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second issue december 2007

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Invitation to FLT Network- Where has your family embraced the homemade over the readymade?- What learning resources have inspired your family?- How can we evolve new de-institutionalized joint families and healthy

learning communities?Do these questions intrigue you? We’re a group of families,first organized at the World Social Forum in January 2004, whobelieve that learning is a family activity, that sharing our ownquestions, experiences and skills with each other is a good wayto learn, and that co-creating new ways of organic living isvitally important to humanity and the planet.

Currently, we have an online discussion group(learningfamilies@yahoogroups.com) and we host gatheringsof families from around India. If you’re interested in FamiliesLearning Together Network, please email Vidhi Jain atvidhi@swaraj.org or write us at the address below. We lookforward to hearing from you!

Families Learning Together Network83 Adinath Nagar • Udaipur, 313004 • Rajasthan, India

Tel: (91) 294 245-1303www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/familieslearning.htm

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fof/k tSu] mn;iqj<vidhi@swaraj.org>

Before going to school...Before going to school...Before going to school...Before going to school...Before going to school...I want to put it down here for the records all thethings that my three-year-old son Aadi already knows,before he goes to school. He will start going to schoolfrom tomorrow and I don’t want the teacher (oranyone else) to tell me, “See how much he has learntin school.” I totally believe that whatever one learns(and by that I mean ‘to learn about the process of lifeand living’), one does so outside school, not inside it.

1. Aadi knows basic colours, their names in English and somein Hindi. He knows the difference between blue and purple.

2. He knows the names of most of the vegetables, like bhindi,baigan, mirchi, shimla mirch, carrot, gobhi, kaula, lauki, beans…

3. He knows two poems in Tamil, namely Mambaram Mambaram(a poem about mangoes) and one more, which even I don’tknow! Anuradha says that his vocabulary in Tamil is rich,divergent and at times, nuanced. She herself had such a vocabonly when she was much older.

4. He knows two poems in Marathi, namely Ek Hota Dongar(a poem about mountains and forests), and Sasa Sasa DistoKasa (about a rabbit).

5. He knows several Hindi songs; the current favourites areDhoom Machaale and Dam Tara.

6. He knows a few poems in English too, like Humpty Dumptyand Twinkle Twinkle. A friend told me that children in Kenyaand Tanzania also recite these poems. That sent jitters downmy spine.

7. He dances vigorously to rhythmic music with at least threeinnovative steps that I have not seen anyone else do. He is nota performer; he dances for himself and only when he feels likeit. He can dance alone in a room where no one is present. Hecan dance along with a group. Lately, I noticed that he prefersthe latter. He can, at times, make a group dance along withhim, though that is rare.

8. He speaks three languages in which Hindi and Tamil is fluent.His English is very limited… but at his age he manages. Andhow! He once said a whole sentence in what sounded likeEnglish but was actually gibberish!

9. He can identify a bhindi plant, a bitter gourd plant, the leavesof palak, methi and sarson (that’s all we have on the terrace sofar). Lately we have added aloe, melon, chillies, garlic and ajwain,so he knows them as well.

10. The two trees he knowsare Palaash and Gulmoharand he likes saying thesewords. He can identify thesetrees by their flowers. Heespecially likes to say Palaash.

11. His eyes shine brightand his thigh and calfmuscles are well-formed

(touch wood). I realised today that these things don’t happenby sitting endlessly in a classroom.

12. I once read him a story in which there was this little girlwho cried all the time, and her parents could not figure outwhy she was crying. Later, it is revealed in the story that the girlwas asked to eat porridge again. So the story was that this girlmust have had porridge for many breakfasts and now didn’twant any more. Slowly Aadi got the hang of the story andsaid, “But I like porridge.” I said yes you do. “But she doesn’tlike it.” I said no she doesn’t. “So that’s ok,” he said. I said yesit is ok. I know people my age, or people older than me, whoare not able to resolve a conflict with such ease and simplicity.You may not like something that I like, and it is ok and we canstill be friends! I silently said to myself, “You’re doing greatAaditya. What am I going to teach you?”

13. He is never tired. At times, he wants to sit and play or see abook with pictures or wants a story to be read to him, butmore often he wants to run, kick, hit with a bat, play ball, dowrestling in bed – in short, vigorous physical activities.Sometimes he stares in space. My friend Sonati describes thisact of children very beautifully. She says at such times, they arebeing one with the universe. He, however, never sits down andsay “I am bored.” Not yet!

14. He talks to everybody he meets whether we know them ornot. He can strike up a conversation with anyone he pleases.His friendships happen within minutes and without anyinhibitions. His conversations can last several minutes and attimes, we notice that he has his audience in splits before theyknow what’s hit them.

I hope people don’t mind my writing all these points. I am nottrying to dote on Aadi or say that he is special in anyway. Andyet he is special, like all children, each one of them is special…like we all are special. But that speciality has to be noticed andnurtured. I seriously believe that schools are singularly incapableof doing this (they are not even interested). But parents andonly parents can. We can.

- Sanjay Maharishi, New Delhi<sanjay.maharishi@gmail.com>

Me and Rajeev got married in 1997,and the function was held inside theboys hostel of Film Training Instituteof India, Pune. Before we evenstarted planning our life together, wehad our first daughter, Abhirami,amidst us. And after a year and half,Anantara joined us too.

We were shifting places, criss-crossing the whole country, in searchof work and peace, and Abhiramiwas witnessing all the things thatwe grownups encountered. It wasonly because of our intention to putthe children in a school that believedin freedom, that we settled inChennai, to end up with aKrishnamurti school. But the yearsthey went through the school madeus notice a few things, like Abhiramiwho drew human faces in a vibrantway, started to draw apples like therest. That, along with many otherreasons, prompted us to take themout of school. It has been two years now that mydaughters, Abhirami (age nine) andAnantara (age eight), are not goingto school. We decided to take themout of the school, as we felt that theycan learn more from life rather thanfrom the books and curriculum. Andbelieve me, these two years have

been very interesting,both for us and

them. Abhirami bynature is a shy

child. Sheused to

hardly speakw i t h o t h e r swhen she wasgoing to school.She used to stayaloof from other

children. I even

NostalgiaRoses are redSleeping on the bed.Happy, sad momentsShuffle on my head.

My new friends,My old friends,At school days,We learn to lend.

At school we feel tosnore,Just one pending chore,The next day for me,It becomes a bore.

After years I will see you,Trying to recognize the face-can’t remember you,My sir, big and strong, with a stick,I hope that the slaps would be few.

Pushing, laughing, shouting was the only fun,Necessary to giggle while I chewed the bun,One day when I will leave you,This friendship would be blank and moments none!

- Astha Wadhwani, age 12, Delhi<nehawadhwani@yahoo.co.in>

Two Years of Freedom

got the same remark from herteachers in school. Post-school, she has opened upmore, and now she feels free whenshe meets others, whether from herown age group or an adult. Anantaraalso treats any adult as an individualand not as a person who is older thanher. During these two years theyhave spent most of their time playinggames, contributing to householdactivities, making things of their ownchoice, watching films and visitingdifferent local places. Now they aremore aware of their surroundings. When we shifted to Delhi, one of ourneighbors asked me about their

education. As I mentioned that theywere not going to school, she had aconfused look on her face. Shewas interested to know what they dothe whole day since they are not goingto school. I told her about theiractivities, and she showed interest tocome over to our place and to seewhat Abhirami and Anantara weredoing. She was amazed to see thattheir studies were not limited totextbooks. Instead, they are exposedto lots of art, cinema, music,literature. I personally feel that theyhave grown beautifully these twoyears, and the decision we all tookhas been a good one.

