developing a map module. I want to develop activities where children can connect to their own place—town—city. Knowing local plants, trees, vendors, systems, being part of citizenship activities, heritage, conservation, using senses, walking.

Something like: Re-imagining Maps - Explore the science and art of cartography through conversations about maps and interactive mapmaking. This is an invitation to renegotiate how we interact with landscapes, how we understand maps, and how we document the spaces we occupy and the lives we live within them.

Recently, one of my friends shared an address of a famous Hindi author, which comes with a footnote after the main address:

🌱 (कटोरा तालाब मुख्य मार्ग में बूढ़ी मां मंदिर तक आना होगा। मंदिर के सामने मुख्यमार्ग में माँ शारदा होम्योपैथी दुकान के बाजू की सड़क पर अंदर आखिरी घर है।)

🌳 अंदर आने वाली सड़कों पर बोर्ड लगे हैं। जिस बोर्ड में कटोरा तालाब सड़क नंबर 11 लिखा है, उसी सड़क पर अंदर आना होगा। दाहिने ओर का सबसे आखिरी घर है।

घर के अंदर एक आम का पेड़, घर के बाहर एक ओर मौलश्री के दो पेड़ और दूसरी ओर सप्तपर्णी, मौलश्री, करंज के पेड़ भी रहते हैं। साथ में गिलहरियां, चिड़ियां और हम सब भी।

Are we connected to our place apart from Google Map locations? What Google Maps shows are commercially active places like malls, petrol pumps, shops—not trees, small shops, small landmarks, small water bodies. Anything that’s not generating money is not on Google Maps.

Can we design our own maps? Can we use maps as a tool to connect with ourselves and the places we live in? Can this become an activity module?

I’m super interested in this project. Let me know if you want to collaborate in any capacity.

Another project I want to work on is ‘fostering wonder and awe’ in children’s lives, very much inspired by the work of Dacher Keltner. I want to work with children from 3 to 11 years of age.

Read: Wonder-Full Hearts: Awe Turns Children into Caring Champions

I actually struggle to keep these two personalities—one which is very playful, curious, and storytelling while working with little children, and suddenly shifting to social justice, connecting with place, and citizenship ideas while working with older children or educators. I keep shifting between these. But ultimately everything is the same… be playful, curious, walk slowly, and wonder more.

Social Media Usage

I consume Instagram, which shows me mostly artists, photographers, writers, and nature lover profiles and posts. Posting on Instagram is getting less frequent. I want to put selected weekly note photos on social media regularly, but it’s not happening.

I consume LinkedIn, which shows me mostly people and posts from the development sector. I’m literally fed up with that.

Twitter shows me mostly developers and entrepreneurs from Bangalore.

Apart from all of this, I really enjoy reading weekly notes from different people. I use a feed reader to track and read weekly notes from selected people.

Overall mood is happy.

My reading is paused again. I’ll try to resume it in June.

This week was Happy Week. I tried enjoying each and every day as it came. Not getting time to write my weekly note on Sunday and finishing it on Monday is getting difficult. I want to write in detail but I’m not getting the mental space.

I got a new laptop from the office - a ThinkPad E16. It is heavy, runs Windows, has a big screen, and battery backup is good.

The first few days I was not ready to leave my Carbon and shift to this because of my set workflow. But according to office policy, I needed to, so finally I moved.

My Carbon is giving me little problems nowadays. The venting system in X series is not that great. In Ahmedabad’s heat, the fan of my machine is going mad. On the other side, the E16 is working smoothly.

I asked a few friends - they said there must be dust in the fan which needs to be cleaned, and I should avoid tasks with high CPU usage. I will clean it and see.

From Monday to Wednesday, we had a storytelling workshop by Vikram Sridhar at our office. On Tuesday, we went to The Calico Museum of Textiles as part of the workshop.

Ahmedabad is called a ‘World Heritage City’ and it has 30+ museums. I never saw this city through a heritage lens.But now both Nidhi and I have decided to see this city through this lens. We want to start by going on heritage walks, visiting museums, and being part of the theater culture here.

Tuesday we watched a film called ‘Bangalore Days.’ It’s a nice, fun film in Malayalam. We watched it with subtitles. Nidhi recommended this film; she watched it a few years ago and she really liked it.

We also finished the film ‘Angoor,’ which we had started watching earlier.

It’s summer break at school, so our canteen is closed. That means I need to prepare food at home and take a lunch box. For me, waking up early and making food is difficult. Same with Nidhi. I can do reading, writing, and other kinds of work in the morning, but not cooking. Nidhi is helping so much with cooking lunch and breakfast. Slowly, I have also started making breakfast. So now in the morning, we both are stretching ourselves and preparing food.

Nidhi is also experimenting with dinner and snacks. She loves cooking and experimenting with food. She’s basically a foodie. I am cognitively very interested in food but slowly getting interested in the hands-on part of it - I mean cooking. For me, it’s a long way to go. I know basic cooking like making khichadi, sabji, dal-chawal… I need to learn roti. Most importantly, I need to learn how to use the kitchen neatly.

Apart from this, we both want to constantly work on our diet because of our sensitive stomachs. Especially my stomach, which is very sensitive. The doctor told me that it’s like the stomach of a 6-year-old. So we both need to remind ourselves to eat at home and eat millets, fruits,things with less masala.

Saturday, we started watching a web series called ‘Very Parivarik’ by TVF. It is a very relatable show.

On the same day, we had a long conversation about spending quality time with each other. For both of us, quality time means different things. Example : For Nidhi, it’s cooking together, and for me, it’s discussing ideas/brainstorming together. So we made a list of things and shared with each other. We also made a kind of timetable to fit everyone’s needs.

We went to Aarambh Cafe on Saturday evening. I was craving good sambar. Actually, Kamla Cafe, Aarambh Cafe, Kasturba Cafe, Atithi Restaurant, and Thepla Sabji from Gajanand - these are places that serve food which we can eat without worrying about our stomachs.

We discussed Khojbeen Mandali activities. Some updates:

• One of our friends from Eklavya Foundation, Melody, wrote an article on ‘Development of Aesthetic Sense in Primary Grades Through Nature-Based Activities’ which got published in a journal by Azim Premji University. I was part of this project, creating activities and mentoring the facilitator. Now we are planning to publish this work in other magazines like Sandarbh, Vikalp Sangam, and Nature Classrooms blog.

• For the Nature Classrooms book ‘There Is Nothing There,’ which Nidhi translated into Hindi, we are collaborating with Eklavya Foundation to print it in Hindi.

• We are inviting Tanaya from Nature Classrooms to come to Ahmedabad. She will be observing pilots about nature education assessment tools.

• We are conducting a local Khoji film-making camp this coming weekend (23rd to 25th May)

• We tried developing a logo and visual identity for Khojbeen Mandali with a few friends. We gained some clarity about what we want during the process. We’re going with what I made initially. One more friend is helping to make it better. Let’s hope we’ll get something interesting in the next few days.

• Coonoor trip for Earth Educator Workshop. (28th May to 3rd June 2025)

Sunday we went to Vikram Sridhar’s storytelling performance at Scrap Yard. We enjoyed driving the Activa at night on surprisingly less trafficked roads.

I spent time coordinating with the team for the local Khoji camp.

I started reading again but am not getting uninterrupted time.

Overall, it was a good week.

Photos

It was my birthday week. I never celebrated birthdays explicitly in my childhood or even in my adulthood - no cake cutting, no party. In school, May 9th was mostly vacation time. In adulthood, I worked in schools, so again I had vacation during that time. At home, mom used to make my favorite food ‘vedhmi’ / puran poli. I never got a chance to celebrate my birthday with friends. I remember celebrating once with my Eklavya office colleagues, friends, and participants.

But this time was different. Nidhi and friends made it super special.

Apart from that, this week was full of anxiety, sadness, and helplessness because of the political situation in the country and the situation at my home. I messaged my friends in Bhuj to check on them during blackout days. Got news about the ceasefire and very soon after, the breaking of that ceasefire.

At home, also ceasefire happened; we involved some other family members too. Mom went to Padra on Sunday. Let’s see how long this ceasefire lasts…

Monday was a regular office day. There was a storm in the evening. It was raining at night. Nidhi made wonderful cold coffee in the evening.

Tuesday I worked from home. My stomach was not well.

Wednesday I also worked from home because of rain. We went to Teapost, Sindhu Bhavan Road in the evening.

We received the Nagarathna Memorial Grant. We will use the grant money for the local khoji camp coming up at the end of May.

On Thursday, we set up paintings. Now this home feels like home.

On Friday - my birthday! :) In morning Office people arranged a birthday celebration and evening with family. Nidhi, Bhagu and mummy made wonderful food. Aam ras, shrikhand, panir sabji and puri.

On Saturday, we went to Gandhi Ashram. I visited this place after a long time. I remember coming here with children from Dharampur in 2017, I believe.

On Sunday: Mummy went back to Padra. Nidhi, Bhagu, and Bansi went to CEE.

Buying plants and setting up composting is still pending.

Me, Bansi, and Nidhi went to Kamla Cafe for dinner and walked back home. We had a chat about life until late night.

Watching

We started watching Angoor.

Reading

Nidhi and I read a small book about Jenu Kuruba Tribes.

The Jenu Kuruba are a tribal group from the Nilgiris, numbering around 37,000.They are concentrated in the districts bordering the states of Kerala and Karnataka. ‘Jenu’ means ‘honey’ in Kannada, referring to their traditional occupation as collectors of honey in the forest.

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This week went by incredibly fast. There were many meetings at the office, and work is really gearing up. I didn’t get time to explore anything beyond work.

This week, Nidhi did many cooking experiments. She loves cooking and experimenting with food. She made the following dishes throughout the week:

I forgot to take photo of Bhindi kadhi

On Sunday, we made idli sambar. I tried my hand at making sambar following Nidhi’s instructions. It turned out nice for a first attempt.

We went grocery shopping at a superstore. We reflected on how we’re becoming disconnected from local kirana stores and small businesses. We’ve started referring to malls and superstores as “Maya Bazaar.” We’re going to try finding ways to purchase more items from kirana stores—less superstore shopping, less Blinkit ordering, and less Instagram-influenced purchasing.

Nidhi did some trial English-to-Hindi translation work for NCF outreach. If selected, she’ll be doing translations related to nature and biodiversity.

Setting up our composting system and buying plants are still pending. Time seems to rush from one task to another, leaving me feeling neither rested nor free from the tension of uncompleted tasks.

It was enjoyable having lunch and dinner together on Saturday and Sunday. We often feel the urge to watch something while eating. We’ve started watching old shows like “Vikram Vetal” and “Byomkesh Bakshi.” We try to select shows that Mom can also enjoy.

We watched the Gujarati film “Reva.” Though Nidhi and I had seen it before, we watched it again with Mom.

Nidhi is collecting seeds from the fruits we’re eating.

I started taking ragi malt for breakfast and am loving it.

Mom is okay. Things are on hold. Let’s see what happens next.

We want to launch an Instagram page for our nature education/experiential learning initiative. We’ve named it ‘Khojbeen Mandali,’ embodying the spirit of curiosity, wonder, and inquiry. A bunch of friends are helping us create a logo and Instagram templates. I could have started with the basic elements I already have, but I’m really enjoying the process of crafting an identity and translating ideas into visuals. This has been the highlight of my week, along with, of course, the delicious food prepared by Nidhi and Mom. I’m very grateful to them.

We are going to Coonoor for a workshop at the end of the month. We’ve booked our tickets. We’re also planning to spend one day in Bangalore to meet friends. We are very excited about this trip.

This week involved no reading apart from office work, and no music either. I need to get back to reading.

Overall mood : I am ok, not in much stress. I am trying to keep my self calm and happy.

• Speaking River, Speaking Rain by Yuvan Aves
• Forty Names of Clouds by Arati Kumar-Rao
• भाषा और पर्यावरण by अनुपम मिश्र

This week was again a roller coaster ride. Too much is happening. I am not getting the mindspace to write this weekly note in detail, so I am just putting down pointers.

