LEARNING SOCIETIES UNCONFERENCE 2012 JOURNEYS AND INTERESTS List #8 of 10

Sheela Uttamchandani Mumbai - Ethics Creations/Stone Soup Adda I am Sheela. After having done my own business of readymade garments exports successfully for about a decade, I have been in search of something meaningful. Yoga came as a Godsent Gift to me in 2007. I have done my Teachers Training Course from the oldest and most reputed Yoga Institute at Santacruz Mumbai, which teaches Classical Yoga. I have been teaching at this Institute for Teachers Training Sessions and have also conducted Stress Management and weight Management workshops. Have been teaching Yoga since then as a Personal Teacher to individuals as well as to Corporates. Having been very impressed with Yoga Philosophy, I did two years advanced course in Yoga from Mumbai University and have now also finished doing M.A. in Yoga from Mumbai University. I have been trying to spread Yoga as Classical Yoga with its true Yogic Philosophy so everyone can imbibe Yogic Lifestyle in their daily lives instead of going for the money making yoga classes prevalent these days which are nowhere near to Classical Yoga. I am a member of Walkers Club Aarey, Goregaon and regularly participate in their social activities e.g. grow more trees, etc. I have done Vipasana meditation : 10 days course twice from Igatpuri Centre. Yoga being my main subject at the moment, I would like to share and contribute in this seminar a few very practical and easy, life changing Yogic concepts which can bring good health, happiness and harmony in ones life. I believe that one can spread happiness only when one : himself / herself is really Happy. Sakhi Nitin-Anita Nashik Swaraj University (http://prempatraproject.wordpress.com/) I am a school walkout, I quit after 7th grade to explore the world beyond the four walls of conventional schooling. I am now a part of Swaraj University, an alternative college of sorts that promotes the Gandhian principle of swaraj in education, essentially, to take responsibility of ones own learning rather than depending upon a formal, structured institution. At Swaraj U I am co-creating my own learning path along with a community of fellow travellers, facilitators and mentor-guides. My interests and explorations till now are in the realms of justice and equality, especially in the context of gender, and building my skills in writing, documentation, art and design. Im also passionate about philosophy and language as a tool for an insight into human and social behaviour. We call ourselves khojis or seekers at Swaraj U, who seek something, different things, along their learning paths. We co-create a democratic, safe space that enables all of us to seek forth and provide support to each other along our journeys of learning and khojing. I have also started an experiment called the Prem-Patra Project, which is a small movement towards the revival of the age-old mode of communication through letters. I want to encourage people, especially of younger generations such as mine, to start writing and posting letters again as a way to have deeper conversations and deeper relationships as opposed to the superficial, virtual friendships on facebook and google+. I'd like to host some conversations about breaking away from conventional systems of 'education' and the challenges and triumphs involved in that. Also I have a question about coming to terms with the multiple realities of this world, and accepting that there are many truths so as to be more open, non-judgmental and accepting of the world and oneself. I can offer my ideas on letter writing and why I think it is needed in today's world, some earringmaking workshops, etc.

Premalatha Lakshman Bangalore I am mother to two children. My journey started in the US about 7 years ago. I joined a parenting co-op and enjoyed it much. After we returned to India, I homeschooled my son through his first six years which was an enjoyable & learning process for me. Meanwhile, I networked with the Bangalore homeschoolers and learnt more about homeschooling. In parallel, I also started work at Vikasana (a school for rural children started by David Horsburgh) 2 years ago which runs on an alternate model. This year because of networking constraints I have put my son in an alternative school (Center for learning). My journey continues with my daughter and I am looking to connect with a larger community in the Home(un)schooling experience. My husband and I are part of Center for Learning (CFL), Bangalore. I work at Vikasana and it has given me ample opportunity to meet many people involved in various learning experiments. I have involved myself whole heartedly in the Bangalore Homeschooling network, my efforts are towards helping to enlarge the community & keep it connected. Presently a group of us are involved in organizing a forum to meet regularly in Bangalore under 'Learning network' One of the key impediments in homeschooling has been to get-together with other homeschoolers and their children on a regular basis. I would very much like to propose/explore a Parent co-op for stay-at-home children in South- west Bangalore area so that we can meet on a regular basis. I would like to see how the learning community can share their respective "unlearning journey" in a manner that others can learn and take away from their experience. Mallikarjun Posanipalli Andhra Pradesh - Tentative name: Parikrama: A DIY community space based on principles of ecovillage Living I graduated college in 2007 from a fairly reputable school In the United States. However, my learning left me unsatisfied and I wasnt too eager about the propositions that lie ahead for a college graduate of my background. Ambling through the post graduate haze I decided to take my shot at accounting, working a few jobs only to find myself back at point A. Soon enough I went on my own self directed journey that involved connections to new people, places, alternative culture, books and practices. On my own quest to find out what it is that Im looking for I found a calling in my return to India where much has been awaiting me. My experience has led me to engage in all things related to sustainabilty primarily involving ecovillage design. I am now on a quest to develop an urban community space that aligns with ideals of sustainability while also engaging in my own fair trade organic products business. My activities are just getting kickstarted and I feel optimistic about what lies ahead. In Hindsight I found that much of my own activities during my post college years were unconsciously following a pattern of unlearning and uplearning. I found the process to be discomforting at times as I was uprooting myself from established patterns of culture and society and throwing myself into some unknown void without promises. The journey however has been invigorating and liberating and I cant say I regret landing in this new territory. I wish to find the "others" and share our unique experiences while coemerging into something that is bigger than the sum of its parts :) Right now I live in a setting that Im trying to convert into an urban community space aligning with principles of ecovillage design and permaculture. I have plenty of roof and ground space that I hope to utilize towards organic food production. I think it is possible to provide for all members in both buildings in terms of food. Im trying to mimic other models of community building that I have visited such as Sadhana Forest where I had staid for 3 months learning permaculture. I hope to make it an open source community where things emerge organically akin to what is described on Parshadas website. I also find it important

