[www.keralites.net] Gopalakrishnan and Vijayalekshmi Did Not Send Their Children to School, but Taught Them by Creating a Forest.- [6 Attachments]

 

Gopalakrishnan and Vijayalekshmi Did Not Send Their Children to School, but Taught Them by Creating a Forest

As government school teachers, they were themselves disillusioned with the limitations of formal education and how it left children unprepared to deal with life.

They dreamt of a school environment that is close to reality- open, democratic and with fluid boundaries.

This dream school, which they fondly named Sarang, was to be nothing like what traditional schools were – no certificates, no rote learning, no 'one-size-fits-all' curriculum.

In 1994, the couple quit their jobs and started working on Sarang. Their first student, naturally, was their son, Gautham. Slowly, a few other children also joined – from close families, neighbourhood children from poor families and dropouts from regular schools. These kids were introduced to each other not as classmates, but as brothers and sisters.

Instead of staring at black boards, the children set off their learning on a massive canvas – a barren land that Gopalakrishnan and Vijayalekshmi bought in Attappady, near Palakkad, Kerala.

They earmarked a major portion of the land to create a forest, and in the rest, they would build their house and grow their food. They built their house with their own hands, using mud, thatching grass, and bamboo.

They built check-dams in the watershed, dug out percolation-pits and mulched heavily to protect the land from soil erosion and to conserve water.

All vegetables, fruits, and grains that were needed for Sarang was grown right there on the land using natural farming methods. A lot of thought went behind what would be grown so that the soil could be naturally enriched.

They learned their physics, biology, geography, mathematics, chemistry and environmental science by seeing, feeling and doing. They also learned language, art and culture and expressed themselves through a medium that they chose and loved the most.

The work on the once-barren hill started showing tremendous results. Within 15 years Sarang Hills turned into a lush green forest – abundant in water, birds and animals.

Barking deer, mouse deer, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, civets, snails and some rare species of frogs also became dwellers of Sarang Hills.

Gautham, who is 36-years-old today, did not go through formal schooling throughout his life. Gautham says, "I saw other children going through the pressures of school while I found myself curious to learn. When I was just 10-years-old, I stayed away from home with my cousin to learn the martial art of Kalaripayattu. We were on our own, cooking our food, washing our clothes and being responsible for each other. Out of curiosity about how a radio works, I became an apprentice at a local radio shop. I cleared the amateur wireless operator's exam at the age of 14 and became a Ham Radio hobbyist".

Gautham got married to Anuradha, an engineer who was also enchanted by Gautham's wish to reclaim Sarang School.

In 2013, after repaying their debts, Gautham and Anuradha, moved back to Sarang Hills. They are rebuilding Sarang now, with the aim of developing it into a rural university that disseminates the knowledge that the family has gathered over the last thirty years.

Full article in the link below
https://www.thebetterindia.com/112174/sarang-hills-alternate-school-sustainable-living/

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Posted by: Ravi Narasimhan <ravi.narasimhan.in@gmail.com>

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