- Indrani Dey, Delhi<endrani@yahoo.co.uk>

Hello, my name is Yorit and I live in SadhanaForest with my husband Aviram and seven-year-old daughter, Osher Shanti. Sadhana Forest is partof Auroville, an international community createdby The Mother and based on the teachings of SriAurobindo. Our main project is the reforestationof 70 acres of severely eroded land. This is donealong with living a sustainable life, which includesvery simple way of living. Our houses are builtfrom natural materials, we compost and recyclewhatever is possible, and use solar energy. We are alsovegan and we don’t send our daughter to school. Thework in the farm is done with volunteers from all overthe world. They come to live with us for varying amountsof time, from two weeks to months and years. This leadsus to live our lives in an ever-changing community.

For many years we were looking for our life ‘recipe’. Oneof the most important topics we considered was in whatkind of environment we wanted to raise our daughter.Our thoughts led us to understanding that wewanted to: (a) be close to nature, (b) live assustainably as possible, and (c) practice spiritualityin our everyday lives.

Our journey toward living naturally and unschooling wasinspired first by ideas in The Continuum Concept: In Searchof Lost Happiness by Jean Liedloff. They led us tounderstand that we should find and follow our instincts,by being close to nature and watching nature. For raisinga child, this means fulfilling her evolutionary expectationsof parental contact, trust, and freedom. This is what ledus to understand that a child should grow following herown being, developing the natural tools that she needsto survive in her environment. For example, a childgrowing up in a jungle will learn to recognize the tracksof wild animals. Likewise, the moment that theenvironment includes the need to communicate throughreading/writing, the child will develop these skills.

During my pregnancy we were exposed to how otherfamilies unschooled their children, as well as to variousbooks (such as those of John Holt) about childdevelopment. From these we formed our philosophyabout raising our daughter. The Mother’s and SriAurobindo’s teachings of Free Progress Education furtherreassured us.

When Osher wasfour years old, sheasked us “Howcome I cannot carryyou, but in thewater I can carryyou?” Recently Iasked her if sheremembered this,and she did. “Thewater carries you,”

she said. By observing nature, she is able to learnfirsthand many things about life.

The community environment she lives in has led her todevelop communication and interpersonal skills. Peoplein the community are always coming and going, becauseof which Osher has learned to value the moment, and toform deep relationships in short periods of time.

We have a daily structured routine in our life in SadhanaForest, but we do not have the pressure or demands thatare usually part of a school system. Osher’s life iscentered, and she understands the purpose of our projects.She takes part in them and chooses to take responsibilityin many aspects of community life. The way her life isstructured has given her the freedom to develop into aconfident and independent child. She can recognizeoutside manipulation and refuse it.

Osher knows her own needs and can explain them. Ifshe is upset, she will state it, “I am upset, I am hungryand need to eat something.” When we have tension withinthe community that causes her to become restless, shesays, “I am taking all your tension inside me.”

Living this life in Sadhana Forest, I find that Osher isvery much connected to her inner soul. We experiencethis through things she does and says on a daily basis.Once I asked her where her new bag was. As an answer,she pointed to herself, and said that her body is her bag,carrying Osher.

The main challenges we face are communicating ourselvesto the outside world and facing the different criticismsand reactions to the way we choose to live. To see Oshergrowing reassures us about our way. Finding confidencein ourselves leads us to feel content and happy.

- Yorit, Auroville <aviram@auroville.org.in> tel: 0413-2677682, 2902566

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Our six-year-old daughter’s jewellry business started oneday with a trip to the bird shop. At least, that is the momentthat Tara fell in love with the vivid green parrot with hishandsome black collar and his sidelong glaces, and starteddreaming of him sitting on her shoulder and chatteringin her ear, just as we had been reading about the variousexotic pets in the journal of a shipwrecked family, theSwiss Family Robinson. Tara’s tender young heart wasfirmly set on bringing that parrot home, despite myprotesting about his rather unbecoming pricetag. Myrefusal seemed only to fuel her determination, until westarted brainstorming how the money would come to buyMitu (he already had been named) if it were not to comefrom MY pocket.

That’s when Tara hit upon the idea of making jewelry--which she would sell to all my friends--to buy her bird.Great idea, I said! So industriously she started searchingthrough all her little boxes of stored treasures for all thosebeads and pearls and buttons and shells and corals andwooden pieces that she had beencollecting; then came out scissorsand various old belts and purseswith sequins and plastic beads; thenher jewelry box with all its stringsof fake pearls and glass beadednecklaces. We experimented withthe strings and hit upon fishing lineas the most secure, and settled upontwisting clasps for the finishing fix.

After the first few haphazarddesigns (which were purchased withgoodwill by the first customers!),some patterning started to emerge,as well as a rapidly developingdiscernment for higher qualitybeads. We started combing the beaches for interestingshaped shells and driftwoods for the nature lover look,and tripping to the bead shops and searching for just theright center pieces for the glitter gals, although many timeswe still resorted to cutting up flashy hair tye bands withdiamond shaped plastic gems, which were perfect aspendants!

Beading became her obsession. At the breakfast tableand through the day and even during our bedtime story(and even, a few times, AFTER the light had been turnedout!), Tara beaded. She muttered and hummed, twitledand chortled, simmered and sang. She told stories abouther patterns, imagined foraging the world’s gem mines,gave spontanious dissertations about the merits of thecorrect sitting posture for design inspiration, but above

all, she spoke of her beloved talking parrot, Mitu and allthe adventures they would have on the high seas. Wemade little price tags for each of the necklaces, braceletsand anklets that came, sometimes in sets, and they allwere titled “Welcome to the Parrot Collection”. Navina’sbrother had premature twins during this time, and Taraand her friends (especially her friends Sneeden andStephanie, whose original ideas gave quite a flair to thecollection) started making an entire collection ofpremature baby bracelets, which were the most adorableof all!

Finally, the day arrived, after many jewelry displaying teaparties and visits to all our friends with the display boardin tow, with an experiential course in what all thosenumbers on the notes and the change they require means,the money was collected for bringing Mitu home and Taracould hardly wait another minute. She finally had her veryown talking parrot! Well, the idea was that he neededtraining to actually become a talking parrot but funnilyenough, even once he was brought home, she didn’t stop

beading. Now she had amomentum going, andpeople kept bringing her allkinds of interesting beads,crystals, pearls, etc. I evenallowed her to cut up myruby and emerald chainsand was impressed by thelovely combined chokasthat resulted. She talkedand talked to her parrot asshe beaded, sitting by hiscage, his beady eyeswatching every movement.

And then one day a friendtold us her dog had just hadten pure-bred labrador

pups...another incredible something that Tara hadALWAYS wanted....and after just one visit, she wrappedher arms around the little golden runt of the litter andsaid, “but Mummy, he loves me and I love him and Isimply must bring him home. I will pay for him myself !”What can a natural learning mother-cum-facilitator ofher child’s own self-directed interests say in such asituation?