to have learning activisists coweaving their own jeevan andolan and trancending resource issues. One thing I hope to pursue as a learning activist is to host and bring together people into a DIY curriculum of books that include DIY education, DIY money and economy, DIY self governance (Unleashing the power of social media and internet). I hope discussions surrounding these topics lead to inspiration and implementation. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg and a lot more is awaiting for us to unfold. I am at the moment primarily interested in healthy emergence of communities and seeking participation of whoever is seeking the same. One of the main things I would like to emphasize is self governance as I feel it is the make or break point of any healthy community that would like to reach and sustain synergy. Im also interested in sustainable, socially oriented ethical business practices and would like to enhance my knowledge in that emerging domain. I often see people withdrawing themselves from activity or participation due to some perceived shortcomings whether they be barriers in education, communication, literacy or experience. I would like to emphasize this because so many gifts go unnoticed and the contribution to the whole is diminished. I think this unconference is a perfect place to overcome those perceived barriers and take free reign on what is longing to come out! Shammi Nanda Udaipur (www.restoryingourlives.blogspot.com) Was working in film making in Mumbai, met some friends in Udaipur and heard ideas about unshcooling. I always had questions about my school and could see how it was an imposition. I gravitated to spending more time in Udaipur with shikshantar where we looked critically at schooling and development and worked towards creating alternative ways of living and learning with communities. . For last few years my journey is being guided by my asthma, which I get once in a while.It made me leave mumbai, also let me to look into my food and I got interested in seeing what I eat and how it impacts me. I learnt to cook healthy food. I then became curious about how are foods is grown and am learning to farm too. Changing my food helped me but then i still realised that emotional turmoil brought my asthma back. I got attracted to some ways of processing my emotional with nonviolent communication. It supports me in being/moving towards peace with wherever I am. Being with friends all over the country I am looking at questions of community. I am now curious to understand the power of conflict and how it has the potential for us to grow together if we can see it differently. I believe that we know how to grow food in healthy ways, make sustainable toilets, how to live without schools, alternate ways of healing but we need to work on interpersonal sustainability. This search is bringing me closer to Restorative Circles, which is a process of conflict transformation. It sees conflict not just as natural but also necessary and some thing which will help us reach our full potential as individuals and as communities. Have been with shikshantar network, feel connected to punehomeschoolerstrying to amalgamate both their values in my lifefrom one i learnt intensity and from the other opennessone is passion and other is compassion(sorry for using judgemental words but can explain in detail when we talk) I see value in both the learnings and cherish them. I see both as my parts.i want both these parts of mine to be at peace and harmony with each other. Am also enjoying wagtching how the two communities are coming together and learning from each other Will be sharing a space, Fight Room, where I will share Restorative Justice System and support people who want to set up systems in their communities and learn Facilitation. It will also be a place for people, if they wish to bring their conflicts, we can support them in transforming them. Would host some sessions on Nonviolent communication too. Will be part of the cooking team too and support a caf space there. While doing all this I am curious to see and learn, what it takes from us to make a resilient

communitywaiting to see that unfolding with curiosity how we listen to each other when it comes to our day to day issues while living together. See it as a 5 day experiment in community living Nahid, Najeeb and two kids Sana and Aman Khan Mumbai Pune Homeschoolers Nahid - I have been unschooling for 6 years. My daughter is 16 and my son is 11 years old. It has been a very tough journey but we have sailed through it and are happy now. Thanks to Urmila who has been my mentor my guide my friend my philosopher, who has been through all my ups and downs of my unschooling days with me. I don't think this would have been possible without her. I am ever so grateful to her. I love her. When I first thought of unschooling I had to really convince my husband, and ever since it became a mutual decision it became much easier. One thing that I've learned is that it is not only tangible things that lead to growth and learning, it is the little intangible things which otherwise would have been overlooked or neglected which also contribute to our journey of learning, growth and progress. Najeeb - I have studied till my first year of college and then I opted out and started working. I joined photography right at the age of 17 and then I apprenticed with a cinematographer. Side by side I taught myself photography. I went on to become an assistant camera man, then was upgraded to operative cameraman and finally I am a Director of Photography. Any one interested can find all the film and other projects I have completed till now on google by entering Najeeb Khan. Sana tried various schools and finally started unschooling about 6 years ago. She is accomplished in art, cooking and baking, loves playing tennis and swimming. Has successfully organized the building children in many activities like plays, fashion shows, and even a film. She is currently apprenticed to her father who is a cinematographer. She is a multifaceted young girl with wisdom beyond her years and a strong stable presence. Aman loves football and dipping into encyclopaedias! He learned to read English, Urdu and Hindi at a very young age. In Kindergarten or STD.I, he scored 98% in History in one test and 94% on his next test. The teacher pulled him up in front of his mother for his dropped percentage. His mother wisely took him out of school and he has been unschooling ever since! Vivek Kumar Ahmadabad - Kaivalya education foundation (www.gandhifellowship.org) I was very alien to this word unlearn few years ago and it was very difficult for me to understand how can we unlearn the things that we have learned so far. But it was my journey that started with doing reading sessions for blind in Chennai that changed my whole course of life. From being an engineer to go to school and teach kids has been a long journey. Though I realised that we don't teach ,we learn. From that day my unlearning journey started and I realised that we have good teachers, HM and good infrastructure but then also why the government school is failing and why need school at all ?I realised that its not a pedagogic problem but its systemic problem both the outer and the inner. I have been trying to create a community which can use theatre not just as ornamental pupose but also to understand ourselves better, our body emotions and how to use space for our advantage. How we can use theatre to come out of our inhibitions and ego. Theatre in education has been talking point for long time but is implication has been nothing to talk about. So I have also been thinking on lines of leadership of late. If at all change has to happen who will start it, mahatama gandhi is not going to come back...it has to be amongst us. we need to look for leaders and start creating ones because we dont have any leadership institute. So we need to create leaders by giving exposure to youngsters who