Monday was a normal office day. After a long weekend, all teammates gathered and had a nice catch-up.

Tuesday I took leave. Nidhi and I went to Vadodara. Mom came back with us. The home situation is not well.

We had a clay workshop in the office. It was fun.

Nidhi’s sessions with children at the learning center are on pause because of summer vacation. They will resume in June. Nowadays, she is working on developing project-based nature education modules for grades 6 to 9.

Mummy was sharing about having difficulty in reading. Nidhi and Mummy went to Lenskart and got a new pair of glasses. Lenskart made the whole eye test and spectacle buying experience very smooth.

Earth Focus team sent a copy of ‘Stop, Look and Wonder,’ their nature education curriculum. I had the opportunity to review the curriculum while they were developing it last year.

I shared learning resources on the following topics through blog posts:

• Childhood in India
• Education and Play
• Reflective Writing

I watched this podcast again to get inspired by the wonderful work they are doing:

The Papon concert got canceled due to the Kashmir incident. Both the artist and organizer decided to cancel it, and we got a full refund. It was going to be our first concert experience.

We bought a big plastic drum to start our composting journey. We still need to get soil.

At the office, we hosted a nature education session with children. Nidhi also joined for it. I am so glad and grateful that she could come. She is always a big support and inspiration for me. I am very grateful to my office team also for initiating and being part of it.

I played ‘Cards Against Humanity’ for the first time. It was horrible! :) But I enjoyed games that are language-heavy, where you need to make jokes, play with vocabulary, and talk in metaphors. I will write in detail about this in another post.

Finally, we bought a 70L cooler from Vijay Sales. We wanted to buy from a local manufacturer/non-branded cooler because it’s cheaper, but we couldn’t find any shops selling them. So finally, we went to Croma but didn’t get good rates. Eventually, we bought it from Vijay Sales.

We have two bedrooms, and we tried setting up the cooler so both rooms get some cool air, allowing us to avoid using the AC. It worked, but we need to keep doors open all night. We’re thinking about buying one more small cooler or using the AC in the bedroom… let’s see.

The interesting thing is we didn’t get a pipe and noseal in nearby shops. We went to a nearby mall (Mr. DIY), but the pipe was very expensive there. Finally, we found an option on Blinkit that we need to order. I continuously feel that we’re getting disconnected from the local ecosystem because of this apartment lifestyle.

Saturday, Nidhi, Mom, and I went to Kamla Cafe for dinner.

Sunday, we had a call with our financial advisor to understand health insurance. It was very interesting to learn how it works. The process to claim insurance is getting stricter because of the many frauds happening in the country. We also had a short discussion about registering our own trust / NGO to facilitate our work with children. Two three already suggested the same thing but we are still thinking about the idea.

I had a call about storytelling and setting up a library space with a teacher working in Kendriya Vidyalaya. She is doing storytelling with Ankit from TISS Mumbai.

The home situation is getting worse. I am in constant stress and anxiety. Let’s hope things get better in the coming week.

Day 2 | Fun with science / Arvind Gupta Toys

Summer Workshop | Vijaya Foundation, Ahemdabad | 19th & 20th April 2025

My weekly note cycle got affected because of travel. I published my last note on the 16th. I could have published a combined note for weeks 15 & 16, but I didn’t want to miss anything while combining them. Combining two weeks felt like a ‘very long time’, and I wanted to be there with my fellow weekly note-writers… so here I am with weekly note 16/2025.

On Thursday, I went to the office after a week-long break. There were very few people from our team because of the long weekend.

My back pain returned. I was standing and tried to pick up something from the floor when it hurt terribly. I just got to the fridge, and Nidhi helped me with an ice pack. It worked.

On Friday, we spent time decorating our home with small items we have, like fridge magnets and some toys. The paintings are still waiting to be framed.

Nidhi made a bandhanwar.

Our Activa wasn’t starting. We tried repeatedly and finally went to a nearby garage. The mechanic put in a new battery, serviced the brakes, and changed the engine oil. Now it’s running very smoothly.

In the evening, we went to CEE. We visited a new shop called InStore and tried to visit CEE’s nature shop, but it was closed. We went to Aarambh Cafe and had hibiscus tea, dosa, and uttapam.

I like the sambar from this place. The hibiscus tea was costly but we enjoyed it. We ate out a lot last week, so we decided to work on getting back into our cooking rhythm.

InStore’s curation was super cool; I really liked their collection of origami lamps, ceramic wind chimes, and other items. I was amazed at how “eco-friendly,” “organic,” and “sustainable life” products have been commercialized. Nidhi mentioned after seeing the products that we could make these at home. But do we have the time? Do we have the skills? And again, do we have time to invest in developing these skills?

On Saturday, we conducted a natural color-making workshop with children at the Tatvic office. Nidhi led the session. It was fun!

I cleaned my laptop with isopropyl alcohol. It looks nice now, and I enjoy working on it more.

We went out to find materials for Sunday’s workshop. We wanted plastic straws for making “toys from trash” (Arvind Gupta toys). Surprisingly, we didn’t find plastic straws in stationery shops, Mr. DIY, or shops selling disposable items. Everyone is selling steel or paper straws. We couldn’t find plastic straws at all, which was interesting! Anyway, we only checked around the Thaltej area, so geography matters.

On Sunday, we conducted another workshop on “Fun with Science”/toys from trash with children at the Tatvic office. We made a balloon rocket, which didn’t work for some reason. We did two more interesting experiments that amazed the children. They shared lots of ideas about how those particular things work. I’ll try to write a detailed post about this.

We ordered a helmet from Amazon—a Vega Atom. It’s a nice, compact, lightweight helmet. I like it. Now I can drive more confidently.

we are now using AC on daily basis. We are getting habitual, which we don’t want for multiple reasons.. environment, money, health.. we are thinking to buy small cooler.

The situation at home is bad again. I get anxious whenever someone calls me from there. I really don’t know how to handle this. I feel helpless. Last week everything was ok, suddenly things changed.

Reading

My reading paused during the Bhopal visit. This week I read a few pages from the book “Mane Fom Chhe.”

Listening & Watching

I started listening to Tamil and Telugu songs:

We watched some short films on YouTube. I watched a wonderful podcast by Zain Memon.

Overall Mood

I’m feeling very anxious and am going through a very bad phase right now. I hope I gain the strength to calm myself and face whatever is happening.

Photos

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.

Seema started writing weekly notes. She is Horticulturist 👩🏻‍🌾❤️‍🔥, Phytophillic ☘️ living in a village called Hosalli in Sirsi, Karnataka. She writes about farming, gardening, books and other stuff.

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.

Last year, Nidhi translated a book called ‘There is nothing there’. Now it is available as printed copy. You can buy it from NCF Store / download it as pdf from Nature Classroom Website (There is very interesting game based on this book, check it out !)

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Photos

This week was running fast until Thursday, and suddenly it became slow while approaching Sunday.

We made drumstick sabji on Monday evening. It is my favorite sabji. I love how my mom makes it. We tried our best to make it edible… the taste wasn’t exactly like mom’s, but it was nice. It was fun cooking together.

Antara gifted us nice paintings as a wedding gift. I gave one of the paintings for framing. I realized that wooden frames are quite costly. I’m waiting to see how it will turn out.

I went to physiotherapy on Thursday. My height + long sitting hours + 20 to 25km of everyday driving on Activa + no exercises have all contributed to lower back pain and shoulder pain. I also started some basic stretching, applying ice packs, and taking breaks from sitting. I am in a much better state right now, but the pain is still there.

We had a call with Ram - Rachita on Friday. I was so happy to see them on screen after a long time.

We took on a nature education curriculum/module development project for grades 6 to 9. There is already wonderful work and content creation happening by Palluyir Trust, Nature Conservation Foundation (early bird, nature classroom, season watch), Wipro Earthian, and more. We are trying to curate and make it more contextual. Let’s hope we create something meaningful.

I have developed and now manage two schools’ websites on Wix. It’s a nice, easy-to-use platform for basic stuff. This year they increased the price of their basic annual hosting plan from 2,338 Rs to 3,540 Rs (18% GST included). I think this is too much for our use case. Changing the platform and transferring the content is a task… let’s see how it goes.

I still haven’t had the mental space to work on the ‘Voices of Vishwamitri’ website. I need to focus on it this week.

Nidhi completed 4 sessions at the learning center. She is taking two sessions per week. Both the children and Nidhi are enjoying the sessions. I will ask Nidhi to share her documentation link so I can share more about the sessions.

Mom is at Padra. One week has passed. I talk to her on the phone almost every day, but I still miss her presence.

Next week on Wednesday, Nidhi and I will leave for Bhopal - Child Development Course at Eklavya. It will be a busy week. I am excited to meet all the friends.

I wrote a post on Tantra Vidya in Gujarati based on Subhash Bhatt’s video.

Today, we had a meeting with a financial advisor to start our investment and tax planning journey. It feels weird sometimes… we are now adults thinking about tax, investment, medical care, yoga subscriptions, and health supplements. By the way, let me know if you have any recommendations for protein powder and multivitamin supplements.

Reading

I am still reading ‘Tilor’. The story is progressing slowly, but the plot is very interesting, so I am continuing it. I may read ‘Mane Fom Chhe’ in parallel.

Music

• Varso 3 got released.
• Kal Raat Mere Ghar Aaya Ek Chor by Rahgir
• Pankhio E Kalshor Karyo

I feel that I am constantly fighting. Fighting with ‘convenience’. Or fighting for convenience?

I lose every day… every hour… every minute.

In Ahmedabad, 39 to 40°C was the average high temperature last week. I feel guilty every time I switch on the AC in my room. I get images of fruit vendors, delivery people, and others in my mind. How are they living? I press the remote finally and keep the AC on for about 30 minutes or so… I start feeling anxious… “The electricity bill will be high…” “It’s okay.” “Am I doing the right thing?” I switch off the AC, open the window, and try to acclimatize.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night… I was sweating… it was too hot even at midnight. I switched on the AC… but my sleep was gone… I was fighting… fighting for convenience.

On Saturday, I had a discussion with Nidhi about not using plastic bags in the fridge to separate vegetables. We can use something else… or even spend time separating them when we want to prepare food. But she feels anxious if things aren’t in place. Are we that busy? I think yes, we are busy… should I blame the system?

We took some cloth bags and transferred the vegetables into them.

Our composting project is still waiting for our attention. Hopefully in the coming week.

One part of me dreams of a day where I only do mundane, day-to-day work like cooking, washing utensils, cleaning, and more… if someone were to pay all my bills. Would I really thrive living like that? Would I eventually feel the urge to do something ‘more meaningful’? What if I don’t create any value or meaning in my life?

What should we make for dinner? For breakfast? It’s a daily question… On Saturday evening, we went to Kamla Cafe. During dinner, we were talking about ’taste’. How generation by generation we are losing the taste… taste of traditional food, fruits, vegetables… Maggi masala and tomato ketchup are taking over all our taste buds… things are changing very rapidly. Another part of my being says, “Organic stuff is very costly… it is another scam of capitalism… Maybe one day I will have my own farm? How can I support a larger ecosystem for sustainable farming practices?”

One of my friends, Chetan (a KA Shala alumnus), is selling milk and other organic products. I have known him for years and can trust the quality of the products he sells.

I bought tickets for a live concert by Papon in Ahmedabad. This will be our first concert experience. I was reading FAQs on the site and realized that we can’t take water bottles with us, just because they want to make money by selling packaged water bottles and creating tons of plastic waste. Very disappointing.

