Author: admin

One fine morning We got together to cut grass But why Grass Because it was too long And we needed for mulching Then why we? Why not “get it done” Then how do we know how does grass feels? How do we know gras feel soft and rough? How do we know how much pressure…

Is respect a need or a want? What would happen if it does not matter to us whether others respect us or not? As a Sufi Fakir said, “If you need respect, do not come to me. A shopkeeper or anybody else who wants something from you will give you respect. Goto them.” Consider behaviour…

Sometimes children just do – they do not think how their action will affect them or others or its consequences. They do not think of its righteousness nor they think of its appropriateness. Some call this kind of behaviour us un-mindful. Some call this kind of behaviour as spontaneity. Some even call it childish. Some…

Container – ChildContents – What the child does or learns or thinks It appears to me that the conventional education system is quite focused on the contents. Maybe the initial idea was that when we work on contents, it will develop the container. But over a period of time – more and more people have…

Many people ask me success stories of Aarohi – what children from Aarohi have become. Also I have heard lot of people boast about their school or institution by citing stories of ‘Shining alumni’. This is indeed profoundly grave – for according to me, herein lies a major question we need to ask ourselves –…

We see electronic everyday Use them everyday They are part of life But how much are we close to them? How much do we know them? Are they alien to us? How about exploring Seeing inside outside How they flow How they glow? How they work? How do they look? Just one session to explore…

After the session on Understanding Sexuality and Gender, we were curious to interact with the LGBTQIA+ community, listen from them their life experiences and perspectives. Personally I also felt an interaction was important because till now the only interaction has been through movies or seeing them begging on streets or trains. Listening to their perspective…

Menu said ‘Puri Chola”.“Yummy puri”, said some.Make your own Puri and wonderBut why my Puri puffed up?Why my this Puri didn’t puff up?Why some puffed up, some did not?Why some are round, some not?Hot oil or warm oil?Both sides or one side?Crispy or soft?Ah! So much to wonderSo much to experience Just one announcements “make…

Aarohi is rich with cultural diversity – language, food, references, culture, rituals….and that makes life interesting to live. Various languages – We are blessed with people(visitors and members) from various languages – Tamil, Kannada, Telgu, Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Marathi, French, Spanish…and so on. And when we learn various languages, we don’t realize. One child…

We began with the question – What is a girl, what is a boy? What is the difference between them? Some responses were : Different energy levels, different Voice, choices, body parts, way of thinking, likes, clothes etc.Pink is for girls and blue for boys. Boy don’t hit a girls. For boys – Muscular, Stronger,…

“Wow, Good Job, Keep it up, I am proud of you, beautiful, so nice…” these are some of the exclamation we offer to our kids to keep them going (encouraging). But is there something beyond “praising”? Have you ever questioned “Why and when we appreciate?” May be to encourage, to make friends (other will think…

Repairs are part of Aarohi curriculum. When multiple people use resources, the wear and tear is natural – sometimes things break with usage, sometimes with misuses. Whatever is the case, repair brings an opportunity to understand our resources and connection with the tools. This Friday, “Repair Cafe” brought an opportunity for the community to take…

Can a campus teach? Water walk at Aarohi is nothing but understanding water and sanitation system at Aarohi. Where does the water comes to the campus and where does it goes? Water at the campus comes from the bore well and goes back to the ground through plants – in the process it travels to…

A day workshop to experience the magic of Gratitude with the team from SSY / RSVK pune “I am sorry, Thank you” have becomes some etiquettes for some of us. But, it’s not only about saying “sorry” or “thank you” but understanding what and why we hold forgiveness, what is gratitude or rather understanding what…

Often safety is looked from “fear” window or from a “rule” perspective. A session with Esha on personal safety threw some light on clear communication and the process of making safer decision. Esha works on personal safety with girls in Gujrat, the session brought an opportunity to make this topics even more open and sensitive.…