So now, I live in a house, with a parrot, a labrador, a tankfull of fish, a crazy kitten and a very disdainful mothercat watching the steadily increasing zoo.... Tara’s handsare rather full now to be beading all day, but we are allvery curious what the next venture will be!

- Anna Jahns, Goa <sajahns@gmx.net>

WWWWWelcome to the Parelcome to the Parelcome to the Parelcome to the Parelcome to the Parrrrrrot Collectionot Collectionot Collectionot Collectionot Collection

So we decided . . .So we decided . . .So we decided . . .So we decided . . .So we decided . . .When we decided to haveKadambari (both of us wanteda girl, so the name was decidedmany years back), we were notsure where, how and who woulddo the childbirth. We had shiftedto Ayurveda and natural healingpractices long before (for the lasteight years we have not touchedany other medicine). So when wedecided to have our child withDr. Girija , who is a Vedu and hadnever done childbirth before,there was lot of apprehensionfrom both our families andfriends. Since we were in Pune and the doctor in Chennai,it was all the more difficult. In the seven months that Iwas in Pune, I changed some four doctors, becausewhenever I used to say that I won’t take any iron, calciumor vitamin tablets, the doctors refused to check me. Iwas on strict Ayurvedic diet (mostly milk) and variouslegumes and kashyams (varies from month to month) andapplied picchu (oil tampons). All this helped me to havegood and sufficient breast milk.

I shifted to Chennai in my eighth month for childbirth.Dr. Girija had arranged two dais (marandvachi in Tamil)for me. They checked me and measured the womb withhands, did some calculations and, to all of our surprise,announced that baby is going to be born in a particularweek, which was much before the due date. And yes,their calculation was right. The labor was 18 hours long,but I was regularlyadministered with oil both onmy whole body as well as onmy vulva. I had been given nicehot bath, which was verysoothing and constantrefreshment of sweet kanji(powdered boiled rice). I waswalking all the time and whenit was difficult to walk, Idecided to sit on the floor. Witha lot of encouragement frommany women, my amma-in-lawand my husband Arvindan, ourlittle bundle came out. It wasan inexpressible joy to see her.Arvindan and I both cried withjoy.

The cord was not cut immediately.Rather, we waited for the placentato come out, and then dais cleanedthe baby with ghee and atta. Thechildbirth was free of episiotomytoo, which is a routine thing inhospital. I was given a decoctionfull of warm ghee, and Kadambariwas put close to me. I was back tomy normal activities in two days,but followed the pattya for 60 days.

We were quite prepared to handle a similarexpression from our families when we decided not tovaccinate Kadambari. Though my side of the family stillcontinues to remind me about it, Arvindan’s family hasgiven up. We usually don’t tell people as we find it verytiring to explain it and listen to all their discouragingstories. We have full faith in ourselves and got lot ofencouragement from our doctor. Some of my friends stillsuggest that we can take inactive vaccination instead oflive, as it is very common in Western countries, but thenthe whole point was not to introduce her to any active orinactive viruses.

We also decided that Kadambari will be exclusively onbreast milk till one year of age. Today, she is eight monthsold and still not been introduced to any supplementaryfood. Many relatives and friends also question this andsay a lot about proteins and vitamin deficiency. But wehave read many books and talked to any people (mostlyAyurvedic and Sidda people) and realized that even ifdon’t introduce her to any food for one year, it will not

do any harm to her. Rather,if sufficient breast milk isthere, it is much better.

Our childbirth experiencewas documented by aJawarhalal NehruUniversity professor toteach as part of SocialAnthropology lesson. Wenow share our experienceswith many new mothers,who would not like to havechildbirth in a hospital.- ShaliniArvind, Chennai<shaliniarvindan@gmail.com>

Say No to Vaccines WebsitesThere is an international debate raging aboutvaccination. Here are some of the websites withmore info:

www.mothering.comwww.vacccinetruth.org

www.vaclib.orgwww.byronchild.com

www.naturalparenting.com

Share your experiences with/without vaccineswith us...

Living with GermsLiving with GermsLiving with GermsLiving with GermsLiving with GermsTanay, our nine-year-old son, has never been pricked,injected, drugged or dosed. No oral vaccines, noexternally injected immunities either.

Why?Because when we chose to homebirthhim, we had in a way already chosens lifestyle! Its basic tenet was (andcontinues to be): to respect theorganic unity of life. This means thebasic relationship between ourselvesand our biological environment. Itslike a sheath around us/within usthat’s alive, dynamic, alwaysresponding –but invisible.. this is ourprotective armour with which we areall born with.

Whats that got to do with germs?Organic unity implies that all forms of life are in oneway or the another, dependent on each other. Thisincludes bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and othermicro-organisms. Not only externally but also within ourbody. Interestingly as the pharmaceutical industrycontinues its determined ( and highly funded) search tobeat the germs and combat each disease causing microbe..the ‘strains’ of bacteria and viruses keep changing. Theybecome drug resistant. They persist stubbornly despiteall the sterilization, pasteurization, vaccination orimmunization.

So are you not scared of ‘catching germs’?There is no catching to do. There are a over a hundredviruses present at this very moment in our mouths, eyes,stomachs.. all over, most can be found living in perfectlyhealthy people-incapable of causing any disease.

You mean Germs, against which we must protectourselves, are not the enemy?The father of the Germ theory was a chemist (not abiologist!) from France, called Louis Pasteur. In 1864, hemerely demonstrated the existence of variousmicroorganisms. A little known fact then. (By 1870, themicroscope made it possible to view them).

The basis of orthodox medicine is that the so-called Germtheory. It states that ‘infectious’ diseases are solely dueto the invasion/attack of specific (terrorist like) mocro-

organisms. Each specific micro-organism is responsiblefor each disease. They are like aggressors. This view hasbeen unquestionably held-that germs are the only primarycause of a disease. Like ‘outside agents’ they are invisibleinvaders. (Please note: Till today conventional medicine

practise sees little co-relation between ourindividual lifestyles and causes of dis-ease)

We still need to stay Germ-Free, don’t we?Louis Pasteur just before dying is quoted to havesaid “…the germ is nothing, the soil iseverything..” Rats, flies and mad dogs only livein garbage areas, where there is rotting food forthem to grow. They don’t usually attack theliving rooms! The same thing with germs. It’sthe biological environment within our body ourinternal soil, that determines whether micro-organisms/germs can grow. Throw seeds onconcrete they will not sprout. Seeds like germs

need the right grounds to grow and proliferate. An acidicenvironment within the body, aids germ growth. Keepthe internal environment - our biological body right, andthe balance within the organic unity is maintained.

So what do vaccinations/immunizations do?They covert the general immunity with which we are allborn with( and its intangibly present at 100%) into specificimmunities-into specific virus attacks- like polio,meningitis, whooping cough-mmp’s and DTP’s..)Gradually as we inoculate, inject, vaccinate and dose ourkids. More and more regularly at every doctor’sappointment - we are only lowering their general immunity.

Does Tanay ever catch disease?Colds, fever, runny nose and the odd runny stomach.Disease and illness are the way the body initates a clean-out. Illness is the jhadu-pocha (sweep and swipe) of thesystem - a toxic build-up inside requires channels toeliminate. Illness gets critical only when we disturb theorganic unity.

If we believe we are fighting a monster, a terrorist attackcalled Dis-eases caused by germs, then we need to leavethe germs to the body to handle. Suppress the germs withpoison and they will only grow more.