Photos

Story writing for children

Shaikshik Samvad - Shushil Shukla

Third Bal Sahitya Parisad

Prabhat

Creating good children books

Tantra is not black magic :)

Principles of tantra :

• પૃથ્વી પરના જીવન - રંગ, રસ , રૂપ માં જે આનંદ લે છે.. ઉત્સવ બનાવે છે.
• જીવનને સમગ્રતા થી સ્વીકાર કરે છે. ઉજાસ ને સ્વીકારે છે.
• તંત્ર ડેમોક્રેટિક છે. બધાનો સ્વીકાર છે. જાતિ, જેન્ડર, ધર્મ, અમીર - ગરીબ
• વિઘ્નો સાધન છે. યાત્રા સાધ્ય છે. વિઘ્નો સાધના નો ભાગ છે. વિઘ્નો તમને વધુ મજબૂત બનાવે છે.
• આ ક્રિયા યોગ છે. અશક્તિ વિનાનો આનંદ છે. આનંદ માટે નીકળ્યા હોય ત્યારે નામ ન પૂછો. જીવનમાં સમગ્રતા થી ભાગ લે.
• પળની અંદર સંગ્રતા થી ભાગ લે અને પળને શાશ્વતી બનાવી લે. Live the moment, it will give you sense of eternity.
• ઇન્દ્રિયો પારનો રસ્તો ઇન્દ્રિયો માં થઈ ને જાય છે. પરમ નો રસ્તો નગર માં થઈ ને જાય છે. જે માણસ નદી ઓળંગે અને ભીંજાય નહીં એનો કોઈ અર્થ નહીં. હું ભીંજાવ, છોળો ઉછાળતો જાવ..
• અસલામતી માં જીવન પાંગરે છે. જીવન ખાતર જુગાર છે. તક મળે તો જુગાર રમી લેવાનો.
• જેને શ્રેષ્ઠ જીવવું છે એને શ્રેષ્ઠ દાવ પર પણ મૂકવું પડે છે.
• પતન એ ઉત્થાનનો જ ભાગ છે. ભટકવું, ખોવાઈ જવું એ બધું જ.. અંધકાર એ ઉજાસનો જ ભાગ છે.
• સ્થૂળ માંથી પસાર થયા વગર સૂક્ષ્મ પમાતુ નથી. જેને દેહનો પ્રેમ નથી કર્યો એ મનના સ્તરે શુ જશે, જે મનના સ્તરે નથી ગયો એ આત્માના સ્તરે શુ જશે.
• પૃથ્વીનો સંપર્ક છૂટી જાય એ વૃક્ષ ફળ નથી આપતું. જીવન સાથેનો સંપર્ક અચૂક રાખવો. ચૈતન્યનું લક્ષણ વિસ્તાર છે.
• જીવનમાં જે સર્જાય છે.. સંગીત, ચિત્ર, બધાને બે હાથ પહોળા કરીને આવકાર.

Tantra in day to day life

• વધુ ઇન્દ્રિયમય બનો. ઇન્દ્રિયોને ધિક્કારો નહિ. Trust your senses

• મનને પડતું મુકો. આપણને દરેક ક્ષણે મનની જરૂરી નથી. ‘મન મૂકીને ને નાચો’ When you experience anything with senses live it thoroughly.

• અપરાધ ભાવ છોડી દેવાની જરૂર છે. કેટલાક લોકો આંનદ ને જ અપરાધ ગણે છે. દમન ને જવાદો. અપરાધ ભાવ છૂટી જશે તો મનની પકડ ઢીલી થઈ જશે. leave this : this is good , that is bad

• જીવનને અભિવ્યક્તિ આપવાની જરૂર છે. મુક્ત રીતે અભિવ્યક્ત કરો. આનંદ જ જીવનનું સાધ્ય, સાધન અને સાધના છે. ત્યાગ વૈરાગ એ પરમ તત્વ નથી. પરમ તત્વ તો રસરાજ છે , રંગ રાજ છે, નટરાજ છે વિનોબા : એક ઉંમર માં આનંદ પ્રાપ્તિ ધ્યેય હોય છે. પછી આનંદ ની પરિશુધ્ધ ધ્યેય બને. કામ - પ્રેમ - ધ્યાન - પ્રકાશ

This week was hectic again. Meetings, calls, outings and work. I am having shoulder, neck and lower back pain. It feels like my body hasn’t rested for months. Maybe it’s because I daily travel 20 to 24km on my Activa. Maybe it’s because of stress? It’s more painful than I thought. I need to figure out some exercises to get rid of this.

After a year of writing weekly notes, I’ve developed some guidelines :

I’ve learned to be selective about what I share publicly:

• Office details remain private, though I can mention celebrations like Holi or special events
• No workplace photos
• Always get consent before mentioning names or sharing photos of others
• Draft everything in private notes first, then curate what goes public
• Be aware while writing about issues at home

What to focus on:

• Cool stuff I’m reading, watching, or exploring
• My latest experiments and tinkering
• Personal projects and how they’re coming along
• How I’m feeling overall
• Interesting conversations and stories
• Quick updates about life

With Monday to Friday consumed by work, I’ve decided to dedicate Sunday evenings to this practice. I’m setting aside two hours to reflect on the full Monday-Sunday week, even if that means occasionally missing late weekend updates.

I’ve come to value these notes as an important weekly ritual—a chance document and share my journey.

23rd March - Sunday

I skipped going to Navjeevan Trust on Sunday. Instead, we (Nidhi, Mom, Mihir) went to watch the Gujarati film ‘Fati ne’. It was a Horror-Comedy film, a new attempt in Gujarati films. We enjoyed it. I felt that it was a little too long…

24th March - Monday

We had our first planning meeting for Khojbeen Mandali. We discussed:

• What are our learning objectives
• What is our target age group
• How we will document the whole thing

Nidhi will take two weekly sessions at Anusandhan Learning Center.

25th March - Tuesday

• We were looking for a summer intern to work on Khojbeen Mandali, but we didn’t get good applications. Mostly freshers have applied. Also, the work is only for two months, the honorarium is low, and it’s onsite work, not a remote job.

• This internship is a good opportunity for someone who is based in Ahmedabad and wants to kickstart their journey in nature education or educational research.

26th March - Wednesday

We had a short online meeting with dear friend Chetna. We discussed Khojbeen Mandali. She shared some wonderful insights and ideas from her experience of working with children. I felt very positive and inspired after this meeting.

27th March - Thursday

I attended an online meeting of Voice of Vishwamitri (a group of citizens working on environmental and developmental issues of Vadodara city). I wanted to attend the meetings and get involved in action but couldn’t attend earlier because of my busy schedule. We need to make a website for the work happening around Vishwamitri river. We had a discussion around the same. I will try to make a basic prototype as soon as possible.

28th March - Friday

Met dear friend Malay after a long, long time… almost after 8 years. We chatted about design thinking, aesthetics, wonder, awe, technology, work, education, life and more… He recently joined IIT G. We will try to meet frequently. This meeting was the highlight of my week.

Pictures from 2018 :

View this post on Instagram

29th March - Saturday

We bought a mobile for Mom. She never owned a personal mobile till now (strange, right? But it is real). Instead of ordering online, we went to the nearest mobile shop and bought a Vivo model for 15k. It’s a basic smartphone with 8GB RAM + 128GB storage. It’s enough for Mom’s usage. I didn’t do research or even check the price online. I didn’t want to go into my overthinking loop. Also, I wanted to give her the touch and feel of the buying process.

Nidhi wanted to do something around documenting bio diversity. We started with identifying and note down trees in our apartment compound. I am really happy that we could start this.

30th March - Sunday

Mom went back to Padra. Nidhi and I went to drop her at Geeta Mandir bus stop. After that, we visited Navjeevan Trust Campus. We got a surprise… There was a farmers’ market happening there—‘Srishti Khedut Hat’. Nidhi was super excited to see this. A few alumni of K Shala were also holding a stall there. I was super happy to meet them. We had lunch at their stall.

I bought 4 books from the Navjeevan book store.

• Ghar by Kirit Dudhat
• Mane fom chhe by Bharat Nayak
• Tilor by Dhruv Bhatt
• Jodasankor Dhare by Avanindranath thakur, translated by Ramnik Meghani

I was trying to find my old Gujarati textbook from grade 10. I wanted to read stories from it and go on a nostalgia trip, but couldn’t find it. The textbook board has changed the textbooks. I want a textbook of grade 10 from 2010.

I found ‘રસિકભૈ રસો’ on the internet. I loved reading it…

We had an online sharing meeting with 2 of our friends who are also working in the nature-science-education field. We shared our current work and life updates… we decided that we will do this every month. I felt connected and hopeful after the meeting. Thank you Nidhi for initiating this.

Current Reading

Almost finished “Electric Train” but needed a change of subject, so I started reading “Tilor by Dhruv Bhatt”.

Overall mood

I am so happy to see how Nidhi and Mummy are bonding. I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to spend time with Mummy. I was very anxious when Mummy was leaving alone for Padra in a bus.

Photosssss

It was a roller coaster week, the end part of the week was emotionally demanding.

• My parents went back to Padra on Sunday. I am living in Thaltej and my parents needed to catch the bus from Geeta Mandir bus stop which is 13km away from here. I was searching for bus options, tried searching on Google and following the route but it felt complex. Too many options and variables. I wish there was one simple app where I could input the destination and it would show bus numbers, timing and routes - just like the app in Mumbai for bus & local train routes. I was remembering the map man - Arun Ganesh
• Managing wet waste, especially managing food waste is difficult in city/flat/apartment living. Doing composting when there’s no balcony in your flat is difficult. It’s also time consuming when both of us are working. What are some techniques I can implement? At my home in Padra we used to give food waste to dogs or cows on the street.
• Aadhvan pointed out that my blog’s RSS feed wasn’t working. Images weren’t loading in the RSS reader because the base URL was ’localhost:1313’ instead of ’learningwala.in’. I figured that I was using the ‘hugo server’ command to build the live site, which makes the base URL localhost. I changed my workflow. Now I’m using:

hugo --baseURL "https://learningwala.in/" --cleanDestinationDir
python3 -m http.server

It worked out.

• Again, I tried making markdown files from my accounts on Medium.com. I wanted to move all my old blog posts from Medium to my current Hugo site. I used Pandoc to convert HTML to markdown, downloaded all the images, added metadata, and changed image paths with the help of a Python script. Finally, I tried putting all the files in the Hugo folder. Some errors are coming up because of Medium’s HTML elements. Now I’m frustrated with this. I’ll slowly just copy-paste all the posts in markdown. That will be better.
• Went for a dinner at Aarambh Cafe on sunday evening. Met Bansari.We need to plan meetings with Nidhi, Bansari, Vishnu, and one more with our office team.
• At the office, it was a hectic week, mostly meetings & presentations. We celebrated ‘World Storytelling Day’ on 20th March. All the teammates made impromptu stories and acted out short skits.
• Nidhi came back from Kanpur on Thursday. We went to Kamla cafe for dinner. Dadaji is back home from the hospital and on medication.

• Now for the sad part of the week. There are extreme family conflicts going on. One more big reminder for me that patriarchy is real. It is very emotionally demanding and a test of life skills. I’m grateful that Nidhi and my close friends are with me in this difficult situation. I went to Padra on Friday, and brought mummy with me to ahemdabad. Spent Saturday with Nidhi and mummy.

What else?

• Next month I need to visit Bhopal for a Child Development Course. Need to plan things for the same.
• Some more short projects are coming up apart from office work. Need to respond to that.
• Need to kick start the work of ‘Khojbeen Mandali’
• Need to plan camp for Sakha fellows

overall mood is ok, sad - angry - frustrated - hopeful - at the moment I am ok. Thanks to Nidhi & mummy.

Reading: Still reading Electric Train. Nidhi was telling today that she will continue her ‘Banaras book’. I might buy one or two books from Navjeevan on Sunday. I need some variety in reading, but still first preference is ‘Lalit Nibandh’ - essays and second preference is short stories or poems :)

I am looking forward to this :

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9th March, Sunday

• I had a talk with Konarak about the problem I’m facing with my website/blog. I want to add more photos, but GitHub Pages has only a 1GB repo size limit. I was considering setting up a Raspberry Pi or an Oracle server (similar to Amazon S3). Konarak suggested trying Cloudflare Pages instead. I created a project on Cloudflare Pages and found it surprisingly simple. Initially, I was manually creating my Hugo site on my local machine and copying only the ‘Public’ folder to CF Pages. I wondered if there was a way to deploy directly from the command line. My first attempt wasn’t successful, so I had a short call with Konarak who helped me set it up properly. Now I can deploy my site with just a single command line - much more efficient than writing multiple git commands. This website now lives on CF Pages.

