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

A journey with books Nimesh Ved and Anshumalika Rai  Published in Teacher Plus’ July 2020 issue here . Thanks are due to the team at Teacher Plus. We remain indebted to colleagues and friends who are an integral part of the journey. Thanks are due to the teams at PARAG , Tata Trusts , Pratham and Ektara .  We are associated with a school, catering to 300 students, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Together with colleagues we have undertaken an invigorating journey over the past two years. A journey to bring children and books closer to each other. This we share below.  Phase one To begin with, the library was located on the first floor while the classrooms were on the ground floor. Also, most of the time it was behind a closed door; a door with two big locks. If you entered you would come came across a board that said, ‘please be silent’. The library did not have a friendly ambience.  Colleagues associated with the library clearly di...

A Guest House at Naggar  On the last day of my previous trip to Naggar I happened to visit a Guest House as I walked from the Castle to the Roerich Estate . The Alliance Guest House is run by Gill; a person of French origin who speaks fluent Hindi. He had – with affection – shown me around the place and I recall being intrigued by the simple room; a guest staying there had to use a common toilet but the room had paper, pen, water-bottle, kettle and a torch. The basics were well thought out and in place. During this trip I made amends and stayed at the Alliance Guest House. Besides the stay enjoyed chatting with Gill. Image Credit: Alliance Guest House - Facebook Page The room I got ( the others were all occupied ) was the room where the then single room Guest House began in 1982; 5 years after Gill had arrived in India. It sat cosily near an open dining space; a lounge with a Himalayan view!  Enticing place for conversations and silences with those li...

 ~ ~ Summers bring in fresh colours and shapes on campus The fetish for brooming has taken a back-seat this season  and these colours and shapes are more pronounced ~ ~  I enjoy walking on these leaves, feel them tickle and caress my naked feet, listen to them crackle as I walk . . .  When I shared this with a friend she responded with these lines by Gulzaar Saab " . . वह सूखा पत्ता उस लकड़ी के पुल पर ही पड़ा था उसे उस पुल पे आने-जाने वाले पैरों का डर था  कुचल दे गा कोई भी, पीस देगा पाँव के नीचे . . " ~ ~  Many of these leaves and flowers are decidedly happy  with each other  If there was a line that would appropriately suit all these fellows being together it is a positive version of  "सब साले मिले हुवे हैं"  ~ ~  Each is special their shadows too have colours  गुलमोहर पीपल  ~ ~  Reminds me of children playing undisturbed Neither adults nor o...

Poetry Poems then Some of the initial memories of poems are from my days in school. Few of those poems have since stayed with me, be it the Gujarati poem by Narsinh Mehta I was taught in 3rd standard or the efforts our teacher took to discuss To The Skylark . The later during 9th standard. Schools also made me hate poems. Especially when we had to mug them up for oral examinations. I recall beginning to dislike Rabindranath Tagore. All this despite loving English. Years late when I read more about Tagore I realized how silly a folly it was. And that not many schools, even today, can boast of the spirit to discuss Where the Mind is Without Fear ! I too during days of rising to and falling off love wrote what I then thought was poetry. The other day I came across one and cringed! Poems today  At home During recent times poetry is back in life and how. Raghuvir Sahay aptly puts in in Aaj phir shuru hua   ". . आज फिर शुरू हुआ जीवन आज ...

* The other day came across cobwebs like I had seldom seen before  Gardener uncle said this was not a seasonal affair Was reminded of Ross Perot,  Life, he said,  is like a cobweb – not an organization chart * Webs along the bark of the neem tree catch its flowers ~ flowers that move with grace of trapeze artist to the background of the stately bark! * मंदिर के बाहर रखी चादर या धुप में सूखने रखा दुपट्टा! * Customized bottle cover Or a beloved's embrace! * Mosquito nets placed over plants Or furniture ( like in earlier films ) covered in white cloth! * Why do we broom away these webs of life and then 'play' a sanitized version using ropes and standing in circles! * Friends discussing the next prey  Or weavers talking of the art! * Such fun they appeared to have ~ the myriad flowers, butterflies, spiders, webs, leaves and all their brethren ...

Some Books  Some books have you email or talk with friends - as you read them or for days after you have read them. This possibly is as you have fallen in love with the world they have brought into your lives. And love brings with it – sharing. Some books come to you at just the correct time – the phase of life you are in, what you love doing at the time, what all you want to me amidst and more. It is as if the entire world conspires to bring you and the book together then ( with due respects to Paulo Coelho )! Some books make it clear, in black and white, that being busy is all about priorities. Minutes turn into hours as you move from one page to another, from one chapter to another. Like the coffee and chocolate, you love and are ever eager to have more! And, when you see the end approaching you have that unique feeling of being content yet empty – an emotion which perhaps only books bring out. These are books you do not want to give away after reading....