Ask any organic farmer, he’ll be able to tell, and anywaykids don’t like being pricked.

- Navina, Tanay and Urjas, Goa<thacindia@yahoo.com>

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?kj ck¡aW/kuk"k olUr dk vR;Ur fiz; fo"k; gSA txg&txg ?kjck¡aW/kus ds iz;ksx mlus fd, gSaA ge 20 lky jgs] oks iqjkuk ?kjHkh ,sls gh iz;ksx ls fudyk gSA vc ge ftl ?kj esa jgrs gSa]oks Hkh rks ,d iz;ksx gh gSA iqjkuk ?kj Hkh feV~Vh dk vkSj ;gHkh feV~Vh dk gSA ysfdu nksuksa dks ck¡aW/kus ds rjhds vyx gSaAfeV~Vh ds ?kj gesa cgqr fiz; gSaA D;ksafd os xehZ esa B.Ms vkSjlnhZ esa xje jgrs gSaA os LFkkuh; lalk/kuksa dh enn ls gh ckaèks

tk ldrs gSa vkSj os i;kZoj.kfe= Hkh gSaA feV~Vh ds ?kj esajsfM;ks ,fDVfoVh ds ifj.kkede gksrs gSa] ;s ’kks/k ls fl)gqvk gSA

;s ?kj lhes.V ds ?kj dhrjg etcwr ugha gksrk gS]D;ksafd NksVs&NksVsvk?kkrksa ls og VwV

ldrk gS vkSj mls gj lky yhi&iksrdj Bhdfd;k tk ldrk gSA ’kk;n ;gh dkj.k gS fd gesanks lkS&rhu lkS lky iqjkus ?kj Hkh lqfLFkfr esanh[krs gSaA feV~Vh ds ?kj ckaèkrs le; ydM+h dht:jr gksrh gS] ysfdu oks ydM+h lkxoku dh ghgks] ;g t:jh ugha gSA [ksr ds fdukjs mxus okysuhe] f’kfj"k vkfn Hkh feV~Vh ds ?kj cka/kus esa dkevkrs gSaA dsoy mlds ckjs esa tkudkj c<+bZ dht:jr gksrh gSA

geus tc u;k feV~Vh dk ckaW/kk] rks Hkhr cukus okys<kMw HkkÅ vkSj ydM+h dk dke djus okys jkenkl

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,slk gS gekjk feV~Vh dk ?kj] ftlus gesa [kwc fl[kk;k vkSjvkuUn fn;kA ftls ns[kdj eSa xquxqukrh gwaW & ^^,d caxykcuk;k U;kjk] feV~Vh vkSj isM+ksa ls f?kjk I;kjkA**

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ldrs gSaA feV~Vh ds ?kj nks lkS& rhu lkS lky rd fVdrs gSavkSj lhes.V ds ?kj 50 lky esagh fxjkus iM+rs gSaA vkSj mldkHkaxkj Hkh fdlh dke esa ughafy;k tk ldrk g SAlhes.V&fxV~Vh ds fy, gefdruh gh Vsdfj;kaW [kRe dj nsjgs gSaA** cspkjk lkeus okykpqipki ;s ckrsa lqu ysrk gS vkSjge eqLdjkus yxrs gSaAd:.kk rkbZ QqVk.ks] vejkorh

tel #: 07229-238171

,d caxyk cuk;k U;kjk,d caxyk cuk;k U;kjk,d caxyk cuk;k U;kjk,d caxyk cuk;k U;kjk,d caxyk cuk;k U;kjk

eSa vius nks cPpksa vkSj ifr ds lkFk vius eEeh&ikik ds ?kj esajgrh gwaWA esjs ifr ekcZy dk dke djrs gSaA gekjs ?kj esa gedqy 12 yksx ’kkfey jgrs gSaA lkFk gh [kkuk cukrs gSa] lkFk gh[kkrs gSaA brus yksx bdV~Bk gksus ds dkj.k gekjs ?kj esafur&ubZ phtsa curh jgrh gS] [kkldj [kkus esaA esjs ikik dks[kkuk cukus dk cgqr ’kkSd gSA os [kkus esa dbZ izdkj dh phtsacukrs gSaA muls eq>s dkQh mtkZ feyrh gSA

eSaus vius ?kj esa tc igyh ckj fcukrsy dk [kkuk cuk;k] rks esjk iwjkifjokj cgqr [kq’k gqvkA eSaus vius ?kjesa ,d the.k Hkh j[kkA mlesa esjsifjokj ds lc yksx rks Fks gh] lkFk ghesjs iM+kSlh vkSj esjh lgsfy;kaW Hkh FkhaAbl the.k dk vlj ;g gqvk fd esjs,d iM+kSlh] ftudks Mk;fcVht dhchekjh Fkh] os [kkus esa [kwc lykn ,oavadqfjr vUu [kkus yxs] rks mudksbl chekjh esa dkQh jkgr feyhA esjk csVk Hkh vadqfjr ewx dklykn [kkuk [kwc ilUn djrk gSA

eSa vius ?kj vkSj eksgYys esa dk;Z’kkyk,aW Hkh djrh gwaWA budk;Z’kkykvksa esa cPpksa ls ysdj cqtqxksZa rd lHkh mez ds yksxvkrs gSaA ge dckM+ dh phtksa ls vyx&vyx ubZ phtsa cukrs

gSa] tSls & ukfj;y ds [kksy ls xgus] elkyknkuh] isijes’ks dhVksdjh&ckYVh vkfnA isijes’ks dh dk;Z’kkyk esa esjs eksgYys dh75 lky dh ,d cqtqxZ efgyk us vius VwVs gq, ckWal dh Vksdjhdks rkj ls ckaW/kdj mldks fQj ls isijes’ks ls yhi fy;kA eSabruh [kq’k gqbZ fd mlus bl mez esa Hkh bruk tYnh fdlhiqjkuh pht dks ,d u;k :i ns fn;kA fQj eSaus muls ckr dhrks mUgksaus eq>s crk;k fd cpiu esa oks cgqr lh phtsa cukrhFkha] tSls & /kku dh dksfB;kaWA oks nsj jkr rd tkxdj Hkh ,sls

dke djrh FkhaA ij vc oks mez dh otgls vkSj ifjokj dk lg;ksx ugha feyusds dkj.k ;g dke ugha djrs gSaA

esjs csVs e;wj dks laxhr dk cgqr ’kkSdgSA oks ?kj ds crZuksa & ckYVh] pEep]IysV vkfn dks ctkrk jgrk gSA lkFk esamlds ekek Hkh ’kq: gks tkrs gSaA fQj ;gFkksM+h nsj pyrk jgrk gS] rks esjs ?kj dkekgkSy ,dne cny tkrk gSA pyrkVhoh cUn gks tkrk gS vkSj ?kj ds lHkh

yksx eLrh djuk ’kq: dj nsrs gSaA bl pDdj esa e;wj crZuHkh QksM+ nsrk gSA eSaus mldks ctkus ds fy, ,d <ksyd ykdjnh gS] ysfdu oks mldks ugha ctkrk gS! mls rks oks gh crZuksadk laxhr vPNk yxrk gSA

xqMMh iztkir] mn;iqj<shikshantar@yahoo.com>

esjk eLr ifjokjesjk eLr ifjokjesjk eLr ifjokjesjk eLr ifjokjesjk eLr ifjokj

‘’kknh gks rks ,slh\’kknh gks rks ,slh\’kknh gks rks ,slh\’kknh gks rks ,slh\’kknh gks rks ,slh\tc fdlh ds fookg dk fuea=.k