• I read Adhavan’s weekly note and noticed he used a grid format for displaying images. I liked it and tried implementing the same thing on my blog. It took some time to figure out because I was already using shortcode for image handling and optimization. Using shortcode for both grid and image optimization together was challenging. I tried different AI tools to solve this problem - Claude, ChatGPT and Co-pilot. Co-pilot gave the simplest solution on the first attempt. ChatGPT was the worst, while Claude was average. They kept giving complex solutions that didn’t work for me.
• Watched the Gujarati film ‘Ventilator’, which is based on a Marathi film with the same name. It was a wonderful watch. I didn’t know it was officially available on YouTube. Thanks to the algorithm for making my Sunday!

10th March, Monday

• It was an office colleague’s birthday, so we went out for lunch with the whole team.
• I had a call with Earth Educator Fellow Vimal who runs an organization called WildED. We discussed nature education, program design approaches, how to approach schools, and more.
• I explored how to incorporate Gujarati fonts on my blog. I currently use Inconsolata fonts for English text. For Gujarati, I discovered a GitHub repository called ‘Chhapkam’, developed by my friends Samyak Bhuta and Kartik Mistry. With Co-pilot’s assistance, I figured out the process of uploading these fonts and configuring them to activate whenever I write Gujarati content in my blog posts or pages.

11th March, Tuesday

• Bansari (friend/colleague from office) took me to meet her friend Vishnu, who works at American India Foundation as a science educator. We talked about life & education (what else can I talk about!!)

13th March, Thursday

• We played Holi at the office. I’ve never played Holi at my previous workplaces and really enjoyed it.

• Me & Nidhi had a online meeting with Tanaya (from nature classroom). She is developing assessment tool to measure the impact of nature based learning intervention.

• I watched a film called ‘Gujju Bhai - Most Wanted’. It was a fun watch. Again, thanks to my YouTube algorithm.

14th March, Friday

• My parents came to Ahmedabad. Papa bought a second-hand Activa for me & Nidhi. They drove from Vadodara to Ahmedabad. In the evening, we went to Palladium mall (we all wanted to spend time at the same place, and the mall was just 20 steps away from our home, so we decided to go there… it was fun discussing brands, packaging design, and fashion with papa).

15th March, Saturday

• Papa and I went to my office on the Activa. I wanted to check if I remembered the way. Though I wasn’t confident, I surprisingly reached there very smoothly without looking at a map. I realized that now I have personal mobility. I’ve never owned a vehicle before, mostly using public transport/Uber/Ola/Rapido. Most of my houses and workplaces were nearby, but now with my office 10km away and living in Ahmedabad—a happening city with drama, events, and literature-related talks—having a vehicle will be very helpful.

• There’s a heat wave going on in Ahmedabad. Luckily, I go to the office early in the morning and return after 5pm, so I skip the worst hours, but it’s still very hot and this is just the beginning of summer. I’m very grateful to have a living space with AC and happy that I could offer air conditioning to my parents. Environmentally, AC is the worst thing to have, but when you live in a city apartment, it’s difficult to choose alternatives. For most years in my career, I worked in remote villages. Sometimes I feel like I’m being pulled into city life…

I am grateful for:

• Getting a new vehicle

• The opportunity to work with researchers. Currently at the office, I’m involved in pilot activities with children where we test different hypotheses. There are proper observers/research associates documenting the whole process. I wish to move more toward the research side now. At Khojbeen (our nature-project-theater based learning initiative that Nidhi and I are nurturing), we’re also partnering with Nature Classroom and hopefully with Srivi to research our intervention. Srivi is a wonderful researcher, artist, and educator. I would like to work with her on environmental aesthetics.
• Reading a lot about aesthetic sense development lately. This might help me develop activity modules or conduct sessions. I wish to hold a session with my office team on this topic. Taking a session is the best motivation to study things in depth.

Updates about khojbeen :

• We had a meeting with Tanaya about assessment tool
• We are in touch with srivi, we are planning to do research about aesthetic sense development in children through nature based intervention.
• We published an invitation for summer internship positions with our team. We received a diverse range of interesting applications from PhD students all the way to 10th grade students. We’re specifically looking for someone who is based in Ahmedabad, has a genuine interest in nature education, and is enthusiastic about working with children.

Misc

• I want to write one blog / weekly note kind of thing for office work which I will not publish anywhere. Only on my local machine.
• Apart from that I want to start weekly note for khojbeen mandali. Instead of blog I might publish it on instagram. The copy of same thing will be in one section of my regular weekly note.
• I need to visit bhopal in April second week for the second workshop of Child Development Course. Need to book tickets.
• I want to start some documentation project like documenting / mapping trees in my apartment or something like that. May be I should start my nature journaling practice again.

Photos :

Random Aesthetics

Remembering BLR

I saw Tabebuia tree near my place in ahemdabad. It is very near to palladium mall, thltej.

Music / Track of the week

• Sar Sar Ke from Gujjubhai Most Wanted

Reading

• I am reading a book called Electric Train by Geeta Nayak. it’s about life of women in mumbai with the lens of local train.

• Week was super hectic, new job, new home, new city :)

• Me and Nidhi are slowly settling down here in ahemdabad.

• We came here on 29th and I joined new workplace from 3rd March. so we got some time to settle the our stuff, figure out breakfast, lunch places,vegetable - fruit vendors, bought some grocery - kitchen utensils. living in big city is difficult. If I stay in vadodra I can go to mangal bazar or local market of padra and get the stuff. Here it was difficult to find out local market. You need to surrender to places like Dmart or blinkit. I am very very grateful to Nidhi, she did all the setup for kitchen, rooms.. made the place homelike.

• during Saturday and Sunday :

  • I watched amazing documentary called ‘Chaar Phool Hain Aur Duniya Hai’ based on Vinod Kumar Shukla’s life & work.
  • Went to Navjeevan Trust Campus after long time. Explored their new book store called ‘Hridaykunj’. Got 2 new books. Banaras Dairy by Vivek Desai (English translation), Electric Train (Gujarati) by Geeta Nayak. Both the books were in my list to buy from long time. I bought banaras dairy in english so Nidhi can also read. She is from UP but never get chance to visit banaras, now a days she is making efforts to know and connect with her city - state. I was keen to read banaras dairy in gujarati, I was in doubt if I will understand and feel the content in english or not. Nidhi did loud reading of one of chapters. It was good… I can visualize.. accept when some unknown words come in..
  • We also had dinner at ‘Karma Cafe’ at Navjeevan Trust Campus.

• Work is going well. We have young energetic - learning oriented team. I will need some more time to figure out transport. My office is 12km away from home. Right now I using repido bike service. Everyday I am meeting new new characters of repido bike drivers. I will write about it in detail on some other day. For coming back I take lift from team members.. papa bought second hand activa for us, it is in vadodra right now. We need to figure out how to bring that here.

• I got tagged by Thej to answer some questions about blogging - Why blog?

• Published some material on aesthetics sense development & Panchkosh / IKS

• on saturday 8th march me & nidhi completed one month of our marriage. Nidhi’s mom reminded us :) most of the time we forget that we are “married”. Nidhi order noodles and choco lava to celebrate the moment.

• Nidhi’s dadaji got admitted in hospital for second time in last 15 days. on saturday late night, nidhi took flight for Lucknow to visit home.

Photos :

To Do..:

• I need to get back to my other projects. Sakha fellowship, Youcan earth educator mentoring calls, eklavya..
• I need to find house near my workplace
• I need to figure out budget, saving / investing options
• Helping nidhi to set up her work when she come back from kanpur.

Document shared by Srivi (22nd Jan 2025)

• Environmental Aesthetics
• Connecting with Nature_Connecting with Ourselves
• Research work of srivi kalyan

Article shared by Mahendra Chotalia

• સૌંદર્યની કેળવણીનો કીમિયો
• સૌંદર્ય વિશેષાંક - કોડિયું

Book about Awe / Wonder

• Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner

I am so happy to be back in blogosphere. I have discovered many interesting people through Thej’s weekly notes & blogring. I am also trying to contact them to know more about their work and interesting projects they are doing. Thank you Thej.

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I started blogging long back in 2012. At that time it was a fascination to understand the technology, while using wordpress it was ’need of connect with new people’ (I was 17yr old exploring / figuring my career - studies - life ).

current ‘Why’ :

• Documenting and sharing my work and life

• Till a year ago I was mostly blogging in Gujarati language. Now I am blogging in English so I can connect and share with more people.

• Through weekly notes I try to document updates about what is happening in my life. What am I reading, watching, learning, doing, my side projects. I don’t share much about my full time work / organization. I tried sharing about previous org, but they somehow read it and HR called me and asked to delete the post. I can not mention in my weekly notes about what is happening in my project or team. Fair enough, so now I write about it in private note and talk more about my side projects. For me working in education / with children is not like a job. It is like a way of my life, an integral part of my life so I want to document - talk - share about everything.

• I used to write a blog post category called ‘Update’ in my previous blog but after reading Thej’s weekly notes, last year I have started writing in ‘weekly note’ format.

• Apart from weekly notes, I have three major blog post categories :

1. Filed notes : (learning experience with children / notes from session / classroom / workshop / facilitation)
2. Learning resources : (research papers, videos, any kind of material related to education, child development, PBL, Experiential learning and other interest areas)
3. Other : opinion / short note / comments about technology / education / philosophy / anything

• I also host my published articles, creative writing and my portfolio of work on the same site.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?

I have used many different platforms: blogspot, wordpress, php site, medium, used instagram for blogging..Here you can read my blogging journey.

Currently I am using the Hugo site hosted on github pages.

I have realized that my site is going to be image heavy and github is not suitable for that. There is limit to host your site on GH Pages. Since the last few days I have been trying to figure out the feature proof solution for the same. Friends suggested different options : go for CDN & Image storing on cloudinary / S3 , Ghost, Blot, self host on pi, build hugo site in local machine and host public folder on VM.

I want a solution where I can put all my data in one place (not like images in different place and text files are in different place). I don’t want to lock in, I want to control my own data. I am also ready to pay 3-4k annually.

I am convinced to go for the last option. Let’s see when I get a chance to set up and how it goes.

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?

I write all my posts, edit my pages on sublime text. Friends suggested VS Code but I am still in love with sublime.

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

Mostly I publish immediately. Sometimes I make drafts of weekly notes, add to it throughout the week and write the final version during Friday / weekend. Sometimes I use a paper journal to note down points.

What’s your favorite post on your blog?

• I never bought a new laptop

From my Gujarati blog :

• સંવેદનશીલતાના પ્રેમની કેળવણી
• facilitation બોલે તો ?

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

As I mentioned above, I am planning to shift my blog on S3 kind of server. So I can publish more images without worrying about github limits.

Apart from that I need to make a workflow where :

• When I do a session with children, Write a post + publish photos in the ‘field notes’ category. Put that link in a page called documentation with date and meta data. Duplicate that on linkedin + Instagram
• Maintain ‘Now’ page + archive, add side projects in documentation page. Make documentation page as master archive page.

Who’s next?

I am tagging Kartik Mistry.