have fire in belly but not exposure...so called as middle india. I would like to explore my ownself and beliefs in the unconference, secondly I believe this is perfect stage for cross learning to happen. my biggest question will be how an individual can instigate change and how can we create leaders from this middle india. What kind of platform do they need and how can I as an individual can do something for myself and them as well. Sarit Sharma, Sandhya Gupta, Shamli - Palampur Sambhavaa

www.sambhaavnaa.org We are learning with a group of adults and kids at our village government school. Sarit: I have learnt that the meaning of life = 42. I would like to share storytelling, fun of science, fun of history and fun of geography. Sandhya: Got all my degrees and found out that I don't have any use for them. Now I am learning/unlearning all over again with my daughter. I love to cook, dance and talk! Shamli: I am nine years old and homeschooling. I would like to share some of my drawings.
Atika Goswami Goa In my 34 years of existence, I have grown up first believing everything that was said to me as a child by my family, teachers and generally people with authority as it seemed like as children, we were rather powerless and thus couldnt wait to grow up and have a say in our own life. My earliest recollection in this regard has been with everyone around asking me what are you going to do when you grow up The emphasis was always on the do with regards to profession or capability of earning a livelihood, no one ever asked us whom we were going to be? no emphasis was ever give on the internal, on what is within. Born of parents who are scientists who needed to see it to believe it, or prove it to know it to be true, I went on the study Engineering in England, only to return to India and get a job in a Big 5 and then somewhere around my 24 yr of existence, I firmly threw all the knows in my life away and embarked on the journey of figuring out my own thruths as all the things that were supposed to hold true didnt seem to be it deep down in my conscience. I have since spent my years journeying around india and elsewhere, embarked on a journey of learning yoga and indian philosophy from the yogic perspective, believe in eating local(as far as apossible) and organic(chemical free) produce, dabbled in creating a small business of making organic babyfood based on traditional indian and ayuredic recipes, have been a part (consumer) of a co-op growing vegatables on the outskirts of mumbai (hari-bhari tokri), am interested in learning about permaculture techniques with respect to creating urban vegatable gardens have given birth to my son by water-birthing, refused to eat most of prescribed pills during my pregnancy and instead relied mainly on getting my nutrients through food. I live in Goa with my son, who is presently in my ex-school (nursery) at the introductory level and realising from my own experience of school being mind-numbing and creatively/imaginatively destroying and seeing how their idea of progress in the past 20 years has only made the system more automatic and goal-oriented, I would really not want to make a Robot out of my child and am looking for options out there to provide and more wholesome education for my child and for others around me who share my beliefs/ideas for their children.

I first came across the idea of unschooling through Dariya Avatario who lives in Goa and runs an unschooling group for her kids and a group of others called Children here and now. I am only at the stage of wanting to create something similar for my child and kids his age (3-6 years). I would like to be part of discussions centred around different options of education and educating our children. I am also interested in learning about creation of sustainable communities, issues on agriculture and how I can be a part of the co-creation of a new world. Pankaj Pushkar New Delhi - Bharat Jan Andolan & Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (blogspot.samajvigyan.in) The fellow with you has been a student and a teacher. He recalls that he grew a puzzling relation in learning and teaching in his early childhood itself. He was an ordinary one. He in fact repeated at least two of his classes. In his days it was known as being failed. Truly he had discomforting relations with the then (and of course ongoing) practices of schooling, textbooks and teaching. It is no less a wonder that despite all these impeding factors he could somehow save his interest in exploring the joy in life. He spent his early days in an ordinary village school. On the hindsight he thanked that ordinariness for allowing him to have some glimpses and direct feel of being with oneself, with nature and with everything around. But this could not go long. As he proceeded with more schooling he found the schooling a mindless imposition over the personality of a child. Fortunately it was a big family in a small home and his parents were certainly not paranoid after the education of their seventh child. His elderly parents were kind and awakened enough not to impose any external discipline over him. This liberty gave him a respite to see the authority of schools and teachers in a rather relaxed and playful manner. He could build up a relation with schooling that was both critical and creative. His criticality led him to question and resist any mindless authority and his creativity could sustain all his 'trial-and-error' attempts of self-organizing his own learning. Driven by his personal experiences with schooling he began to see that imposition and intervention of lifeless institutions over the body and mind of human being was not limited to schooling. (It is interesting to look-back as a child he was just being, was just in his body and soul but as he developed cognitively he was more into mind. It gives an opportunity to examine whether 'education' and 'socialising' help or impede the process of 'being' with oneself. By that time he could hardy know/believe anything beyond body and mind and he had already grown a criticality to any given truth.) His dissatisfaction with the structured schooling drove him towards a search for alternatives and he recalls that as a teenager he was not searching it within, he was searching it outside. Like every child he too had an innate urge and inherent capacity to develop right awareness of his being and his surrounding but he could hardly find a clue to discover his own self. He externalized his search. He exposed to the seemingly saner ideas that he could find in his time and surrounding. He saw politics being discussed in his surroundings. He listened that. He picked it up. He took interest and questioned whatever was being discussed. He rejected something and accepted some other. He developed some thoughts, some opinions and some preferences about social and political life around him. It is only in the hindsight that one can now see that the choice was not independent as one may naively like to believe. It was structured. The very point of departure was given. It is as if one may choose anything out of menu but the menu itself was cut short. I have been associated with various peoples movements and with social sciences. In recent days I began to examine both of my associations. i am attempting to increase my awareness of how both of these things get affected/constructed by the meta-institutions. At present working to 'unthink' and 'rethink' social sciences. Wish list include a new understanding of 'knowledge' as a product that go against the process of 'knowing'. UnLearning and then 'relearning' modestly with various swapathgamees and self-learners and

