Learnings & Experiences
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Back to Vipassana
My first and only vipassana retreat was in January 2016. The retreat was great and I got back with lot of enthusiasm. I did attempt to get into regular practice once I got back, but soon I realised that I was getting nowhere. So, I stopped my practice entirely in April 2016, a mere three…
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Learning Backwards
Watching my son and a several other kids at Aarohi Open Learning community, I have come to notice a new kind of learning – which I would like to call as “backward learning.” However, before I can actually get to describing it, I would like to first talk about something else first … Forward Learning…
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It’s a city – we will throw dirt on each other …
While driving in the city, I seem to constantly get irritated, worked-up, angry and even shout at other people driving on the roads. I am sure this evokes a sense of understanding and empathy from most people. However, I have recently observed something new: Other people seem to be constantly getting irritated, worked-up, angry and…
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I can afford it, but he chooses to do jugaad!
Highlights: … until, I realise that this is not about swimming at all. It’s about leadership and boy am I impressed! Full Story: In 2019, we buy a year long membership at a newly opened clubhouse near our gated community, primarily to use the swimming pool in it. During the time we had the membership,…
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“You should know this stuff by now!”
I catch myself thinking and sometimes telling to my 10 year old: “Advay, you are supposed to know this stuff by now already!! 😠” It comes up when he makes basic spelling mistakes, or when uses gone instead of went or vice-versa in a sentence, or when he takes too long to multiply two numbers,…
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Lifestyle Changes
Sometime in November last year, a few months after I had turned 40, I looked at myself and felt dissatisfied about my health & fitness. I had been dissatisfied for a long time, but it felt like I had reached my threshold by Nov 2021. Nutrition – Lifestyle I signed up for a 3 month…
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Aarohi Open Learning
My son, and by extension my wife and I, have been exploring the open-learning path. When he was very young and going to a Montessori play school, Nandini would research the various forms of “schooling”. Home Schooling, Unschooling, Road Schooling and so many other forms turned up in her study and research. Whenever Nandini shared…
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My journey with Scrite
This is the story of how Scrite, the free and open source multilingual screenplay writing app came to be. Sometime in December 2019, I started trying my hand at writing screenplays. For a few months, until the beginning of March 2020, I was writing something almost every single day. I finished writing 3 screenplays and…
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Upgrading from “I love you” to “I respect you”
14th June 2011 will be an unforgettable day for me. The mid-wife brought our newly born son outside the labour room, wrapped him in a towel and handed him over to me. As I held him for the first time, I looked at his eyes. He was winking at first. But then he looked straight…
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Webinar on #Unschooling
Nandini, Advay and I were guests on a webinar hosted by Aarohi Life Education about #Unschooling and #OpenLearning. We were asked to share our journey of #Unschooling Advay on the Webinar and be available for open Q&A. Preparing for the Webinar, actually being on it and taking questions was a revealing experience for us. The…
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It’s not a problem, it’s just what’s so.
Recently I bought “Speaking Being” and started reading it. The book is more like a screenplay of a specific 4 day and 1 evening Forum that was held from 27th December 1988. That particular Forum had 502 participants PLUS 40 Forum Leaders attending as participants PLUS another 100 people participating as observers. The 4 days…
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My son knows how to create his relationships
Yesterday evening, I was working on something. Advay, my 8 year old came by and without giving a damn about the fact that I was occupied with something, he started telling me something and demanded that I pay attention to him. I was super-pissed. In a angry tone I said – “Please give me some…
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How dare you? Because, obviously…
My carbon footprint is significant. I have driven bikes/cars that run on petrol for ~24 years now. I use flights almost 6-10 times a year. I have bought clothes knowing that they come covered in plastic. I have bought products off the Internet knowing that they come covered in plastic. I have bought parcelled food…
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Swayam – a chance to meet alt-schoolers
Omnio Parenting is a group of people (adults and children) dedicated to the exploration of new ways of schooling and learning. Many of the people from this group are also part of Temple Of Excellence, a learning centre in Bengaluru where they explore new ideas in the domain of learning and education. Learning here starts…
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From Nandini’s travel diary
My wife Nandini and Advay (our 8yo) had been to Mysore recently along with her Tripster Buddies. There were many moments in the whole trip, but one moment clearly stood out. The following is a note from her travel diary. Today, we went for the light and sound show at the palace. Just before we…