vkrk gS rks esjs ekul iVy ij ,dn`’; mHkj vkrk gS oks gh cS.M cktksa ijfQYeh xkus] iVk[kksa dk ’kksj o lkFk esane ?kqVkrk gqvk /kqvka] oks gh cQsV fx)Hkkstu] oks gh FkksFkk fn[kkok o pdkpkSa/kAesjh ’kknh eas ;s lc rM+d HkM+d ughaFkkA lknxh ds lkr Qsjs gq, cSB ds[kkuk [kk;k] fookg ds ikjEifjd xhr oigsfy;ksa dk vknku iznku cl ’kknh gksxbZA ,sls fookg vki lksp jgs gksaxs dsvkt ds vk/kqfud fn[kkos ds ;qx esalaHko ugha gSA ysfdu ,slk gks jgk gSyksx ,sls lqugjs ekSds cuk jgs gS vkSjvius fookg dks Hkh ;knxkj cuk jgs

gSAgekjs fe= feFkqu us cgqr ls fookgcM+s ’kgjksa tSls eqEcbZ o vgenkckn esadjk;s gS ftuesa u dksbZ IykfLVd] ufctyh] u rM+d&HkM+d gksrh gSA [kklckr ds ;s ’kkfn;ka izkd`frd rjg ls ghvk;ksftr dh tkrh gS ftuesa crZu Hkhrkacs ds gksrs gSA jks’kuh Hkh fn;ksa dh]nqYgk&nqYgu ds diM+s Hkh [kknh ds vkSjlkjh ltkoV rkts Qqy ifRr;ksa dhA’kknh dk lkjk euksjatu o laxhr HkhikjEifjd gksrk gSA euksjatu ds fy;sdBiwryh o tknwxj dk [ksy vknhA;kfu fd fookg Hkh thjks osLV ds lkFkAdksbZ dpjk ughaA dksbZ iznw"k.k ughaAvkt ds le; esa fu’p; gh cM+h ckr gSfd Xykscy okfeZax tSlh mHkjrh gqbZleL;kvksa esa dSls ;s NksVs ekSds izd`fr ds

ghr esa gks ldrs gSA bl e’khu Hkkoukokys tekus esa vius fj’rksa esa izse] izd`fro lknxh dks eglwl djus ds fy;s ,slsgh dqN dne mBkus gh iM+saxsA

feFkqu vgenkckn esa tSfod[kkn~;ku dh nqdku pykrk gS ftlesajklk;u fofgu [kk| lkexzh gh oks csprkgSA vxj vki Hkh vius thou esa ,sls;knxkj iy latksuk pkgrs gS rks ,slsvk;kstuksa gsrw feFkqu ls lEidZ djldrs gSa%&feFkqu ’kkg] 5 rstiky lkslk;Vh] ikyM+h]vgenkckn] xqtjkrQksu 079&26622022

iUukyky iVsy] mn;iqj<shikshantar@yahoo.com>

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nks lky igys gekjs ifjokj us r; fd;k fd vius ?kj dhVhoh ds lsVsykbV dscy dks gVk nsaxsA D;ksafd ge lcfeytqydj T;knk izkd`frd ,oa de ;kfU=d thou thus dkvuqHko djuk pkgrs FksA ge djkaWph esa jgrs gSa] tks ikfdLrkudk ,d cgqr cM+k dsUnz gS] tgkaW gj rjg dk fodkl &[kkldj ds ehfM;k ,oa VsDuksykWth dk( rqjUr viuk fy;ktkrk gSA ljdkj dh ehfM;k uhfr us Hkh futh pSuyksa dkscgqr c<+kok fn;k gSA ,sls le; esa cgqr eqf’dy gS ,slkifjokj ikuk] tks bu lc phtksa ls cpk gqvk gSA

gekjk ifjokj bLyke ds f’k;k lEiznk; dk fgLlk gSA ge gj’kke dks tekr[kkus esa Hkkx ysrs gSaA eSa ,d la;qDr ifjokj esajgrk gwaW] ftlesa esjs ekrk&firk] iRuh o nks cPps lkFk jgrs gSaAeSa vkSj esjh iRuh ,sls le; esa cM+s gq,] tc ikfdLrku esa dsoy,d gh Vhoh pSuy FkkA Vhoh vkus ds ckn ge lc ?kj ij jkst’kke dks fgUnqLrkuh ukVd] fQYesa o xkus ns[krs FksA dscyVhoh rks gekjs ?kj esa 1998 esa vk;kA rc ls geus Vhoh ijfØdsV tSls [ksy o vaxzsth dh fQYesa ns[kuk ’kq: fd;kA pwaWfdge ,d la;qDr ifjokj esa jgrs gSa] rks lcdks r; djuk iM+rkFkk fd dkSulk dk;ZØe dkSu dc ns[k ldrk gSA blds ihNs;gh lksp Fkh fd gekjs ikl euksjatu dk vkSj dksbZ lk/kuugha Fkk rFkk lqdwu ikus ds fy, o tkx#d balku cuus dsfy, Vhoh ns[kuk t:jh gSA oSls rks gekjs vklikl cgqrleqnzh rV] ikdZ] vkl&iM+kSl o fj’rsnkj gSa] ij ge mu lcesavlqjf{kr eglwl djrs gSaA ’kk;n blhfy,] D;ksafd Vhoh usgesa lekt ls dkV fn;k gSA

eSa ekurk gwaW fd eq[;/kkjk ehfM;k us gekjs O;ogkj o lksp dksiwjh rjg fu;fU=r dj fy;k gSA blhfy, lcls igys eSausvius Lo;a ds Vhoh ns[kus dh vknr ij fpUru fd;k vkSj mlsde djus dh dksf’k’k dhA eSaus Vhoh ds dk;Zdzeksa dks Hkh vkSjxEHkhj :i ls vkWCtoZ djuk ’kq: fd;kA rc ls eq>s yxusyxk fd Vhoh gekjh balkfu;r dks [+kRe dj jgk gSA blheqn~ns dks ysdj eSaus vius ifjokj esa Hkh ckrphr ’kq: dhA eq>s;g ns[kdj cgqr nq%[k gksus yxk Fkk fd tc Hkh eSa Fkd&gkjdj vkWfQl ls ?kj okil vkrk Fkk] rks lc Vhoh ds dk;Zdzeksaesa brus e’kxwy gksrs Fks fd eq> ij dksbZ /;ku Hkh ugha nsrs FksA