seekers. Coming closer to various practices based on epistemologies and ontologies of south. Open to Sri Aurobindo, Gandhi and thousands of small-unknown but equally significant streams in various part of this beautiful planets. Questions I have: What is knowing? What if it is anything other than being conscious of ones being? How structured education impedes being and knowing? What are the ways of reclaiming? How best to co-evolve a culture of joy? Bhavesh Gandhi Gujarat (www.samruddha-jeevan.blogspot.com) After having rubbed / grilled / roast. myself for almost 38 years, Ive been on exploration of being out of main stream for almost 20 months. Though the beginning of journey[way back before 6-7 yrs] was with very selfish reasons and with anger & discomforts of being not understood, the journey has gradually brought a groomed flower with own fragrance. Being an instrumentation engineer, I inevitably look at challenges with systemic-view. And apply control-loop feedback signal mechanism to look for a possibility. These have been found working successfully in most cases. Having coached thro in a transformational program about financial freedom, I chose to work in this openly[honestly] less discussed area such that it provides me the joy and satisfaction of the work & also become source of my need-complimenting, while producing desired results in participants relationship with money. So.I am working as financial coach/guide. I am trying to create a learning community where checking out a possibility that wasnt in existence just before this moment is happening khel khel me Shailaja Karanam - Hyderabad - Sveccha / IGCSE MENTORS (www.igcsementors.com, www.sveccha.in) I am a mother of two teenage boys, 19 and 17. The younger one opted out of school and gladly learning at home, preparing for the Cambridge International A levels. Being a self-learner and outgoing by nature, I enjoyed trying out new things and succeeding in learning. Though I wished I could be left free to pursue a course of my choice, I have been through formal schooling all through till my graduation. Having come back to India three years ago, my younger son didnt quite like the schooling system here. Having been in an international school for one year after coming back to India, he opted out of school, which I am glad he did. With an experience of 13 years in teaching the Cambridge curriculum, it was an easy decision for my son and me to take the decision of studying at home. Left a lucrative job as a Business Unit Head of a software development company, I am working on building a homeschooling resource centre that provides a platform for home schooling families to interact with each other, seek support on developing a curriculum, exchange subject material and provide teacher support to help with preparation for examinations. With my extensive experience in the Cambridge curriculum. I find it very apt for the homeschooling children as they have a wider range of subjects to choose from. I conduct weekend workshops for children interested in doing the IGCSEs to bring awareness on the flexibility the curriculum offers. Slowly, got in touch with parents who were looking for an alternative to regular schools, formed Sveccha- a learning community for homeschooling families. Besides this, I am actively involved in helping one of my friends run a school for the Blind.

I have Created Sveccha, a learning centre for homeschooled children who need academic suport in preparing for the IGCSEs and A levels. It will also be a resource center for the homeschooling community that provides a platform for home schooling families to interact with each other, seek support on developing a curriculum, exchange subject material and provide teacher support to help with preparation for examinations. Through this, I intend to take the flexibility and freedom of choice the Cambridge curriculum offers to the children interested in pursuing subjects not offered otherwise by regular schools. At the same time, I am working on providing skill-based education for the economically backward girls from rural areas. They would be equipped with Skills for Life. Based on their interests and aptitude, they are enrolled in work-based- learning programs. Hand-in-hand they are put through communication skiils, personal grooming and personality development classes. Presently, working with a 16 year old girl who is being trained in beautician course. I would like to share the option of IGCSEs with the homeschooling families who are looking for an alternative to NIOS. would be glad to answer all their queries. Also,looking forward to learning and unlearning a lot from such an enriched and diverse group. Karuna Muthiah Tamil Nadu My first job was as a software engineer which I did for eight years in the US. During this time, through my volunteering with AID (Association for India's Development), I came across many different groups doing excellent work in India. Inspired by this, I decided to move back to India to see if I can do something too. I felt that there is a lot of inequity and the upper class work and lifestyle whether in India or elsewhere actually contributed to exacerbating this problem. I wanted to live in a rural area, do organic farming and promote it as a solution to the farmers crisis. Since moving back six years ago, I have practiced and promoted organic farming first with an NGO and then with a farmers' group. I have worked for effective implementation of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in Tamil Nadu and other states by participating in surveys and social audits. I have also worked with the Right to Food campaign. I have spent time with children at the local balwadi sharing stories, songs, books, toys and organizing activities for them. I have also done the above with neighborhood kids. I would like to meet homeschooling/unschooling parents and understand how they do it and how they manage the different challenges that come up. Ally Malar Ilangovan Tamil Nadu I am a mother and a family physician working in a primary health center in south Tamil Nadu. I went to schools in small towns of Tamil Nadu and major part of it was in a small school which did not bother about attendance. The pupils need not and would not go to school regularly. And hence most of my early learning happened at home. The school was short of teaching staff and no teaching would happen in the afternoons leaving plenty of time for the students to interact and play outside in the playground. Looking back, I realize that it was the best part of my childhood. I had my college education in Bangalore and Chennai. I remember reading big textbooks which had very little practical stuff that could be used in the clinical sessions. The real learning of clinical medicine began after I graduated and started working with senior physicians who were happy to pass on the practical knowledge they gained from years of experience after many trials and errors.