Documents shared by Dr.Mahendra Chotalia (3rd March 2025)

• पंचकोश विवेक (हिंदी) - परमहंस स्वामी योगानंद
• શિક્ષણનું સમગ્રવિકાસ પ્રતિમાન (ભારતીય ગ્રંથમાળા 2 ) - ઇન્દુમતી કાટકરે
• भारतीय शिक्षा में पंचकोशाकत्मक एवं समग्र विकास की संकल्पना
• PANCH KOSHA - A HOLISTIC MODEL FOR EDUCATION

Resource person / places

• Mahendra Chotalia
• Indumati Katkare
• Kirit Joshi’s work (Children University)
• Shishumandir early childhood curriculum

This week was super busy. Most days, we were out. We are newlyweds, so family and friends are inviting us for lunch and dinner at their place. We enjoy going to friends’ places, but at relatives’ places, Nidhi needs to be ready in a saree or kurta with ornaments and all. She doesn’t like it, so it was tough for her.

• On 22nd Feb: we went to Mitali ben’s place. We enjoyed chatting with Mitali Ben’s mom and Jagat Bhai. It’s a family.. every minute cracking jokes happens.. very light environment, cricket, movies, puns, and more. I wish my family become like this. It gives you mental peace that everything is ok, we will handle it. At my place, it was like war was happening, strict, silent, needful talk only..anyway..

• On 25th Feb: we went to Anushree’s place to have lunch. Anushree is a new friend from Vadodra. She contacted me for her research on karma & shradha. Me & Nidhi both participated in the research.. and became good friends.

  She is from a Marathi family living in Vadodara. We enjoyed talking to her ajji and visiting her small garden in the compound. She is an upcycling expert, she made many interesting things for trash.

• On 26th Feb: on Shivaratri, Nidhi and mummy-papa visited our community temple in the Narmada district called Nandikeshwar Mahadev. The roads were very bad and it was 3hrs journey. Everyone was tired.

• we visited my mama’s place for dinner (we visited 3 relative’s places in one day.. it was overwhelming)

• In between all these we did packing for our next move. One day mummy also came and helped us. It was very very helpful. It could take a longer time for me and Nidhi if she didn’t come.

• 28th Feb: I & Nidhi finally moved to Ahmedabad on Friday. Ravi Bhai offered us his flat to use for some time. So we can find a proper place to live. Finding a house in a big cities is a tough job. We both are very greatful to him. Nidhi doesn’t like flats/apartments, she likes old-style houses with open spaces, gardens, and all. I also like those but it’s a luxury in the city.

  Now a new journey is starting, finding a home, finding a workplace for Nidhi, finding healthy food options (we both have stomach issues) finding a cook, setting up stuff in a home, and transport options.. should we buy a scooter or not.. many actions are in line.

After reaching Ahmedabad. First setup after reaching to Ahmedabad :

Watched

Dhamdhoom - on netflix - it was fun movie. I liked pratik gandhi’s acting.

• First part of the week went in stress and anxiety because of family conflict
• Me and Nidhi were in Ahemdabad from 17th to 19th. We came back on 20th afternoon by bus.
• I went to my workplace (Balgokulam) for orientation. I am going to join full time from 3rd march.
• Nidhi met Preeti ben and Prerna. Visited Jeevantirth, serenity trust, CEE - Planet Discovery pre school.She will finalize where she will work in sometime. Mostly she will talk to preeti ben and finalize her learning center.
• on 17th we met my past colleague and friend from moinee foundation - Vishal at CEPT University.
• on 19th we met our friend Ankur. He recently shifted Ahd and he works at CSR Box
• Next few days will be meeting friends and family for lunch and dinner (Advantage or disadvantage of getting married). We also need to pack up our stuff from Nidhi’s place and figure out transport for Ahmadabad.

• saurabh Garg

• Gaur & Chopra Escape Velocity Grant

• Vijaya Foundation, Ravi Pathak

• Nagarathna Memorial Grant

• Inlaks Grants

• Sudha Mahesh Grants for educators and teachers - email : sudhamaheshgrants@gmail.com

• International micro grants

• Samagata Foundation (Kailash Nadh from Zerodha is associated with this foundation. They support small projects for public good)

Nothing much happened in this week.

• Me & Nidhi came back from Kanpur. Our train was late for 4.5hrs
• our family was prepared for Gruhpravesh ritual. It was fun.
• During the wedding function some family conflicts happened. So there is tension in the home environment
• Me and Nidhi decided to move ahemdabd. I accepted the offer letter from balgokulam. They are doing research in early childhood education, I will be working directly with children, curriculum designers and researchers. They are focusing on nature education in kindergarten. let’s see how it goes.

Nidhi is still looking for work opportunity. We trying to find some nature education related org. We need org which allow us to work with children through nature education / project based learning. She got some personal grant so no need for job but she need space to work.

we will be visiting ahemdabad from 17th to 19th. I will visit balgokulam and Nidhi will meet orgs where she can volunteer.

1. Jeevan Teerth, Koba
2. Planet Discovery, Thaltej

we are also figuring out the place to stay & other essential stuff.

Music :

I have been listening to this song multiple times over the last two days.

Tainu Khabar Nahi

I love sachin - jigar ♥

This weekly note got delayed because I was busy in prep for my wedding function. It was long distance wedding.. 2 days function at Padra (Vadodra), 20hrs train ride to Kanpur and 1 days function there.. coming back to padra.

I am still at Kanpur while writing this. Me and Nidhi will leave for vadodra tomorrow (11th Feb). We will reach by 12th afternoon.

These 10 days have been emotionally and physically hectic, tiring. I will write detail note about it next week.

Saturday :

• Finally got LG monitor
• Balvikas course - session on Emotions and learning

Sunday

• Sakha Fellowship - first safarnama podcast with music artist Tathastu

Monday

• 3rd Feb : Garba
• 4th Feb : Haldi, Grahshanti Puja
• 5th, 6th : break, left for kanpur in 2 AM train
• 7th to 10th Feb : Wedding event at Kanpur

Photos :

Here’s what I know about you based on our previous conversations:

1. Work and Professional Focus:

   • You are deeply involved in transformative learning journeys for children and young adults, focusing on experiential methodologies and alternative education approaches.
   • You’ve consulted and worked with learning spaces, designed educational content, facilitated workshops, and supported a wide variety of educational initiatives.
   • Your work includes diverse roles like content development, facilitating workshops, nature education, teacher training, and interdisciplinary projects.
   • You’ve worked with prestigious institutions such as MIT Media Lab, IIT Bombay, Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education, and contributed to government educational initiatives.
   • You actively design rubrics for competitions and are interested in curriculum development, including programs like Nature Detective (for younger children) and Local Khoji (for older students).
   • You are working on a child development and learning course and collaborating with teachers and educators.
   • You plan to launch an alternative school inspired by the Tomoe School as described in the book ‘Totto-chan.’
   • You are passionate about creating dialogic spaces, fostering self-directed learning, and co-creating with young people.

2. Current Focus Areas:

   • In 2025, your focus is on expanding your work through visual storytelling, social media, and publishing research articles.
   • You’re actively working on nature education frameworks in Madhya Pradesh as part of your Earth Educator Fellowship.
   • You lead the Sakha Fellowship and mentor teenagers in leadership, self-directed learning, and changemaking projects.
   • You’ve initiated or led expeditions like the Voice of Vishwamitri and How about Seeing Bangalore, projects on environmental themes that engage young people.

3. Philosophies and Inspirations:

   • You’re inspired by thinkers like J. Krishnamurti and Martin Buber, focusing on authentic relationships, ecological consciousness, and holistic education.
   • The Panchkosha model of human development guides your thinking on child development.
   • You’re influenced by Yuvan, a naturalist and educator whose work intersects ecology, education, and human consciousness.

4. Creative and Writing Interests:

   • You’re an amateur writer who enjoys writing poetry and stories for children. You’ve self-published two books in Gujarati and are working on a picture book about the impact of sand mining on a river.
   • You write weekly notes and blog posts and have published in educational magazines like Teacher Plus and Pathshala Bhitar Bahar.

5. Experiential Learning and Child-Centric Work:

   • You believe in the transformative power of gap years, travel, and project-based learning for young adults.
   • You’ve worked extensively in different learning environments, including democratic schools, homeschooling groups, Ashramshalas, and NGOs.
   • You’ve designed and facilitated over 50 workshops on diverse topics such as nature education, creative computing, civic problem-solving, and design thinking.

6. Collaboration and Networking:

   • You have collaborated with a wide range of professionals, from artists and writers to scientists and carpenters.
   • You’ve spent a significant amount of time (around 6 hours daily for 11 years) working directly with children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in both rural and urban settings.

7. Passions Beyond Work:

   • Outside of education, you immerse yourself in music, bird watching, sketching, and exploring physical theater, especially practices involving breath work and breaking physical conditioning.

8. Other Activities and Roles:

   • You’re part of the faculty team for the Child Development, Learning & Special Needs course at Eklavya Foundation.
   • You’re engaged in website rephrasing and editing for the Vijaya Foundation, a non-profit in Ahmedabad focused on senior citizen care and education.

This paints a picture of your diverse interests and roles, centered around education, creativity, nature, and holistic development. Does that reflect everything accurately, or would you like to add or clarify anything?

Saturday :

• How Vinay Malge became the catalyst for Bidar’s heritage revival | DH Changemakers 2025
• tried osm mapping
• did washing machine repairing at home with papa and mummy.

Sunday :

• session - Biology of Money in the morning
• wrote summary about session published blog post and my prep note.

Monday

• watched arun ganesh’s interview
• spent time to study adhavana’s work
• I tried OSM Go app

Tuesday

• Had short call with Thejesh GN about how to do survey of biodiversity / tree mapping. he shared tool called kobo tool box (https://www.kobotoolbox.org/)

• Vidit came from the canada for few months. He is super confused and stressed about going back to canada.He is analyzing that should he stay in india and do the job or should he go back to canda and do hardwork to save money and come back.. it’s classic immigration conundrum. We had long discussion, we went to vadodra, had lunch at nice gujarati thali restaurant called Kathivadi Darbar - Alkapuri. After that we went to buy Monitor screen for me. It was a long pending task to finish.

• we bought refurbished Dell E2421HN 24inch monitor in 5k and logitech wireless mouse and keyboard (K275) . I was very confusing during the shopping, I was comparing online price, which brand and technology to buy and everything… finally i took a plunge. it’s nice quality not very slim and attractive like what I see online but it is decent. I am trying this new keyboard. It’s a mechanical keyboard. After using thinkpad’d keyboard it is difficult to shift to any other keyboard. let’s see how it goes. I think I will like it in sometime.

Wednesday

• spent time in researching about the monitor. It is my habit. Which now I don’t like. I keep researching and justifying my decision. In this case I keep justifying my step to not buying IPS monitor because it was costly (8k) and I don’t need it because I am not doing gaming or graphic designing work. But when ever I read that IPS gives good color accuracy and it is good for eyes. At that time my mind goes mad and it tells me to go back to shop and give back the monitor and buy another one.

• This confusion is very interesting. I am experimenting with it for low stack environment so I can learn and apply it in other situation also. I read about e - ink screens which seems best for the low eye strain and also for distraction free work. People are making e- ink monitors and tabs. Some people are trying gray scale on their existing monitors and phones. I also tried gray scale on my ubuntu device. It took some time to find out right tool to do system wide gray scale. Thanks to chat GPT. It was fun experiment.

• But this whole thing is about how brain works. How we are taking a decisions. What we prioritize and why. I was remembering Paras Chopra’s mental models. Also thinking about cognitive basis. finally I had chat with chat GPT which gave me some peace :)

Thursday

• Abhijit was in Vadodra to take session at oasis. I went to vadodara to meet him. We had a lunch at kathiwadi darbar. This is second time I am going to kathiwadi darbar in same week. After lunch we went to visit Aditya’s maker space ‘Forrest of us’. They are doing very nice work. I am happily jalousie. At that day they were working on wast management of Vadodra marathon.

• I also return the monitor I have bought. I had talk with suchakra and he suggested to buy new LG QHD monitor which is good for reading, writing, coding. So I ordered at same shop in Vadodra. Suchakra also sponsored part of the total amount of the monitor as a marriage gift :) Very thoughtful gift…

• Got msg Radhika from Balgokulam. They are ready to hire my as learning facilitator. I was waiting for this confirmation since last 2 months. Finally it came. Now we need to finalize where should we go ? Kanisa or ahemdabd ?

in last weekly note I have written that we will not go for jashdan and join kanisa but now game is changed.