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Hkze.k djus ds fy, ys tkus dh dksf’k’k djrk] rks eq>s eglwlgksrk fd oks ,d ,slh nqfu;k esa ?kqlh tk jgh Fkh] tks mldsO;fDrRo o fodkl ds fcYdqy foijhr FkkA oks cgqr nsj rdftn djrh fd eq>s Vhoh gh ns[kuk gSA tc esjs ?kj esa gekjsnwljs cPps us tUe fy;k] rc geus ;g r; fd;k fd ge Vhohdks mlds fy, ,d csch&flVj ;k iqjLdkj dh pht ughacuk,aWxsA gekjs iM+kSl esa rks ;g gky gS fd cPps [kkuk [kkusds fy, rHkh rS;kj gksrs gSa] tc muds fy, Vhoh pyk;k tkrkgSA blfy, geus r; fd;k fd gesa dscy Vhoh dks gVkuk ghgSA

igys rks eSaus ;g fu.kZ; ,d rkuk’kkgh ds :i esa gh fd;kFkk rFkk vius ifjokj dks 6 eghus ds fy, dscy Vhoh dks cUndjus dh lwpuk nhA fQj eSaus viuh fnup;kZ dks cnyk rFkkjkst ’kke dks ?kj vkdj nks&rhu ?k.Vs vius cPpksa ds lkFk[ksyuk ’kq: fd;kA dgkuh dguk&lquuk Hkh ,d egRRoiw.kZxfrfof/k cu xbZA dHkh ge ukprs] dfork,aW cukrs vkSj dqNfy[krsA geus fi;kuks vkSj dEI;wVj ls Hkh [ksyuk ’kq: fd;kAjfookj dks geus fdlh fdrkc?kj ;k ikdZ esa Hkh tkuk ’kq:fd;kA blds QyLo:i /khjs&/khjs gekjs ?kj esa Hkh ,dNksVk&lk iqLrdky; [kqy x;kA lcls T;knk [+kq’kh dh ,oajkspd ckr rks ;g gS fd gesa fdlh Hkh fnu dksbZ Vkbe&Vscycukus dh t:jr ugha iM+hA tks pht tc eu vkrk] lkFkfeydj djrs( ftlesa yM+uk&>xM+uk] jksuk&fpYykuk odHkh&dHkh fcYdqy ’kkUr le; fcrkuk Hkh ’kkfey FkkA

nks lky ckn Hkh vkt ge bl ckr dks ;kn djrs gq, [kq’kgksrs gSa fd geus cgqr vPNk fu.kZ; fy;kA bl njfe;kugekjs ifjokj ds fj’rs cgqr etcwr gq, gSaA

& uw#n~nhu epsZaV, djkaWph] ikfdLrku<nooranu@gmail.com>

fcu Vh ch dk lqdwufcu Vh ch dk lqdwufcu Vh ch dk lqdwufcu Vh ch dk lqdwufcu Vh ch dk lqdwu

FLT Gathering at Tapovan Ashram, UdaipurApril 2007

Experiencing a farmWe all eat moong dal in our houses. But did you everthink where this moong comes from and how muchhard work farmers have to do to grow it? I had neverthought about it, but now I know how much hardwork we need to do to grow a crop. I learnt a lotabout crops from my three-day stay in a village calledLadegaon.

My friend Renu comes from a family of farmers.When I and my mother went to visit them, they werebusy with the moong harvest.

I helped Renu’s family with the harvesting. The firstday I was able to work for only one hour. The nextday I worked for three hours. In all, I had pluckedthree kgs of moong beans. It was a very tiring joband my back was aching.

I learnt that a labourer earns just Rs 9 for plucking thesame quantity of moong as I had plucked. In the city,children like me spend Rs 10 or 20 on junk food withouta single thought. We are constantly pestering our parents

for money. But inthe village Irealized howtough it is to earnmoney.

I also learnt thatfarmers have towork very hard togrow the food thatwe eat, andsometimes waste.

The experience inthe village hastaught me a lot. Ihave decided tomake somechanges in my life.

I am going to be much more disciplined than I was, andwill try to not waste food. I am also going to try to live asimpler life.

- Shuchita Prakriti, Nagpur<aparnapallavi70@gmail.com>

Vijaya Nani’s Tasty-Healthy TreatsStuffStuffStuffStuffStuffed Pancaked Pancaked Pancaked Pancaked PancakesesesesesIngredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:1Glass Raw Rice (unpolished)½ CoconutSoak for 3 hours, grind finely with coconut. Keepovernight (or a couple of hours). This batter should beslightly thinner than the usual dosa-mix.TTTTTo mako mako mako mako make the pancake the pancake the pancake the pancake the pancakes:es:es:es:es:Heat Tava. Reduce flame. Smear tava with a cut onion acouple of times. Make thin pancakes.

Filling Ingredients:Filling Ingredients:Filling Ingredients:Filling Ingredients:Filling Ingredients:6 Pinneapple slices1 Banana¼ cup Jaggery12-16 dates, Cinnamon powder, NutsTTTTTo mako mako mako mako make the fe the fe the fe the fe the filling:illing:illing:illing:illing:Steam pineapple and dates with jaggery. Cool and addmashed banana. Mix well. Garnish with nuts and cinnamonpowder. The traditional Modak filling can also be used.Add filling to the cooled pancake and roll…

PPPPPeaneaneaneaneanut Sauce Saladut Sauce Saladut Sauce Saladut Sauce Saladut Sauce SaladIngredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:Ingredients:Cabbage, Tomato, Potato, Cucumber, Carrot,French Beans and Capsicum - all chopped andcubed.

For the sauce:For the sauce:For the sauce:For the sauce:For the sauce:Roasted Peanuts - 100 gramsRoasted chilli powder, jaggery, soakedtamarind, salt to taste

TTTTTo mako mako mako mako make the salad:e the salad:e the salad:e the salad:e the salad:Cube the vegetables. Steam potato and frenchbeans. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce.Add a little water and blend into a paste. Mixthe sauce well with all the veggies. Can alsocut the veggies into sticks and serve with thesauce as a dip.

for more ideas, contact:The Health Awareness Center, Mumbai

<thacindia@yahoo.com>

For some time now, our family has been exploring an‘alternate’ lifestyle. After having been in the corporateworld for many years, we have concluded that there ismore to life than this kind of ‘good life’. As part of thisexploration, we have been visiting people who are doingthings differently, to understand what they are doing andhow and why, to learn from their experiences and see howtheir journey has been and their own analysis of it thusfar.

A few months back, we went to Gujarat to meetDhirendaji and Smitaji <telephone # 02640-291-173), something that we had been planning for quite sometime. They earlier lived in Ahmedabad. Both were teachingin a college there. Dhirendraji was an engineer and Smitajidid her masters in Science. Both were troubled by thehustle-bustle, pollution, lack of organic food,meaningless-ness of city life and decided to buy a land ina village and live there and produce their own food andlive with nature. They believed strongly in the ideals ofnon-violence and understood that the lives they wereliving earlier (as in the case with any modern urban life)directly or indirectly involved exploitation of other humanbeings and of nature in general. This troubled them agreat deal.

They moved to Sakwa village about 20 yrs ago. Slowly,they learnt about farming. Dhirendraji had no priorknowledge on this whatsoever. I was surprised to learnthis, given the fact that they are doing such a successfuljob growing completely organic food. People from far andnear go to them to learn about farming. They grow all oftheir food except sugar-cane and salt.

They live on two acres of land out of which they cultivateabout 1 acre; the other 1 acre has their house, shed, pond,well, and lots of fruit trees and medicinal trees/ plants.They eat good food (of course! it’s all organic, from theirland), very healthy. They lead healthy lives with amplephysical exercise as they do farming by themselves. Theyeat four or five different kinds of grains and three or fourvarieties of lentils (daal) along with umpteen vegetablesand fruits.