There are many things beyond the scope of text books like the art of relating to the patient, not jumping to conclusions and allowing the patient to completely describe what he is suffering from (enough to make the patient better in some cases). I realize that medicine is as much an art as science and that many of the essential tools for practicing were learnt outside college. So far, I have not had an opportunity to create such a community. My son had some field trips with the neighborhood kids during their holidays. I would be happy to learn about such communities and how they are formed and organized. I would like to know what kind of efforts homeschoolers take to develop social skills for their kids. My son loves the company of kids but gets to spend only limited time with neighborhood kids because they all go to school. Abhinav Gupta Ahmadabad (www.abhgupta.com) I am all of 26 and have been struggling for quite some time to find a path where my actions don't clash with my ideologies. I believe there are 3 kinds of people in the world, mostly. The first are those who live for the 'I'. Next are the ones who understand the importance of 'We' and feel good doing something about it. And the last are those who think that working for 'We' is simply their responsibility, that they are the lucky ones and they need to help out others, they have to help them out. Over time I have found that I belong to the third kind of people. I was unable to find rest in my 3 years as a software developer. I have been unable to find rest in my 2 years of MBA. But now, knowing that I would not be able to find rest anywhere until unless I explore and learn new things while unlearning the fear that has gotten into me, I am trying to experiment. The first step of the experiment was a 2 month journey into the villages of coastal Andhra Pradesh, talking to people and looking at the problems that plague them everyday. And then suggesting innovations elsewhere in the country, by people just like them, that could solve their problems. More than anything else, it was a journey for just myself. I learnt new things about me, and I hated some of the things I learnt. Nevertheless, I learnt. And this Unconference will be the 2nd step, and hopefully the precursor to many many more. In parts, what I have done is helped people run their learning communities. The amount of work I have done here is very small but it has given me some understanding nonetheless. 1. The first such instance was helping a colleague at work run two schools for underprivileged children in two districts in Bihar. The organization's name is Aarambh and the work can be seen at http://aarambh.net/ 2. I am a student at IIM Ahmedabad and here I have been constantly involved in running a (traditional) school for the children of guards, housekeeping & other staff and those from nearby villages. The effort is called Prayas, and has been going on for a very long time. I simply volunteered to work with them for 2 years, teaching & studying, playing, watching movies and eating with them. 3. The one effort which I did make on my own was an attempt to share projects and assignments done by students at IIM-A, first within the student community and then with the outside world. I need to give some context here. It is an unwritten rule that without the permission of our professors we can not share our projects and assignments within & across batches of students. This is done to prevent copying. But I find that quite annoying because I think sharing can actually increase the quality of work. And especially if this material is shared with those outside our walls, who do not have access to the resources

we students do, it can be a big boost to community learning. We have just started with this and hopefully, soon, we will have something to show for this. Questions I have: 1. One thing that I would like to discuss is the last point in my answer to the previous question. The possibility of creating cross-institute learning material sharing platforms. Education, on the one hand, should be highly personalized, but one can always learn from how others do things differently. 2. Now, it took me a lot of self-convincing and effort to even realize that I need to experiment and explore and meet people and discuss about anything and everything. Maybe for some of you, or all of you, it wasn't that hard. But I know my peer group, and it is hard for us in this group. Building a learning society requires people, and should it be that hard for people? What do we do to ensure that people, especially young people in their 20's at least think about exploring. Can't we make such unconferences a part of traditional school syllabus as well? Use the existing system to make people question it? 3. Why talk of education and academics as if they are the same thing? Ashutosh Nandwana Jaipur - share a smile foundation india (http://letsshareasmile.blogspot.in) I Belong to Jaipur an lives in a Joint family where we have generation gap in our thinking process. I have completed my graduation in Bachelors of business administration from Rajasthan University. I have worked in Tulip Global Pvt. ltd as a branch manager. Being youngest in the family I always have been pampered and protected. My strengths is been my positive and never to say die attitude and my ability to cope with stress also helps me too come out good in tensed situations. I am quite flexible and can adopt myself according to the changing environment in which I am in. I am a learning orientated man wants to learn more and my area of improvement Is that I get involved in too many things at a single time my interest are doing volunteering and listening to music, chatting, and playing games like cricket and football. One of my initial influences was from my teacher miss Indu Sarin whom I learnt that rote learning will not help anyone. She made me understand the concept of learning and what actually learning means. My association with Pravah Jaipur Initiative has been the second most important influence as I have had a range of experience and I have explored things in myself and in the society which I was unaware of. I was able to get connected with the real world and went through a period of self development with the development of society and which is still going on .For instance I have been able to handle my conflicts better and it has helped me in my relationship management skills. I got a chance to go for Rural Internship which helped me to know myself better and also it help me to decide that I want to work more intensively in the field of development sector and also was able to get a lot of information and ideas for my project. One of my crucial experiences was when I was working as branch manager in tulip Global Pvt. Ltd as that time I wanted to explore more about development sector and wanted to learn and explore different things in life but due to parents pressure I had to do that job but in that period I started using social media and internet to explore. During this period I started a group on facebook named share a smile whose main aim was to share smiles and to share learning opportunities within the group. In the group we shared and discussed about different issues relating to ourselves. I was enjoying it and finally decided to switch over to development sector. I left my job in April 2011 and started working for share a smile. It will be a year now in April in this journey of mine where I am exploring different things. The journey has helped me to grow as an individual. I use to play different roles like as a facilitator, coordinator, accounts and all this have helped me to improve my skills a lot. Currently, I am facing financial problems as now I dont have salaries for my livelihood and my family is not supporting me in this

