A brief history of Bhavya – by Vineeta
Sood
The
Bhavya concept has been in existence for some time – since 1991 actually.
Sita Nayar had then started a preschool program for one of the existing
schools in Kochi. I discovered this place in 1993 when we were transferred
to Kochi and were looking for a learning environment for our child (who
was three and a half, then) where he would be respected for what he was.
We wanted an environment which would not try to ‘school’ his thought
processes and responses. As I entered the building where this program was
being run, I remember thinking that here is a place where my child can
grow freely in accordance with his nature.
By the time I joined Sita, the management
of the school wanted her to bring about some changes in the program that
she felt will be detrimental to the program. She tried to talk to the
management. But they would not be convinced. So she decided it was best to
leave. But the parents of the children who were in this program had seen
their children growing beautifully and wouldn’t let her go. Finally, with
the help of these parents, in June 1994, Bhavya had started to function as
an independent unit. At that time we were six adults and sixteen children.
(The number grew to 32 eventually). Unfortunately, the adults on staff
began to leave one by one, as their spouses were transferred out of Kochi.
I was there till 1997 when we, too, were transferred to Assam.
After that, Sita continued with Bhavya
till April 1998. She found it extremely difficult, however, to find people
who could truly understand the work Bhavya was trying to do. Added to this
was the problem of financing the setup.
My husband and I, having seen our
children grow beautifully at Bhavya, couldn’t send them to a traditional
school in Assam as we felt it will be like caging their free souls and
stifling their development. From 1997 to 2001, during our stay in Assam,
we all decided to explore the possibilities of learning together without
going to any school. And the purpose was not to do at home what is
generally done in the schools. The very clear purpose was to let them
blossom and discover life.
During this time, Sita, from 1998 to
2001, tried to generate enough financial and human support to start Bhavya
on its own in Bangalore or Chennai as she felt she would find people in
these cities who would understand the Bhavya concept better. But nothing
materialized at that time. During this time, she worked as a consultant
with schools, of which the TVS schools at Aviyur, Tumkur and Hosur were
some. In June 2002, she joined Poorna to set up a program for younger
children from the age of 3 years to 9 years.
In the meantime, in 2001, we got
transferred to Delhi. By then our older son wanted to learn with other
children. Thus both our children (at the age of 11 and 6 and a half)
joined Mirambika, an alternative school in Delhi. Mirambika went as far as
class VIII only. In 2004, when our older son completed his eighth class,
we decided to move to Bangalore. At that time we were faced with two
options. We could either stay on at Delhi, sending our older child to a
traditional school while we home-schooled the younger one, or we could
move to Bangalore where we believed that we might have a better chance to
provide for our children the kind of learning/growing experience which we
desired. We opted for the latter. Both of them joined Poorna in June
2004.
As a result of major differences in the
working philosophies, it was decided that it was best for Poorna and
Bhavya to separate and function as independent entities so that each
organization could freely take its program through to its perceived
conclusion without either one hampering the other’s growth.
In April 2005, I joined Sita in setting
up Bhavya. Bhavya once again enjoys an independent existence. Now three of
us, my two sons and I, go to Bhavya. My older son (fifteen and a half) is
preparing for his tenth class exams with help from Bhavya. He will take
his NIOS examination in April 2006.
Presently, Bhavya is located in
Kodigehalli. We are five of us: Sita, Mamata K., Mamata S., Selena and
I. We have nineteen children now, sixteen of whom have been with the
Bhavya program for two to three years. Our aim is to have at least thirty
children by the end of this academic session. We are also looking for
like-minded people who, if interested, can become a part of Bhavya as a
parent or as a supporting adult. Even if they don’t want to become a part
of Bhavya, it will be very empowering to keep in touch with like-minded
people.
Vineeta.
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Bhavya – some comments by Mamata
I am part of Bhavya, the 'school', which
started in Bangalore a few months back. For very obvious reasons, we are
very, very reluctant to call ourselves a school (even if alternative) and
we really prefer to see ourselves as an extension of a home learning
environment for children and adults.
The emphasis at Bhavya, is on allowing children to learn and grow in the
presence of empathic adults and a rich indoor and outdoor environment. We
are careful to ensure that as adults we do not interfere with the child's
natural learning process through constant teaching. Many adults (including
parents) spend the day with the children at Bhavya, responding to the
child's needs and interests with empathy and acceptance. There are some
parents who have previously home-schooled their children on their own and
now see this as an extension of the home environment.
For the adults in this environment, responding to children in the here and
now, has also involved observing our own fears and conditioning and this
has often resulted in a lot of movement and growth for us, personally.
On being asked how to classify Bhavya:
Though we are a place where adults and children converge, giving each
other space and opportunities for growth and acceptance, we would be very
uncomfortable being listed as a 'school' (alternative or not), with all
the connotations that the word school carries for us. We believe that none
of us needs to go to a school to learn and that learning happens as a
consequence of living life.
Question: What about 'Being Centres' or 'Growing
Centres'?
Education and learning still sound a bit forced to me. You wouldn't send a
plant to a learning centre to get educated. You would keep it where it
gets enough sunlight and is safe from grazing animals, water it when it
needs water, speak to it lovingly when it is lonely, but fundamentally the
plant does all the growing by itself. You respond to the plant's needs in
the here and now and not vice versa. And voila! One day you see a
beautiful tree.
I feel a child's needs are as fundamental as that - love, space and
sustenance and we tend to get mixed up with lots of methodologies and
theories in an effort to hasten 'learning' or 'growth', losing the
essence.
Physical space and sustenance are the easier things to provide. The
ability to love unconditionally itself, (so life giving for yourself and
the people around you) is not easy, and for me, personally has involved,
and does involve, lots of learning and looking inside.
Bhavya has various interpretations in Sanskrit and may mean beautiful or
true or vigorous depending on how you look at it.
Mamata
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