yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

The Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama. The Open Road  by  Pico Iyer . The NYT review  here  and a conversation between the author and Dalai Lama  here . Thank you CIHTS for bringing this and other gems to my life.    Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard  - I had thought - would be hard to top : a travel writer at the peak of his craft climbing the heights of the Himalayas, exploring Buddhism with an openness that Buddhism warrants, and taking us deep inside ourselves. Pico Iyer is as good, if not better, as he takes us on a journey with the Dalai Lama . Both these books took me back to the days I put in at Bir with Jono Lineen's Into the Heart of the Himalayas.  Himalayan heights, Buddhism and inner journeys have been intricately woven in each of these classics.  Pico Iyer reminded me that good travel writers travel deep within; they make us pause and delve deep as well. In this they are akin to icebergs - the journeys on the ...

  A book that nudges you to ask questions Title: My story, my voice: Sita and Helen Publisher: Tulika Text: Shailee Illustrations: Priyadarshini Banerjee Price: 345/- Warmly thanking Teacher Plus  for publishing this and Tulika for the book.     What is the book about?   This question is best answered using two lines from the book: “ Two of mythology’s best-known women ” “ What do we know of these women themselves ”?   How did I find the book? Few, if any, of you who read this will claim to be unfamiliar with either Sita or Helen . Films, television serials, comic books, religious texts, textbooks, stories by elders at home, songs or other sources would have led you to them. How many of you drew parallels between the two? This surely never occurred to me. And after reading and rereading the book, I wondered why it did not! This is where the book scores. Its ability to surprise, to nudge one to think. This book takes you thr...

Began a newsletter for the school few months ago A once in two months affair Three issues up so far  One of the sketches made by the children, Newsletters talk about these and other actions at the school, Actions of the children, by the children, for the children, September 2024 November 2024 January 2025

Some gems from his poems, Acknowledge the poetry lovers who have created these, put them up on the web,   Me and my fetish for holding hands, resonates here, holding hands is so, so underrated,  The "when" matters, like the "how", Munir Niyazi has also expressed this eloquently,  here ,  Let us never be busy for each other, let the "come" not leave space for " go ",  New days, love, life, hope,  If home comes, can trees be far behind,  We need to be around trees, their majesticity, there is so much there,  There is a lot to learn from the day-to-day, the seemingly small,  And, to keep doing what we believe,  Previous posts on him, here and here , 

Some years of publishing The complete list (updated February 2025)  here Some author pages on the publication sites The Hindu Deccan Herald Teacher Plus First Post The Citizen Vikalp Sangam Raiot JBNHS Roundglass Sustain Scroll The Wire Earth Dialogue The Quint India Hikes Conservation India

How to teach poetry How do we introduce poetry to students and tell them what it is? Thanks to the team at The Hindu , and of course to Chandni madam.  A few weeks ago, we had organized a session on poetry for teachers. The idea was to delve deeper into poetry and discuss how best we could get children to bond better with it. The session commenced with a song and I began by asking colleagues to recall one or more film songs which, in their understanding, were laden with metaphors. The silence that followed made me wonder where I had erred. I then wrote on the board a few lines from a song to discuss the metaphors it contained. However, the participants found it difficult to connect the metaphors with the song. Most people like and listen to film songs but rarely associate them with metaphors or with any other figures of speech. Someone said that an exercise like this could suck the joy of out of songs. This left me wondering if we connect with metaphors only when we wear our t...

More days at the Morisaki Bookshop Author: Satoshi Yagisawa Translator: Eric Ozawa ISBN: 978-1-786-58432-8 First published: 2024 Pages: 163 More about Days at the Morisaki Bookshop here A sequel after long A sequel that lives up to its expectations A sequel that continues to bring out special in the ordinary, in the day-to-day life A sequel that flows easy A sequel that teaches without being preachy A sequel that I did good to get without thinking too much Few glimpses Sharing your thoughts with someone seems so simple, but at times it can be surprisingly difficult. Even more so when it’s someone you care for so much for. But if you find the courage to do it, it’ll bring you closer together. When you’re sad, don’t try to hold it in. It’s ok to cry a lot. The tears are there because you’ve got to go on living. You’re going on living, which means there’ll be more things to cry about.  People forget all kinds of things. They live by forgetting. Yet our thoughts endure, the way waves ...