decision of mine and I have faced lots of question regarding my career but this choice has helped me to change from within. I am happy with my decision and I am still exploring and still I am in the search of ultimate purpose of my life, still there is long way to go and at every step I am ready to explore enthusiastically and with more zeal I am working with youth and adolescent and trying to give them a platform where they can share their learning with each other and can explore within. Mainstream education also does not provide a space where young people can learn to build agreement, resolve conflicts amicably and connect with and impact the larger world around them. Did different activities through which aimed to give youth a platform for self exploration and reflection and make them aware about different issues relating to them. Sharing some of the activities that I do Virus- virus is a facilitated gathering of youth which happens in every 15 day where youth from different communities come and share. In Virus we share about issues like gender, gender based stereotypes, non violence, win-win approach, development etc. Dream bus is an interactive experience that enables urban students learn about rural India through hands on experience. The emphasis was on learning by doing and reflecting on the rural experience. The students got a chance to explore rural community and they also did self exploration. It is a one day programme in which students learns about rural space. This programme is neither a picnic nor a study trip. The programme was designed as an experiential learning module of a day using creative methodologies like music, theatre and behavioural games. The entire tour was designed in the form of a journey where the students reflects upon themselves and their roles in society as well as break stereotypes through enriching interactions with different communities. I want to explore more about unlearning in this unconference. How unlearning helps an individual and what are the different ways or methods in it, also want to know about learning and unlearning happening together in an individual.I would like to share the idea of a sharing centre in this unconference. Sharing centre is envisioned as a common forum for young people to develop to their fullest potential. It will provide every possible resource required for young people so as to contribute towards and facilitate their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. A sharing centre is a space where youth and adolescent come together and there views ideas, dreams and skills with each other. A space which is developed by the youth for the youth.

Shriram BC Bangalore - Institut Vivascious I am a teacher and a spiritual guide. I was helping people along the way for a long time, at some point life started giving me more and more such instances. It made me realise that this is something i need to be doing and slowly diverged from my work as a financial analyst to devote more time to teaching and spiritual work. A good gauge is the fulfillment one gets from doing what one is best at. The more one gives automatically one is refilled and one can give again. The fact that the actual process to teach is not to teach. It is to enable one to want to learn. Once that motivation comes than a learner cannot be stopped from taking their experience further and exploring different states. My work with spirituality involves spiritual transformation, to bring an individual out of a situation or to harness a true reality. It is my intention to bring learning and unlearning to more. To spiritually enable an individual to realise their potentials or to overcome a current hurdle. Ravinder Singh, Anupama Hamir and nine year old son Neo Himachal Pradesh

We are staying in a village in Himachal with my wife and 9 year old son - Neo. I am an IT professional and have switched to working part-time about 4 yrs back, so I can spend more time doing stuff that makes sense to me. We have been home schooling our son in the village, and have found that the village community life makes so much unstructured learning possible quite naturally. Looking forward to hearing and sharing about what makes the education or learning complete for an individual, and how to find the balance between the structured and unstructured learning for children. Neo - I am 9 year old, and I like to make friends. I love people and animals. Anita Dagar Mumbai I have studied in village government school and then moved to town and bigger city for higher education. I have done my Ph.D in How Does understanding and interpretation take place and I have applied it to Literature. I worked with Zee Interactive Learning systems and NIIT ltd towards setting up a private university. Even though I was doing well in career and paid lucratively something was not feeling alright. So I gave up job without any plan to be with my daughters. I was brought up with lot of emphasis on women being on their own feet and capable of doing everything on their own and so on. Now when I was at home, it was very frustrating to be at home and not getting boosters of appraisals every six months. Dealing with not having a maid often, the whole idea of being a home parent became a pain but here I was with two daughters who were growing up and depended on me for their nourishment. I did not know what to do with them except reading out to them. And of course taking them for some classes. I was yearning to get back to work and earn and that is when it started dawning upon me that I valued myself to the extent what I performed and earned. I was not enjoying home space, being with my daughters or any other relationships. And then it hit me that I was being so because I grew up in that paradigm where household work or rather doing basic things needed for your daily living were never valued so first thing I did was get into cooking .Then I started being with my children without any formal teaching exercise and slowly started seeing pleasure in being at home. I also realized children need at least one parent at home all the time. But it was hurting financially, slowly we found ways of cutting on not needed expensesso that I could stay at home. I started realizing the negative influence of bringing up girl children with sole focus on career .I started sharing the same with other mothers. I also started offering my services of being at home to other working mothers for no financial exchange. Now I am considering the idea of starting a help/counselling line for home makers , it is still at a very nascent stage. Secondly I have been looking for a perfect school for my children in past few years. Explored many good schools but nothing felt good. I tried setting up a school near Pune which was on lines of community living. Also it was a constant struggle to understand what is the role of school, what is my role as a parent in my childs life. I saw both of us doing teaching all the time. I am now teaching English to muslim girls in the age group of 18-25 where the focus is again on helping them get employed . I talk to them about the role two adults in a family share and in most cases child rearing comes to women so I help them think why do they need to have a profession firs of all and secondly I help them think how are they going to balance children and job and do they think of doing something heartfelt on their own.i share with them the value of caring and nourishing and other thing they do at home.