If they fall sick, they know how to treat themselvesthrough home remedies and medicines they make at home,some of them from herbs that they grow. A commonacquaintance told us how once when Smitaji’s fingers got

crushed in a wheat grinding machine (atta chakki), theyjust took care of it at home instead of going to the doctor.Whew! Dhirendraji also told us that once while he wasusing the axe, it fell on his hand, affecting his nerves. Hejust took care of this at home. All this requires a deepconviction and faith in one’s own treatment!

They have 2 kids: 20 yr old Vishven and 16 yr old Bhargav.Initially, they started going to the village school, but foundit too boring. So, they were home-schooled. We couldmeet only Vishven as Bhargav was off to Vigyan Ashramtime as a trainer. They have both done a course in RuralDevelopme nt from there. Both the boys want to explorea bit more of the world and then decide what they wantto do, although both of them like farming. Vishven isalso working on becoming fluent in English so it doesn’tbecome a handicap in his dealing with the ‘modern’ folks.

All of these people seemed versatile, they seemedto know how to do just about anything e.g. frommending the umbrella, to fixing their shoes, tomaking their own chappals (sandals), their ownhouse, their own gobar-gas plant, and using thisfor kitchen, to making soaps and sharbats, to doingany electrical work, mechanical work, working onthe lathe, welding, making their own parabolic solarcooker, making their own tools and machines. It wasamazing to see them.

Our son Maanas loved being there (he has gotten used togoing to such places now). He loved their cow Ganga(and as he said when we returned “Mumma, I missGanga”). In the mornings, MJ and I would help the familyin whatever was required in the fields. Maanas wouldsometimes join in with great enthusiasm, but soon theheat and the humidity would bring him indoors to thetable fan. Dhirendraji gave him a small axe which he usedwith great gusto.

Dhirendraji is very creative. Although his own kids aregrown-up now, he knew just how to entertain kids. Hewould come up with all sorts of creative games which heplayed with Maanas with great enthusiasm. He seemedto take great joy in it.

In such places, Maanas never needs his toys. There is somuch to play in nature. One day, when it rained, Vishven,MJ and Maanas just stood in the rain and were in bliss.

- Rashmi Goyal, Bangalore<rashmi.goyal@gmail.com>

A Life of Non-Violence

Thai Noodles and Mud BricksWe came back from Thailand froma Natural Building workshop inNovember last year. Dev, Tara andI really enjoyed the week we spenton a farm near Chiang Mai...welearnt various earthen buildingtechiniques, like adobe, cob, watteland daub and earth bag. More thanthat, we just simply loved playingin the mud, enjoying the simplecommunity life. I came across<www.kleiwerks.com> that ledme/us to Thailand, in my search for completing thebuilding of our house. (I had asked the ‘ecologicalarchitect’ to leave, as she was not really interested in theproject; it was just another job that brought in money forher.) It was an easy decision to make as we are a‘homeschooling/unschooling family’ so school holidaysand vacations did not ‘decide’ for us when we could takeoff and do what we wanted.

I was amazed to find such an interest in natural building.And even though there are architects who are seeminglydedicated to building natural houses FOR people, thecourses I saw offered on the website seemed more hands-on, more fun. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, andthere was a lot less dependency on architects and the teamof builders, who usually seem to just take over. At thebottom of a list of 10 reasons to attend a natural buildingworkshop was, “If not anything else, just come and havefun and play in the mud!!”

I did not know quite what to expect when we arrived atPun Pun organic farm, north of Chiang Mai. But we cameaway with a feeling of empowerment, that we couldliterally, with our own hands and feet, build small homes,that we lovingly can sculpt using common sense…

As Jon Jandai, one of the founding members of this farmand a leading earthen bulder in Thailand said, of the lessprivileged people in his country, “It’s the way to solve theirproblems now. They want to solve their problems, and they want todo it together. With adobe, if a lot of you build together, it’sfaster and more fun. It’s the old tradition that we have almost lostnow, because people have to work for money. When they work formoney, they will not work together like that. But now we take backthe old tradition to work together and help each other. If fivepeople each want to build a house, they all build this house togetherand then move to another house, then another…”

Now that was something that left an impression on me.Dev and Tara were the only children at the workshop.

This was their first buildingexperience, a non-institutionalisedlesson in engineering, design andarchitecture. We came back toBangalore, and soon after, on myparents’ farm, Tara and Devgathered some of the children offarm hands and made about 50adobe bricks. We played andsplashed in the squishy mud, andsneaked a few bucketfuls of thefeed for the cows. Mixed it all up!

We did not get further than that, as we did not manage togarner enough interest and people. But since then, havingmet folks from Shikshantar and others at Van Vadi, ourinteret has been revived, and we plan on building a smallcob guest room and earthen oven…

Natural Building offers long-lasting solutions to many oftoday’s ecological and social ills. Referring to a numberof durable time-tested construction methods, NaturalBuilding uses local clays, sand, straw, stone, bamboo andother abundant and recycled materials. Because NaturalBuilding is easy to learn, it also empowers people toreclaim their dignity and basic human right to healthy,affordable, beautiful and ecologically-sound shelter.Coupled with permaculture, whole-systems design andrenewable energy, Natural Building has the propensityto provide accessible long-term solutions that will lastfor generations.

Tara says, “It felt sad to leave Pun Pun, after a weekfilled with fun and meeting different people, but it feltgood to know that I could build and sculpt a house witha group of people!” When we came back to Bangalore,and made 50 bricks with the help of local children, itwas our first effort, the first step...

I hope to build a natural adobe and cob house in thefuture. Anyone interested? Please contact me at<tarasana94@yahoo.co.uk>. I would love to hear fromfolks of any age who are interested in natural buildingand community living. Here is a link I really like that willgive you an idea of adobe and cob building<www.housealive.org>

- Tara, Dev and Amita Sharma, Bangalore<theorganicdream@yahoo.com>

Please share your experiences of ‘alternative vacations’ with us!

I am very happy that someone has what it takes to negateall the myths and compulsions of conventional education.(wondering here what does it take? Not really courage,but perception, seeing things as they are).And it seems from what is described thatKanku is living proof of the rightness ofyour actions. She is growing up as a childNEEDS to grow up; in a non-institutionalized way, with the freedom toexplore what interests her, the freedom tomake real relationships. I love the part ofher just wandering into houses!

And behind it all, one senses that onefactor, without which all efforts to produce“a different sort of education” are boundto fail; that is, the factor of love. What atragedy that overwhelmingly, children arebrought up in a culture of separativeness:my house, my family, my property, my ambitions, myachievements, my country, my beliefs and so on...

- Clive Elwell, Australia* * *

In my daughters’ ‘holistic’ school, we pay twice the feesother school charge because we only have half thenumber of children in every class - and we thought all ofthis would be worth it because with fewer children in theclass, each child’s potential and differing abilities wouldemerge and be encouraged to bloom. I can’t believe hownaive i was!!! The final goal of almost every educationalinstitution in India is to produce children who aresuccessful in the ‘mainstream’ (a word that everyone usesbut nobody ever defines). What’s worse is that 99% ofparents want this more than anything. So the schoolpushes them along this path - sometimes with kindness,but most often with criticism and intolerance for anythingthat doesn’t fit in. Sadly, a ‘good’ teacher is an exception,never the rule. The children slowly lose their naturalabilities and the frustration of this breeds so muchviolence in them. We will end up with a generation ofachievers who will perpetuate all the misery in the worldbecause they were not taught better. Warm regards and

my great admiration for all those who didn’t get suckedinto the system. When the world becomes a better place,it will be because of people like you.