→ Stability & social life : ahemdabad is ok ok city. We can come to vadodara in two hours. → Finance : salary + grant
→ Stimulation at work / meaningful work : it’s seems interesting. Nature education for kindergarten children + I can continue sakha fellowship and local khoji work in vadodra. I can learn research part. It will be corporate style setting but I need to be flexible. → Nidhi’s work / working together : she can come to balgokulam, she can join anusandhan ngo , we can find new places

we had a long call with Mitali ben. She also suggested to go ahemdabd. Now I need to think about winding up DEFY work in march and find out home and everything in ahemdabd. Still I am confuse, unsure, let’s see.. universe will take care.

Friday

• Had a call with Ravi bhai

• Mostly spent time for office meetings/work.

• overall good week,

We are not very different from other species.

• Fungi do trading, we do too.
• Animals hunt and gather, and so do we.
• Animals signal for mating and choose the best partner to carry their genes forward. We do that too.
• Animals compete, and we do the same.

Our body and brain perceive only a small part of reality, just like the example of a Herring Gull bird focusing on a red dot. We too often see just the “red dot” in many situations. This is why:

• We watch Bollywood movies (which mostly contain violence and romance).
• We eat junk food (caught in the dopamine loop).
• We get alarmed when politicians say another community will destroy our existence – we get triggered.
• We know we can make healthy food at home, but we still order from outside.
• We get influenced by “artificial needs,” like the idea that we need to buy certain brands to look cool. These aren’t real needs; they’re socially constructed to benefit companies.

What can we do about this?

Signals from our DNA aren’t always good for us. Take surgery, for example. When you undergo surgery, your brain signals pain because it perceives it as a threat. But we use anesthesia to stop the pain and perform surgery for a better future.

Similarly, sometimes we need to ignore signals from our genes and think:

• Do I really need this?
• Do I really need to compete?
• Is there really a scarcity, or do we have enough?
• Should I accept everything that comes from the past or tradition without questioning it?

Our DNA might tell us to:

• Buy more
• Fight because they’re “destroying” us
• Earn more because we’re not safe

But we need to ask: Really?

Our Nature Can Also Help Us Grow

For example, curiosity, learning, and creation are part of our nature. So, let’s use that to create things that solve real-world problems. This will give us both money and fulfillment.

Money

Money isn’t inherently bad. It’s a system, a mutually agreed-upon concept made by humans to run society. However, like any complex system, it has its flaws.

Why are Money, Status, and People Connected?

Biologically, having more resources means more safety and freedom. Since money provides resources, people tend to respect and give status to those who have it. But this is like focusing only on the red dot – we shouldn’t judge people or choices based solely on money. There are many other factors to consider.

Whether you’re choosing a partner or a career, looking only at money, fame, or status might lead to a downfall. So, think about other aspects too.

We Give Irrational Value to Many Things and Chase After Them

We place irrational value on luxurious bikes, cars, watches, phones, and houses. They become status symbols, and people work hard just to achieve these symbols. This is completely irrational.

But we can change our status symbols. Imagine if these were society’s new status symbols:

Signs of a Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Society

(Shared by Manish Jain, inspired by Bhutan’s GNH)

• Walking and bicycling are the primary modes of transport.
• Animals of all shapes and sizes (at least 10 different species) can walk freely in neighborhoods, feeling safe and respected.
• Every neighborhood has at least 100 diverse plant and tree species, including organic fruits, wild foods, and medicinal plants, and the soil is rich with microorganisms.
• People spend at least one hour a day drinking herbal tea with friends.
• Fresh bread is made and eaten daily using freshly ground flour, often two to three times per day.
• Men feel comfortable crying in front of others and are encouraged to share their feelings openly. Daily human touch is encouraged.
• There’s no need for excessive security measures like CCTV, security guards, barbed wire fencing, or high military spending. People don’t have to lock their doors.

What Are Your Indicators of Happiness?

What Makes a Good Society?

A good society is where everyone feels respected and has the opportunity to grow.

Today, on Republic Day, let’s take a pause…

The five basic constitutional values of India, as outlined in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, are:

1. Justice – Social, economic, and political justice for all citizens, ensuring fairness and equality in society.
2. Liberty – Freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship, protecting individual rights and personal freedoms.
3. Equality – Equal status and opportunity for all, ensuring that everyone is treated without discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
4. Fraternity – Promoting a sense of brotherhood and unity among citizens, ensuring dignity for the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.
5. Secularism – Ensuring that the state treats all religions equally and does not promote or favor any particular religion.

These values form the foundation of India’s democratic and inclusive system, ensuring the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

Assignment for Everyone

Think about these questions:

• Why is there such a difference in the salaries of a farmer and a software engineer? Both work hard, right?
• What would happen if we gave the same salary to every profession?

Write a short note about these two questions and share it with us within the next 10 days.

Feel free to reach out to us if you want to discuss anything.

Thank you!

Must Do – Videos to Watch and Website to Read:

• Hello Seekers (You can read hindi script of this video here)
• Learning City (Please study this website when you get time)

• Mihir’s prep notes

• Videos used in prep :

• Biology of Money | Anand Gandhi in conversation with Kunal Shah | CRED curious

• Other ref

Anand Gandhi playlist

• Books

• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

• Behave by Robert Sapolsky

• Lecture Collection | Human Behavioral Biology |Robert Sapolsky

• Sunday : Mostly spent time in reading weekly notes from different people. I found out blog ring developed by Thejesh GN where he saved URLs of blogs with weekly notes. He also mentioned some new names of weekly note writers in his recent note. I got know about wonderful work of Adhavan Sivaraj from the weekly note section.

→ Nidhi’s Interview :

• Monday : Worked on khojbeen logo myself, Antara wrote khojbeen by hand and sent a photo. I used that photo and tried to make something on canva. I was very much impressed by the logo ALT EFF so I used background color of that. Aditya gave some ideas.

• Tuesday : First half went in office meetings,

→ I got to know about amazing work of Canopy Collective & educator Nayantra Siruguri in Place based education

→ I read about arshiya bose and her venture Black Baza Coffee Co

→ I prepared for the first session I am going to facilutate for sakha fellowship. It is about biology of money. I refered podcast from anand gandhi and kunal shah. I am very excited about this session, let’s see how it goes. Suraj made wonderful poster for the same.

→ On Monday I wrote an email to Adhvan about exploring tools for river mapping and tree mapping. He promptly replied and me, Nidhi and Adhvan had call on Tuesday evening. We asked for 30min call and it streched for an hour.

→ We talked about each other’s work, connection with weekly notes, blogs, funding, how can we collbrate and more.

→ He introduced some amazing apps for mapping specifically :

1. He introduce us to app called every door which is open street map based app. Where you can map trees, building and other catagories through your mobile directly on OSM. You will need OSM account for this.

2. Co Mapeo - Mapeo is a free digital toolset for documenting, monitoring, and mapping many types of data.

3. OSM and - Offline Maps and Navigation

• Wednesday :

→ Day started with a short call with Srivi. It was long due. I was so happy that she remembered it and reached out. We talked about some collaboration opportunities :

1. We can write academic paper around ‘Development of environmental aesthetic sense development in Indian Context’
2. Collaborating with master’s student from srishti for their final capstone project.
3. We also talked about how we tap in to grant / funding opportunities. May be Ram can help us in that. She also gave some ideas if I want to do masters / PhD kind of thing.

→ She shared interesting document by Arnold Berleant on Environmental Aesthetics

→ and a short film and post about her work with children in Chennai.

→ At DEFY, we started capacity building program for nook fellows.

→ I had a call Jahnvi from Surat. She is a design student from student and doing capstone project related to Nature Education. She is trying to create some kind of game / toolkit for younger children to connect them to the nature. We had primary conversation and share some ideas. We will talk more in detail soon.

• Thursday :

→ office work → spent time on updating and maintaining this website. I have changed fonts, image on the homepage,changed method for image handling - now I use short code by hugo where I can define the size of the image. Also changed CSS, added code which make all the images on the website responsive. → While working I listened Aditya’s favorite playlist on ragya.com. Once again aditya for giving this wonderful gift to the world.

• Friday :

→ Jinal came to vadodra for one workshop at ark foundation. I met Jinal and shobha after the workshop and had quick lunch at alembic city.

To meet Jinal I went to the place early so I can attend my work meeting from there. I attend the meeting from neem tree outside the workshop venue. it was a best time…so grateful for those moments.

→ got wonderful gift from bansi. Thank you so much..

→ Project DEFY : we did second session with Nook Fellow

Overall mood and other things

• beginning of the week was nice, I was very happy, calm. End of the week made me irritated, anxious. It is because of wedding prep going on at home.
• I am looking forward to take session with our sakha fellow on Sunday morning.
• work side : our bal vikas course team is not active because of various reasons, we need to figure out something together.

• Workshop with educators from different NGOs / learning centers | Sai’s Angel Foundation | 11th Jan 2025

• Launch of the Sakha Fellowship | 12th Jan 2025

• 13th Jan : Dhara and Bharat went back to their home town.

• 14th Jan : me and Nidhi came to padra, celebrated Makarsankranti with family. It was first makarsankrati of Nidhi. She saw this type of festival, flying kites at this scale for first time.

on 15th night nidhi needs to catch the train to Kanpur. She needs to do lots of packing. So mummy papa came to drop us at nidhi’s place.

Nidhi requested that she need help in packing so I also went at her place. whole day she did packing and I gave her a company.

• 15th night mummy, papa, and me went to station to drop nidhi. Now we will directly meet her in marriage.

• 16th Jan - in evening I have attended online call by Shishir bhai about current state of vishwamitri river and how we can do something about it. I am planning to write separate post about the same.You can get updates on this insta handle

• 17, 18 - mostly office work

Some photos :

Vishwamitri River Meeting

Received marriage gift from dear friend Antara from BLR - 17th Jan

Me and Nidhi are thinking about giving proper name and visual identity to our nature education work. Learningwala is there but nidhi is feeling that, it is my brand and my work, she is not feeling that she is part of it. So we have decided to create something new which we both can hold and nurture.

I was thinking about different names.. KhojBeen Mandali suck to my mind. Nidhi also liked it. I started reaching out to people seeking help in visual identity. Rachita called me and gave some ideas about how to start. I had a chat with Ipsa Jain, Ashra, Nipun Prabhakar, Jinal, Chaitali and few other folks about the same.

Overall mood and other things

• Overall I am happy. Work at DEFY is going well.
• I am happy that my and nidhi’s friends are coming to our wedding
• After eliminating all the options we have decided to go to Mitali ben’s school from march. Gopaldham option is still open, today morning I had call with Varun. He is ready to accommodate both of us with salary we are expecting. The only thing is it is very remote area and we will feel alone. Here mitali ben is there, vadodra is near by so it will work out. I told varun that we will meet after 15th feb. We will visit the school so we can get idea.

Mostly we will take a risk and go to Mitali ben’s school :)

Process of elimination :

Current Focus

• DEFY work
• Sakha Fellowship
• Balvikas course
• Wedding Prep
• Khojbeen…

• 5th, 6th : home

• 7th : shopping, came to nidhi’s place

• 8th : gave interview to Anushree in the morning (Anushree Gokhale, a PhD candidate at M. S. University, Vadodara, conducting a critical study on well-being in Indian adults living in Gujarat. This research explores how life stages, work status, and beliefs like Karma-Yoga shape subjective well-being.More details here)

• 9th : Sakha lunch meeting. We (Ashish bhai, Rameshwari ben, Nikita ben, Saurabh bhai, Nidhi, Mihir sajid bhai ) went to kathivadi darbar. it was super fun. evening - went to gajra cafe (Anushree, Nidhi, Mihir). It was fun to roam around in old city. Eating raju patti samosa..