I look at women specially stressed out because of the life styles that we are pursuing. Isee it a result of withering away of communities. While old communities including family are crumbling down, are there really new communities getting formed. What are the options/alternatives for learning/education. forming new communities. Praveen Kumar Karnataka I am from Jog Falls, Shivamogga district, Karnataka. I done my under-graduation in agriculture from Agricultural College, Raichur during 2003-2007 & post-graduation in plant pathology from University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, during 2007-2010. During my under graduation days I read Masanobu Fukuokas book ONE STRAW REVOLUTION, which changed my view about agriculture in particular & about my thinking in general. Since, I am not from a agriculturists family & even though I had done my graduation in agriculture, I had no practical knowledge about agriculture, so I started my unlearning journey in 2010 meeting farmers doing organic/natural farming all around Karnataka. I had met about 35 such farmers & got exposure to different types of farming methods & crops of different agro-climatic regions. To get hands on experience in agriculture, In August 2011, I accepted the open invitation given to me by Dr. Sanjeev Kulkarni of SUMAN SANGAM forest farm, Dharwad, where he have been trying eco-friendly farming for the last 16 years & which has now become a lush green virtual forest with great diversity of plants. Now in the farm we are experimenting on growing paddy fallowed by legume, banana, papaya etc by practising natural farming methods. Agriculture, literature especially about simple & nature centred living are my passions. I am getting more and more convinced about the damage being done in the name of modern education, industrialization and the harm it is causing to the environment. And hence I want to go deeper into these issues, find appropriate answers. I want to take up community farming in some years later so I am engaging my graduation friends intomeeting farmers to gain confidence. We are seriously planning to start one ATMADEEP JEEVAN SHAALA on the lines of Swaraj University and this will be primarily for Kannadigas. I want to share my experiences & plans about natural farming in Suman Sangam farm with likeminded friends. And we would like to invite all likeminded friends to come to Dharwad and help us in our endeavours. Sanjeev Gawade Pune i am a science graduate, age 47, working as a fitness trainer since last 25 years in pune. Participation on state & national level in Body Building, Weight Lifting & Power Lifting. Managing a Gymnasium at Devid Sasoon's Nivara Old Age Home - a social organisation, 148 years old - giving fitness training to approx. 200 senior citizens above age 50 up to age 80. @ rs. 100 per month since 1996 till today. Active in teaching strength training to the fitness trainers course on call basis at different organisation like Symbiosis, Pune University M.P.Ed. students, Bharti Vidyapeeth, Reebok. Basically from a farmers family. keen to know how things works - since school days worked under the experts in different fields like garage, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, poultry, cushioning, sewing, carpenter, cobbler, screen printing etc. During college learned German language and poultry management. In 2009 done ecology weekend, 1 year course from Ecologycal Society Of India, Pune. 2011 participated in a 15 day full day activity of building a cob/mud classroom for the school at Lohogaon, pune, right from the laying stones for foundation - team of 15 from all around India, under the guidance of Atchitect Sourabh Phadke.

Now i am in the process of buying a agriculture land near Satara and planning to start farming/permaculture and shift to farm in another 3 to 5 years. Rohit Sood Haryana I am a co-learner from a small town called Kalimpong, Sikkim Himalayas and now based in New Delhi. I would like to come for the learning journey and share my experiences and learn from fellow co-creators. I have been part of the world social forum in Mumbai and the walkout network. My area of work is in the learning space with children & adult learners. I have been a facilitator at Mirambika ( A Free Progress School) for 4 years and then went on to work with organisations like inme, exper, workwise & idiscoveri in the last 12 years. Presently I just got back from Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong & Kolkata, visiting schools affected by the earthquake, meeting family & friends and going for treks 5/6 hours everyday for three weeks. I am not engaged with any organisation as of now. I have been trying to create a community in the city revolving around progressive thought/learning. I would like to explore how can the children/parents/community co-join to create sustainable learning communities. Dinesh Kothari Indore Banyan Tree/ SNEH Born and brought up in a small village of Rajasthan. Though schooled but it was limited to schools (not at home) and was fortunate that my mother only knows how to sign and father simple mathematics. The so called fear was never instilled in me by neither my parents nor by by peers or society. However after 12th caught in CA fever and became a CA. But after 15 years of practise and stocks interest shifted to Nature & Wildlife - alternatives. Then to book publishing on alternatives. I have diverse interest and my learning process & community building is an ongoing process specially I love traditional food, seed, birds, non motorised vehicles ....and the same way my community goes on...