- Iona Sinha, India* * *

Thank you for sharing Kanku’s learning adventures. I wishI had my hands in mud, paint, thread and prose. I wish Icould enter people’s homes and not feel embarrassed toask for halwa or chhaach, or inquire about bakri ke bachhe. Iwant to climb trees, steal mangoes, and not worry aboutanyone’s wrath, or spill the flour and mess the soup andstill know all will be well. You’re inspiring me to thinkit’s possible and probable, and I must be braver in this

life. The consequences are all mine.- Rahul Vaswani, Oman

* * *It was absolutely delightful to readthrough co-learning with Kanku, andthe idea of co-learning for elders is evenmore challenging... It is the adults whoare having to unlearn and relearnwithout being obstrusive and directing.It does not matter if we are adults withdegrees, books, we can be liberatedthrough our children andgrandchildren, an opportunity todeconstruct our brains and reconstruct.Frankly, it does not matter where thelearning takes place provided that it is

a priority, that it is conscious and primary to our growthat all times. Children grow furiously in terms of theirbrains/emotions at early years, and thus adults need toexperience that with/alongside them when they are youngwithout worrying about ‘putting them right’, etc. etc.The paradigm of education is so bogus as it currentlystands that it needs a rethink totally.

- Baela Jamil, Lahore* * *

For me, Co-learning with Kanku is a sincere effort ofgetting involved with our children in a way that flourishesour own humanity. The sharing of this experience wasnot intended to scale it up or project it as a model thathas to be adopted by others, but it simply shows usdifferent ways of asserting our freedom and living,interacting, growing and flourishing together.

I believe that all of us possess the same wealth ofresources, wisdom and richness around us, but thedominant way of seeing/perceiving things has made theseresources invisible for us. We are thus unable to feel them,engage with them and get our own sense of meaning fromthem... - Raziq Fahim, Balochistan

Vidhi Jain and her extended family published “Co-Learning withKanku” in August 2007 (available in English and Hindi atwww.swaraj.org/shikshantar/familieslearning.htm). The bookletshares some experiences with five-year-old Kanku, who is buildingher own learning web. The booklet generated lots of interestingconversations. We are pleased to share some of them with you:

Continuing the Co-LearningContinuing the Co-LearningContinuing the Co-LearningContinuing the Co-LearningContinuing the Co-LearningConversation...Conversation...Conversation...Conversation...Conversation...

CHILDREN HERE ANDNOW is an experimentalnatural learning center createdin 2006 with the intention tolook into and explore new waysof growing our children into alife in the 21st century! In layingthe foundation for our childrenbecoming self reliant, realizingtheir human potential andTRUSTING in what theyperceive is right, there areseveral areas of focus in theprogram. There is thepossibility of:· growing and cultivating food and exploring intelligentand healthy lifestyle;· practicing yoga and meditation;· exploring sensory and motor competence;· expression through arts and crafts, color and music;· movement awareness;· experimenting with visualization, self-healing, awarenessof energetic fields and the abilities to read these energiesand colors.

For our Facilitators and Volunteers, this does not requireprevious experience, but definitely the prerequisite is aninterest to learn and explore alongside the children. Wewould like to invite children with their parents to exploreand experience the possibilities. This meeting place, openon a daily base, intends to set a platform for children totake responsibility of their own learning process. Togetherwe can explore questions, find answers and support eachother to raise children without the factory-school.

- Dariya Avantario, Goa<info@healinghereandnow.com>

Phone:+91-832-2268158

KUMBHAMORGANIC FARM

What do we mean by ‘alternativeeducation’?It has to be an alternative tothe present structure ofsociety and/or human mind.We have to think what themotive of modern educationis. It is all based on materialsuccess: status, power, fame,money and success. So thequestion is not whether wecan do it at home or in aschool, where there is not

much pressure on a child. But can we help the child toquestion all this and go against the tide? Can there be aneducation where this thrust on individual attainment isnot so central? The schools take away children fromactual situations. The child is confined to a classroom tohear the descriptions of reality and form concepts. Fromconcepts and methods we are conditioned to approachlife. But when we observe a natural learning process likesomebody learning cooking in a traditional house, or thechildren learning skills in craft community, it is notthrough instructions and theories they learn. There,learning and doing are a unitary process. Observation,listening and doing are important.

We have an organic farm and have provided a guest housefor visitors. One room is generally occupied by volunteersfrom the west and the other by occasional visitors. Weare inviting volunteers to establish a lasting relationshipwith peoples of different places. Also for the educationof our child age eight who is not going to school. So wewill be happy to accommodate other interested childrenalso here <www.kumbham.in/organicfarming.html>

- Suman, Kerala <sradhaa@yahoo.co.in>

INVITATIONS FOR EVOLVING LEARNING COMMUNITIES

SUNO SUNO SUNO SUNO SUNO YYYYYAAR!!!AAR!!!AAR!!!AAR!!!AAR!!!We need your contributions in the form of essays,

artwork, critical feedback, interviews, poems, healthyrecipes, healing tips, questions, book reviews, websitereviews, film reviews, jokes, interesting people/places

to visit, cartoons, love, etc.etc.etc.

SteSteSteSteStewarwarwarwarwards ds ds ds ds TTTTTeam:eam:eam:eam:eam: Vidhi Jain,Vidhi Jain,Vidhi Jain,Vidhi Jain,Vidhi Jain, Na Na Na Na Navina vina vina vina vina VVVVVenkatenkatenkatenkatenkatSondegaarSondegaarSondegaarSondegaarSondegaard,d,d,d,d, Vinita Mansata,Vinita Mansata,Vinita Mansata,Vinita Mansata,Vinita Mansata, YYYYYorit,orit,orit,orit,orit, Sakhi Nitin Sakhi Nitin Sakhi Nitin Sakhi Nitin Sakhi Nitin

Anita,Anita,Anita,Anita,Anita, Sanja Sanja Sanja Sanja Sanjay Maharishi,y Maharishi,y Maharishi,y Maharishi,y Maharishi, Shammi Nanda Shammi Nanda Shammi Nanda Shammi Nanda Shammi Nanda

Contact us:Contact us:Contact us:Contact us:Contact us:c/o Shikshantar c/o Shikshantar c/o Shikshantar c/o Shikshantar c/o Shikshantar AndolanAndolanAndolanAndolanAndolan

83 83 83 83 83 Adinath NagarAdinath NagarAdinath NagarAdinath NagarAdinath Nagar,,,,, Udaipur 313004, Udaipur 313004, Udaipur 313004, Udaipur 313004, Udaipur 313004, Rajasthan Rajasthan Rajasthan Rajasthan Rajasthanwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.s.s.s.s.swaraj.org/shikshantar/familieswaraj.org/shikshantar/familieswaraj.org/shikshantar/familieswaraj.org/shikshantar/familieswaraj.org/shikshantar/families

<shikshantar@yahoo.com><shikshantar@yahoo.com><shikshantar@yahoo.com><shikshantar@yahoo.com><shikshantar@yahoo.com>

Thanks! for your contributions to the art of this issue:R.S. Bhandari (cover), Astha Wadhwani (p.4), Anantara (p.4)Sameer Parvez (p.6), Chandresh (p.7), Minu Parvez (p.15)

Anjali, Mayur, Guddi Prajapat (p.16)