• 10th : Bharat and dhara came. We again went to gajara cafe, ate pavbhaji near sursagar..

they were student of alternative school near rajkot / chotila calle ‘K shala’. I use to do BA sociology from surastra university around 2017. During that time I use to visit this school. Bharat came to my place when I was working in Bhuj. I was so happy to see them after so many years. Our relationship was not like teacher - students. We are friends. I am so happy that they are now working with children and trying to create environment which they got during k shala. They also shared the updates about other students that they are doing well in their respective fields and some of them are getting married soon.

chetan is in ahemdabad running organic milk startup with Srishti (Prof Anil) shailesh is working in nephropathy centers Vibhu is also working in nisarg upchar kendra Nikunj is not doing anything as per them :) Deepak is working in factory Harshad is interested in mountaineering and he is working as guide for different groups

Bharat and Dhara are going to work at shishukunj foundation, Bhuj. They are going to work with children from gov schools. Me & Nidhi were thinking to visit them and do some nature education work with them. I felt that they are thinking limited scope of work like doing games and art activity with children. We can do lot more. We will talk to them. I it just thought, I never seen them working so I might be wrong.

Here you can watch video about alternative school - ક શાળા

• 11th : Workshop with educators from different NGOs / learning centers | Sai’s Angel Foundation | 11th Jan 2025

After the workshop Dhara, Bharat, Nidhi and me went to Kamati bag.

Photos

Gajara Cafe Photos 9th Jan

Gathiya Breakfast on 10th Jan

Kamati bag on 11th Jan

• During Jan 2024 to Dec 2024 me and Nidhi did worked with different groups of children, facilitated worskhops, orgnized residential camps and more. I tried to capture all our activities in one photo report - Gulmohar
• I wrote 2024 year end reflections
• I wanted to work with young people for so long. I wanted to design fellowship kind of program where they get opportunity to work on real life projects, travel, meet people outside of their circle. Finally it worked out. Friends from sai’s angel foundation + Me & Nidhi are working on something called sakha fellowship. We are launching it on 12th Jan. I spent time on developing all the ideas related to it.
• My health went down, fever, low blood pressure
• I am getting married on 4th Feb. Preparations are going in full swing. On 5th Jan relatives are going to come at home to write invitation card (Kankotri in Gujarati) so I helped parents to prepare for the same.
• I did calculation of all funding and other money I have and how much I utilize in what. Didn’t get proper calculation for salary money (money apart from grant).

View this post on Instagram

• In Feb I have visited Chennai beach to see turtle nesting with Harshit (student from BeMe). It was very new experience for me.

• I met many inspiring & intersting people this year - Jane Sahi, Arun V, Anand Chitipothu, Paras Chopra & Aakansha Gaur, Nature Classroom team , ATREE Water workshop, Sci Gallary BLR taeam, Anish & Junuka

Moving back to Vadodara

• Left bangalore and moved to Vadodra : I shifted to BLR on Dec 2022 to join BeMe and spend more time with Nidhi (She was studying in Azim Premji University that time). After finishing MA in education at APU, Nidhi took job at org called ThinkTac - Science education company. She didn’t liked the nature of work. It was more working in content development side rather than facilitation / working with children or teacher. She was more interested in facilitation that time. She left the job in 4 months (Jun 2023 - Sep 2023). She took break of 7 months (Oct 2023 - Apr 2024 ) during the break she did small projects like helping me in setting up the time exhibition, book translation for nature classroom, etc.

  After one point we both felt that we need to move somewhere else to work. Because joing BeMe was not the option for her that time. If she gets the job somewhere in BLR, everything is very far and expensive. I never wanted to leave BeMe. It was my dream job. But nothing was working out.

  We tried shifting to Pune. I got the job at Anubhuti learning center. Similar alternative space like beme. But Nidhi was not getting appropriate job. So we canceled the option.

  During that time parents were encouraging me to come back to vadodra, they were feeling lonely, their health were not ok, we wanted to be around them so we can take our marriage conversation forward. So we decided that let’s go back to vadodara.

  Some how it worked out. I had a talk with Ravi bhai and he offered 1 year grant. I got job as content developer at Pratham Foundation. Aaakansha also offered 1 year - Escape Velosity Grant to us. So with all of support, we came to Vadodra on 30th April 2024.

  Nidhi also got ‘Teach for Nature Fellowship’ to work in Nature Education in Vadodara.

Engagement - Mihir & Nidhi

• First thing we did after moving back was event of our formal engagement with friends and family members. It was tough. 10 people coming from Kanpur in train staying in small town like padra, managing whole event, managing everyone’s ego - emotions - expectations.. it was tough for me and nidhi both. But we did it. We came out of our comfort zone and did it.

Happiest moment was when our friends came to the event and stood with us.

Work at Vadodra

• Nidhi rented out flat and started working with Rameshwari ben and Amit bhai.

detail report about the work - here

View this post on Instagram

Work at Pratham

Pratham was roller coaster experience. In the beginning I was very happy that I got remote job so I can stay in vadodra and also do other work. Secondly it was content development job in environment domain. My team was producing videos for topics like climate change, plastic literacy and more. There was interesting project called creativity club in our account too. Where we need to develop prompt videos for children age 10+ yrs to foster their creativity, collaboration, communication and problem solving skills.

Overall work was interesting but I could sustain there for more than 7 months.

Few reasons :

• It was remote team with large scale, deadline driven project. Working in high peace environment with remote team was new experience for me. I didn’t feel connected to team and the factory approach which we were using for content development. I felt very disconnected from ground.

• my skills were not very good for this type of work environment. I mostly worked with children or teachers. On ground. Never worked with canva - excel - chatgpt. So it was good learning.

  I first time wrote script for videos I first time made posters & videos on canva I was part of team of the project at this scale for first time where my content goes to thousands of children pan India.

  I learnt how to make content for creativity and other 21st century skills. Mainly we were using design thinking activities, replicating already available activities in our format. But making it useful for large scale project is also good learning.

  I learnt about how large scale orgs works, I learnt little bit about partnerships and funding

  best part of my work was coordinating with nature educators from all over India to nature education camps with children at different location. It was good that I already had network of people in the domain.

  I left pratham on 15th Nov 2024. Took few days back break and joined Project DEFY (25th Nov 2024) as subject matter expert - self directed learning. It’s 3 months remote assignment.

  during pratham days I first time experienced serious anxiety. Stress. Somehow it was very chill for other team members. But I was not handle constant stress, constant communication & coordination.. it was very bad phase.

Finding Work & expectations from home

• Aakansha and Ravi bhai offered the grant for the one year. I left the pratham so now we didn’t have any backup for money. most of the pratham’s salary is going to be used in marriage event (all the shopping, jewellery and all). Nidhi has some money coming through fellowship but that also she was not able to continue because multiple things going on at home. so we reached out to all social media, all the friends with the request. we got many calls from alternative schools from south, many orgs, individuals.

  we are very very grateful to all the people who reached out to us with offerings. People who connected us with other people, people who thought about us.

  Because of my family situation we need to stay near to vadodra / ahemdabad. My parents wants us to stay near to them. Because of their loneliness, because of their health, because their insecurities , because they feel socially confident when we are around.. for whatever reasons they are not happy about we leaving vadodra and go far from them.

  one more aspect to it is they want Nidhi to be house wife kind of person. Helping my mother to do all the work, not taking independent work. My home is based in Patriarchy system. so to stay far from it we need to find work-stay option where we are not very near to them and not very far.

  This year very big chunk of my time went to fight and manage the balance of our values and expectations from family. Friends helped me a lot in this. thank you rameshwari ben, mitali ben, many other friends.

  Now we are stuck, we have very limited option at vadodra / ahemdabad for meaningful and well paid work. After eliminating many options right now we left with very few :

  1. Mitali ben’s school : Ravi bhai is willing to continue grant next year also, Aakansha also offered that if I can help her in some admin work of ’escape velocity grant’ she can offer grant for one more year. With this assurance we can move to Mitali ben’s school 2hrs far from vadodra and work there. Next year we can again search for grant. (Inlaks Grants, The Circle incubation) Also we can find out some part time / remote work if possible.

  Pros : we can work directly with children, we can develop nature education curriculum / do action reasecrh. Nidhi and me can work on our health, we can also be near to my family. We can also work with other orgs in Vadodra because it is just 2hrs away.

  Cons : Instability of funding, we might feel lonely sometime in village.

  2. Gopaldham learning center : it is an Ashramshala in Jashdan near rajkot / chotila. 5hrs from vadodra. they are looking for school leader kind of person.

  Pros : there are only 70 children, we will get full freedom to do meaningful work. We both will get work. Good payment also

  Cons : this is new place. We don’t know the founders and team personally. No friends, we will feel lonely. We need to leave work we have started in vadodra

  3. Balgokulam : it is an early childhood research org based in ahemdabad.

  Pro : good salary. My role will direct working with children and researching about early childhood curriculum. so new learning opportunity. we can come to vadodara when ever is needed, it is just 2hrs

  Cons : new set up don’t know what exactly my role looks like. It is new org started in 2023 so don’t know the future. We will need to find job for nidhi.

  4. Eklavya, Bhopal : with Aakansha’s funding we can go eklavya bhopal and start working there with libraries. I am not sure that ravi bhai will give funding for that.

  Pros : Eklavya family will be there, lots of new people, friends, projects

  Cons : instability of funding. We need to leave our work which we started in vadodra. We might not get access to children like school. Because we will work with libraries.

  I am eliminating BLR right now but we have shortlisted some org if we want to go : creative school, beme, project DEFY, seed to sapling, etc.

Health

• Me & Nidhi both went to Nephropathy this year at Nisargupchar Kendra - Gotri, Vadodra. It is wonderful place. I am suffering from stomach problems and Nidhi is suffering from skin - hair issues. (apart from our mental health) We tried following the diet for month or two.. it was magical.. it works. eating millets and doing yoga. After one point of time it got difficult for us to manage the routine and making food at home. but we want to start it again when we get new place to stay and work. This year I want to start doing regular exercise & eating healthy food. (This very basic and obvious thing but very hard to do )

Golu

• Nidhi’s brother Tanishk aka golu was also there with us in Vadodra for few months. Nidhi invited him to take break after his 12th exam and explore options other than joining privet engineering collage. It was mistake… we were not ready. it was difficult to make some one self directed learner in short time. Also against his will. It was good learning for us to see what is happening inside us when situation like this come on our face. what happens inside us? , can we empathize ? it was tough time for me personally.

  he didn’t find meaning in this type of exploration time, he became phone - game addict, he bought new iphone and it was game changer for him… in short some mistake from our side, some expectation from his side.. it didn’t work out. I was so happy when he went back home. I was genuinely concerned and still I am concerned about his future. I never thought bad about him but our expectation didn’t match. We were super busy in our work we really didn’t give proper time to him… it was wrong timing.

Reflections : Proudest moments of the year, Things you don’t like about this year, something you learnt about yourself

• Our work got recognized : ebird - meet the educator article - feeling proud.
• I could manage to do local khoji event even with the stress and work load of pratham. I could have done better if I have time. I really didn’t get time for the facilitating the project.
• We (Nidhi, Mihir, Impana) managed to do ‘A matter of time’ exhibition. I was on cloud 7 :)
• This year I wrote regular weekly notes on my website from week 12 to week 52 = 40 weeks = 10 months. I never thought that I will continue this habit. But I did. I am proud of it.
• In first week of Dec I visited BLR to attend wipro partners (my reflections) forum and meeting children at BeMe. Meeting children from 12+ group was a joy for me.

• This year was very stressful and I felt serious anxiety many a times. Because of nature of work at Pratha,Home / family issues

• This year I first time tried fund raising. I pitched our work and managed to raised 9L rupees for a year from individual donors. I am very very grateful to them for trusting us.

• I did session with corporate team for first time. Thank you Mitali ben for co- facilitating.