Uday Nagarkar Pune - Anamprem I am 44 years old now.I am staying at Talegaon Dabhade, Dist Pune. As my previous school education done in Mumbai, Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya at Dadar and I had completed my SSC there in 1982. My further educational qualification was done in Bhavan'scollege at girgaon chaupaty Mumbai, my faculty was commerce and I have completed my graduation in 1987. In my college days myself represent in intercollegiate cricket tournament . Playing games and reading is my hobbies. I also done diploma in poultry farming at Bombay verternery college.I have an experience in operating hero honda workshop and tourist business.I am from a hindu undivided joint family. Now i stay with my father mother, wife and two children. Both children are studying in Blavikas school, my son is in std. seventh and daughter is in std.ten. The basic Indian concept is human life does not end after 100 years. The soul takes different form of bodies in its eternal journey and hence the Indian education is concentrated on values during this life. The life on this earth is to be led with values. You have no trouble in this life and your future is safe, if you value values in your life. On this basis, three great men Mahatmahaped Gandhi at Sewagram, Wardha, Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan and Aurobindo at Auroville,

Pondicherry, shaped their education courses. True, while living a man has to keep his body and soul together and for this some craft, art is necessary. But our ancestors believe that in the villages, the goldsmiths, blacksmiths need not accept money for their services. Money was not the moving wheel of the society. A firm faith in the Lord can solve your economic problems. You need not have the Reserve bank. You need not have dew fresh currency notes or jingling coins. A strong faith in the Almighty, your work and sincerity therein do banish your economic problems. Hence the students need to be imbibed the faith in the Almighty. This can only be done in home schooling only by parents not by mercenary teachers. This is my view of education. The initiating in bread earning arts should be done with this concept. Besides this bookish education, the children should be taught friendship with animals such as dogs, elephants, etc. Because our philosophy believes that these animals may be related to us through previous birth. A student then will learn about the Universe as a whole and he definitely will get elevated. Sometimes a man can be able to learn the language of animals also. Patanjali has mentioned this. I have an idea about a moving school in the creek or the river, (especially creek). All our education is land based. Nobody has the concept of Ocean Medicine, Ocean Engineering, Ocean Economics. I am working on this idea in Konkan and I will share this idea with the participants. The school will be known as Tarang Shala. I have an idea about new concept of school without walls. In this concept the children will get an education pratically, there are no particular books to study to read forcefully, but children had choice of book to read. No particular period hour and no particular time. This is known as "Bin Bhintichi Shala" This school located in kokan Dhamapur village, District Sindhudurg. Also I have an idea about Bio-Gas project which is situated at khandi kusur Tal. Maval Dist. Pune
Suhanee Bhogra Haryana I am Suhanee Bhogra - 7 yrs old girl. My father's name is Sandeep Bhogra. I go to a regular school in Gurgaon. I often share my dreams with him - about what i want to do in life. My father is really excited about taking me to this LSC. He often talks of his own dreams living in farm - doing farming, migrating from city, homeschooling etc. While i dont understand all that fully & still not convinced, - he is quite excited and wants me to get the experience. It would also mean that i miss my school for 5 days. He says it wont matter. So you see i have mixed feelings about all this. But yes going with him to new places is always fun (though he picks up arguments with me every now and then). I am looking forward. Sandip and Sanika Walawalkar Maharashtra Sandip - I am working in private company as a Mechanical Draughtsman. And my wife is doing job as good housewife & My son is now just 5years old now so I want to know how to support him from beginning. Sanika - I am joining with Anam Prem Parivar also from last 6Years.

we are doing some different-different challenging programme with disabled childrens. So i want to learn more for helping this people also. Lingaraj S J P Odisha - Samajwadi Jan Parishad Working with various social activist groups in Odisha, who are fighting for the common causes of agriculture crisis, social issues. Against the neo-liberal policies, marketization and privatisation of education, and all aspects of life.

Niom Samson Pune - Pune United Football Academy I am the son of Urmila Samson and John Samson. I'm Niom Yaka Moto Samson Menezes. I'm coming for the Fight Room. I like squash, cricket, football and basketball and swimming. And video games. And television. And I don't like most foods. I'm 12.

Khiyali K Pillalamarri Mumbai I think that some schools have some things ALL WRONG. I'm homeschooled, so I've only read and heard about school, and I'm glad I don't go. In case you REALLY want to know, my favorite way of learning is to just GET ON WITH LIFE and just LEARN AS YOU GO ALONG. P.S: Do 8 year olds HAVE to fill out forms? (I'm not complaining, I love filling out forms) I hope a lot of kids come! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!! I LOVE UNCONFERENCES!!!! Also, I think that every kid is born with creativity and genius inside, but it is forced out even when people are trying not to do it. Atulyayatri abhyankar Pune am 3yr 10 month old.. me n my parent aarti n atul r great team mates..we laugh, dance, jump, run , cry , eat, sleep together.. its lods of fun..cm n join us. freedom is my mantra.. i dont like to follow rules made by others..i make my own rules. i have lots of qustions ..every day i ask at least 50 or more questions,, will share when v meet