We did a show on playback theatre last year and left the audience mesmerising about the whole concept. This year once again we started practicing for the show in a conference. First question was to discover “what are the elements of playback theatre?” We all have understood that it’s not at all about “acting”. Few…

When we become teenagers an invisible wall gets created between boys and girls. At Aarohi it came to notice that there are some people I don’t interact beyond the necessity that comes with living together and these people tended to be of the opposite gender. To challenge this gap between people we did two activities…

Bad News – Teasing and Rude responses. Good News – Teasing and Rude responses. Well, the helpmates brought an opportunity to express “a lot of teasing happening, for smallest of the question there is rude response and the communication lacking compassion”. Thank you Lakshmi for bringing this up. Some said May be freedom to express…

Sports, Play and Games are integral part of our living at Aarohi. We play everyday (community sports), but sometimes we play whole day long and we call it “sports day”. Sports day at Aarohi began with planning :). Some wanted to conduct the sports – the criteria was “all ages should be able to play…

Some of my favorites are MAKING something. At the campus, while kids are busy making things, I often capture making of that. This one video is one of my favorites – some of us who were staying at the campus during the weekends together, decided to record a story as part of our TIME TOGETHER.Normally…

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, I, theBody and Kinesthetic intelligence, was much sought after. Warriors depended on me; craftsmen used me to create both articles of utility and beauty; dancers and dramatists added depth to culture; sport was the primary pastime, and many professions used hands dexterously to achieve and to…

Themeasurementare not only about centimeters and inches or finding the conversion. It is much more joyous than just converting inches to feet and centimeters and meters.The joy ofmeasurementis in developing the sense of space. What does this mean?We began with questioning why the diningtablesize is what it is? What makes it suitable for four people…

Part of this week’s curriculum – Month of May spread sheet in accounts, Making router access point and repeater to make Internet working, UPS passage, Different drawings, Making thin blade to be able to make a sellable product, researching about the wood which can be carved and carve a tree, concentrating on shapes of cookies…

We play in playgrounds, but experience of working with people who create the playground was an humble experience. An opportunity to experience, creating a physical outdoor playspace – How a playground can be created, How one can design, How one can implement, How one skill can open up the doors of opportunity and how one…

Had a wonderful festival celebration this week. Festivals are one of the most enjoyable celebration atAarohi- brings different ideas, beliefs and ideas together.One announcement “dance practice on a song” led to few people coming together and practice began. A dance drama was prepared within few hours of practice.Together food was cooked, served and we all…

Our curriculum this week included – Guitar, Crochet, Wood carving, Astronomy, Cooking, FestivalPuja, Craft- Gift factory, Knowing about airport and aviation, Repairing speakers, Aqua phonics, Theatre, Sketching, Making poster, Carpentry,Tippytap, Reading about atoms and plants, football, maths, Repair cycle, Fitness, Drumming, Sewing, Painting, Fishing, Musical instruments, Electronics, History and Geography. And we continue with integrated…

When he came we asked “what are your interests” He asked “what does it mean?” We asked “what you like doing?” He said, “Matlab (meaning)?” We asked “what you do at home?” He smiled “watch TV and play video games on my tab” We got hopeful and asked and … He said “that’s all”. We…

What makes one to feel that only structured education can teach you how to learn in structured way? Our son Dhrupad, now 13yrs old has never been to any structured education. Often that also lead to surprise for others “then how is he learning maths and science?” Last two years he had been going to…

Celebrating “integrated learning” this term. This term celebrating “Integrated learning” means adding value in what we already doing – At Aarohi no process or no curriculum is fixed, it evolves from the life we live at the campus. A child baking a cake finds it “waste of time” to read about history of baking or…

When the learning process is not defined by the tangible outcome, the focus goes on process and not on product. And that is why we have no curriculum or rather we are not worried what does a child chooses to learn – all learning is WORTHWHILE. Recently at Aarohi there is wave of learning crochet.…