• This year I contributed / spent big amount of grant money and pratham’s salary money for marriage prep, which I didn’t like. I wanted to use that money for children or save it for future. Any way I am happy that we did camp from that money.

• This year also I am part of Child Development and learning course at Eklavya. I co facilitated sessions this time. After the physical workshop we as team to need to be more active to respond the participant’s need. But I felt that other team members are busy with other work and not able to give priority to this. It is frustrating for me.

• This year we (Nidhi and Mihir) took many workshops and sessions with different age groups. In 2025 we want to take up one project and do deeper work in that. We will take up the project of developing curriculum for Nature Detective program (age 3 to 11yrs) and for older age group we will work with children from sai’s angel foundation. We will also plan to do action research kind of thing with Nature Classroom.

• I took logistic responsibility for the residential camps we did this year. I invited Nidhi, Nishtha and Prerna for facilitation. It was a good experience for me. I learnt about my self that I enjoy doing this type of work also

• The idea of sangha - tribe - community got stronger in mind this year. I learnt that if you want to walk on this path of alternatives you need strong sangha.. and you need to selflessly contribute in that sangha

• This year tested my and nidhi’s bonding.. hard time.. stress.. things we hated came back to us…but we are strong & together. Thank you so much Nidhi for being you.

• All these years I was very confused about my offering in education. I am not a subject teacher, I am not a teacher trainer, I don’t want to start NGO to scale things.. what exactly I want to do ? This year I got some answers :

View this post on Instagram

What next ?

• Work front : till 15th March 2025 - Project DEFY’s work is there.
• Need to figure out work after that. Gopaldham and Balgokulam people will reply in mid Jan. After that we will take a call. I am mostly inclined towards going to mitali ben’s school for 1 year and then going back to BLR / stay back if we get regular funding. If we go to mitali ben’s school, we will take up curriculum development project for nature detective and also collaborate with nature classroom for action research & material development.
• I want to continue work in vadodara. Specially with sai’s angel foundation. We (Rameshwari ben , Ashish bhai, Saurabh bhai, Nikita ben, Suraj, Mihir & Nidhi) started one fellowship program for teenager. It’s kind of swaraj university model / beme model / self directed learning / relationship model. It was a longest wish to do this type of work with youth. I am looking forward to that.

• I am prying to universe to give me strength to manage my wedding event peacefully

  After writing this much I still feel I missed something..but it’s ok. I will update here if I remember something. let’s hope for the best. At this moment I just want to say thank you to Nidhi for always being with me in every situation. Thank you so much to all my friends and extended family.

22,23 - camp 24 - at nidhi’s place, 25 - shopping with parantes, Meeting with Jubin 27 - awakin circle with Nipun bhai

17 - meeting with co-SMEs 18 - interview for balgokulam job, Bal vikas coordinators meeting 19 - session with DEFY team (how to introduce SDL in community), Nidhi came to padra we went for shervani booking 20 - I came to nidhi’s place we went for Bangalore cafe brunch and did camp prep 21 - reached at camp

till 10th dec - I was in BLR.

• I met children from beme, met namrata, vishal, julie, anuradha aunty, antra, aruma, prakash

• It was fun to spend time with 12+ children

• I met Abhijit, Answer and Nishant from Project DEFY. Nishant helped me to understand whole ethos of DEFY

• I met Aakansha on 10th morning we had talk about grant for next year, our work and future plan

• on 12th Dec I met Kavita shah from Neev Shikshan Sansthan

• After that I stayed back to Nidhi’s place and worked on DEFY task, Camp planing

I want to start writing for sandarbh. Article about vishvamitri river project, river festival, time exhibition also for strot - nidhi suggested very interesting topic about carrot’s color. And pratika reminded me about the cloud spotting article.

• 14th : we did camp orientation meeting with children and meeting with atul about the inlaks grant

1st Dec : we (Mihir, Nidhi and Mitali ben) met jagdish bhai (donor of kanisa school) 2nd Dec : spent time with Nidhi at her place. We went for a brunch at Cafe Bangalore. We mostly talked about the Job and future of our work.

at this point we have few opportunities :

We have eliminated these :

• creative school and other alternative schools in BLR
• Moving to Cooore / Joining youcan

Current options :

• Project DEFY and BeMe (Bangalore)
• Balgokulam
• Vapi home schooling group
• getting funds and work at Mitali ben’s place
• going to bhopal, find out some work at Eklavya
• Shishukunj, Bhuj
• varun khimani jashdan - gopaldham learning center

right now we both are feeling that Bangalore option is great financially and growth wise but my family (specifically father) wants that we stay in Vadodra and do work here. We are feeling helpless. we want to be near to our parents but other side there is a financial struggle, we will not get money in Vadodara. we can definitely do good work if we get funding. let’s how it goes.

• 4th to 7th dec - APU - Wipro Partners Forum 2024

24th : me and nidhi went for film bhool bhulaiya 3, Nidhi came to drop me at station. I took a train for Bhopal to participate in ‘Child development and learning’ course at Eklavya Foundation.

25th : preparation, call with sunil (First day of DEFY work) 26th to 29th : busy with preparation, taking session and meeting eklavya friends

• 19th : workshop at Conversio, Ahemdabad
• 20th : meeting with Sanjiv bhai, Ashish bhai
• 21st : at Nidhi’s place
• 22nd : Lunch wit madhumita mam and team

Saturday, Sunday: camp at swarg maru gam

Monday to Friday office

15th Nov was the last working day of pratham. still things need to hand over.

Sunday:

Bhaiduj - maulesh mama, Saurabh mama visited us. Family dinner

Mon to Fri - mostly office work

Tue

• Me, Nidhi and Mitali ben went for a dinner at Jassi de parathe. I went to that restaurant for the first time, it was nice.

Apart from that :

• had a call with sara to discuss story based nature education program
• preparation for camp (food, gadla, venue, facilitator)
• had a call with Meera (univers simplified), Rajasi (sawitree food forest)

Saturday, Sunday:

workshops : reva learning ceneter, SAF CLC, Ramkrishna Mission

Monday

• met Nihar bhai and family for dinner

Tue

• stayed at Nidhi’s place

Wed

Nidhi & Golu came to padra

31st to 2nd - Diwali celibration (nidhi and golu stayed for 4 days)

Saturday, Sunday:

on friday evening I came to vadodra. Me & nidhi went to teapost. on saturday I did office work because it was working saturday. Nidhi did preparation for her sunday workshop.

Sunday in the morning there was no electricity. so I spend time to see videos from creative school. Nidhi went for her workshop. in afternoon Nidhi, me and golu went for a lunch at basundi - gujarti thali.

Monday

• office work
• Nidhi came to padra in the evening
• Had long chat with Vaibhav
• Balgokulam Interview, StayQurios Interview
• Call with Veenish (Coveda school)

Tuesday

• office work

Wed

• call with Abhijit

Thrusday

• Did storytelling session with chetan balwadi children.
• After that Nidhi, me and mummy papa went to buy jewellery for marriage

Friday

• office work

Saturday, Sunday & Monday :

Rinky, Manju, Bhagu, Ankur visited Nidhi’s place. I also spent time with them during weekend and Monday I did work from Nidhi’s place I sent resignation to Uma on Saturday. I had a call with Neel & Uma about the same. Neel suggested to stay back till December.

From Tuesday to Friday regular office work. this week there was a team meeting. All the team members gathered at Mumbai office. Except me. I joined online. I also completed org on boarding process facilitated by HR.

Nidhi and me both started applying for jobs / planing for future.

Saturday :

• me and nidhi took wonderful nature exploration session at MSU. We started with watching Yuvan’s tedtalk, followed by nature bingo, nature journaling and exploration through microscope.
• after the session I stayed back to department to attend office meetings and finish the work. Nidhi went to take session at CLC.
• it was long hectic day

Sunday :

• I went to sai’s angel medical camp for volunteering. I spent half day over there. It was fun.

Monday :

• office work

Tuesday :

• office work
• today we did performance review of my 4 months work. I can clearly see that my skills are not appropriate for this role and I am not feeling belonging / connected to the team. So I have decided to resign.
• Nidhi came in the evening for garba. we went to nearby ground in padra

Wednesday :

• Nidhi was at padra for whole day and I was supper busy in my office work. She went back in evening.

Thursday :

• office work. I sent formal email about resignation

Friday :

• this how whole week look like in my office calendar

Saturday :

• Saturday was amazing. I spent time with Msc student (child development & life span development) sharing about ’education for sustainable development’. Nidhi also attended the session. After that we visited very famous lab kindergarten of MS university called chetan balwadi. Met Prof. Rachna. Me & Nidhi are planning to come more often to balwadi and spend some time with teachers and children. I am very excited for this new unfolding.

• Evening I went to valsad to visit PCVC learning center. Office trip for two days

Sunday :

• spent time with children at pratham’s learning center. They are doing wonderful job.

Monday :

• spent time with children, visited communities. did online meetings - hectic day
• took train for vadodra
• before going back I eat dosa at place where I use to eat when I was working at dharampur back in 2017 I love the sambhar and dosa. I took a photo for memory and said thank you to anna for making wonderful food.

Tuesday :

• hectic day, office work till 9am to 8pm

Wednesday :

• office work in the morning. I think it was holiday (Gandhi Jayanti) but I didn’t know about it so I worked on my tasks
• in the evening me and nidhi went to teapost and spent some time together. Nidhi came to padra that night

Thursday :

• First day of navratri. Nidhi, me and other family members spent time in puja.
• after that office work
• my stomach was unwell that day

Friday :

office work till late evening

Saturday :

• had a morning call with srishti about status of unstructured studio (funding, scaling, impact and more) and life updates
• office work

Sunday :

• I went to nidhi’s place around 11 am, spend time there reading a book. Nidhi came around 1.30 pm from session
• we had small fight about golu’s learning and how we can help him. It is dificult for nidhi to do multitasking
• evening 5 to 7pm we three went to SAF and facilitated khoji club
• we facilitated groups who wants to learn music, coding, sketching and wants to start food entrprise. it was fun
• came back to nidhi’s place had long discussion about how to go forward about golu. becuse it is dificult for me to handle his behaviour, dificult to spend time with nidhi because of that

Monday :

• Nidhi came to padra. she did cooking with mummy. I was doing my office work. it was fun day.
• couldn’t spend much time with family because of back to back meetings
• evening I dropped nidhi till auto. it was fun day. I thanked nidhi to come home, helping mummy. she had period that day, still she came.

Tuesday :

• office work mostly

Wednesday :

• office work
• I started my journey from Padra at 6 p.m. to attend the Awakin Circle at Manjalpur. However, on the way, I encountered heavy rain. I reached Akshar Chowk and got completely soaked. I came back from aksharchok only. Awakin got canceled.

Thursday :

• office work mostly
• in evening I had a call with Ipsita and Rachita from YouCAN. We discussed design of fellowship and how I can be part of fellowship mentoring team. it was nice call.

Friday :

• mostly office work. Worked till late evening.
• This Saturday I need to do first workshop with MSc student at MSU and then leave for Valsad (2 days office trip, I will be back on monday night)

What else?

• looking forward to meet srishti and suchkra on 5th oct
• khoji club will not happen on this Sunday

Saturday :

• second Saturday was holiday at office. Did time pass, some office work, some personal emails and stuff
• I was little upset with nidhi because she is not following rution and aslo not taking action on sevral pending tasks
• bhagyshree came to Nidhi’s place to give her surprise
• mummy’s health was not good, back pain. I requested nidhi to come over home to help her

Sunday : Nidhi came to padra to help mummy. After that we had long discussion about why we need to follow rution, why she needs to come padra regularly and other stuff,

After that we went to zudio to buy dress for her. Birthday gift from mummy - papa.

After taht we met bhagu, ankur,golu - teapost akota, naturals and home. teapost akota is nice place.

Monday : Morning office work evening Nidhi and Golu came to padra. We celebrated Nidhi’s birthday with our family and uncle’s family. We went out for dinner.

Tuesday :