Wise talks with a VC, Some snippets, Us (colleagues and I): We enjoy walking around the campus here, it has a peaceful, a special feel. VC: This campus has nothing special to offer, it is like any other place. You will have peace, that special feel within you and so you feel it. It is what is within you that is crucial, the outside seldom matters. Us: But, there will be this point of “places with energy” as well, isn’t it? VC: Yes, it is at some places, few places. These are places where a lot of good people, people with positive energies, come, get together, put in time. At such places the outer disturbances, the sounds, lights and chaos in the surroundings, do not bother you. However, the energy you talk about can also work the other way. If you are at Connaught Place in Delhi, for example, you will notice significant energy, of the other kind, given the people who frequent it. Ditto for the places frequented by our political leaders. Us: Education . . . . . VC: An agriculture count...

Ashok Vajpeyi that endearing uncle with: words at his beck and call a twinkle in his eyes a taste for kurtas a prolific literary output Some details of the set: Books in the series: 13 ISBN: ‎ 9789392228674 (Hardcover) Pages: 6,876 (Throughout Black and White Illustrations) Size: 24 cm x 16.5 cm These are books which I: open up at any time of the day, read, reread read aloud to my mother, some of these readings are followed by happy silences, am glad that the library has the entire set They have: taken me closer to poetry, to Hindi - Kedar Nath Singh got me on to reading poetry, learning Hindi - these books with their collection of poems, letters, conversations and more have helped me take the next proverbial step prompted me to take up further journeys – with the dictionary at times and also with the poets / authors mentioned therein via the interviews on the Prasar Bharti archives – Namvar Singh for example took me to Banaras, 1950’s, editing and a lot more upped t...

Learning Languages Up at The Hindu Thanks to colleagues at the school and to The Hindu.  “What exactly are we struggling with when it comes to teaching languages — is it spellings, pronunciation or sentence construction?” I opened a discussion with colleagues who teach languages at our school. “All of the above” — they were unanimous in their response. A response which was followed with silence. Aged between five and 15, the children at our school speak Bhojpuri at home, learn social science and science in Hindi and aspire to do well in English. The silence was followed with smiles that conveyed the reluctant acceptance of a sub-optimal situation. During the discussion that followed, we focused on ourselves, how we fared, and what else we could do, rather than ruminate on assessments and evaluations of the children’s performance. As we delved deeper, we wondered if as a school, we have a uniform approach to languages? In other words, are our practices and actions pulling the ...

घाट पे हम क्या करेंगे तुमने एक दिन पूछा था   आदि केशव का प्राचीन मंदिर उस से उतरती सीढ़ियाँ उन पे सरकती चमकती रेलिंग इस नये पुराने के मिलन पे हम  साथ  बैठेंगे   कभी हम पुराने सूरज - चाँद देखेंगे कभी उनकी नयी परछाई   कभी हम नयी लहरों को सुनेंगे कभी पुराने पानी को छुएँगे   कभी हम नयी ट्रेन को जाते देखेंगे कभी पुराने पुल को खड़े   कभी हम नयी नाव को बनते सुनेंगे कभी नहाते बच्चों की पुरानी हँसी को   कभी हम पुरानी यादों के साथ रहेंगे कभी नयी यादें बनाएँगे   इस नये पुराने के खेल मे घाट  पे  हर रोज़ हम हाथ थामे चुप्पी भी शेयर करेंगे   और कभी कभी चाय की चुस्की लेने चंदन शहीद दरगाह पे भी चल चलेंगे Illustration by children of classes 5th and 6th, April 2024

Some of us fast on particular days or during select festivals. On similar lines, how if we can fast when we travel by trains? The benefits are manifold. This goes against our DNA, the market forces and a lot else - especially given that for many of us trains are synonymous with munching and snacking. But I will risk sharing my thoughts on the benefits of this. Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and those rare specimens of males, who take up the tasks of planning, cooking, packing, and in some cases also delivering the food will be saved all the trouble and hassle. Their lives will be easier and their blood-pressures in check. Those traveling by premium trains , that provide food, can sleep in peace without being handed over trays at regular short intervals. Their bodies that will get little exercise, if at all, during the journeys may not need all the food as well. The space used to heat and store the food can be used by the coach attendants to rest; they will be in a better fram...

  Adi and Anku Learn to stay safe: The body safety guide for preschoolers   Authors: Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul Illustrators: Tuhin Paul, Aishwarya Shah, Siddhanth Verma Age: 3 years and above Price: 295/- Publisher: Menstrupedia Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Pages: 20   Touch me not! Arti Pandey, Anshumalika Rai and Nimesh Ved   Thanks to   Teacher Plus   for publishing and Richa for comments on the draft. The authors are well-known names in puberty education. Their previous books  Menstrupedia  (2014) and  Gulu  (2021) have been well received. These books are a big help to parents and teachers to discuss topics like growing up years and changes in our bodies during these years!   The book   This book talks to an age group that is younger – preschoolers. It focuses on touch, privacy, and safety.  The text is well thought of and sensitively written. Two pages, towards the end, have notes for parents and t...