I often wonder who I really am. Am I an engineer, an entrepreneur, a food explorer, a wannabe chef, an artist. Maybe I am none of the above, or maybe I am all of the above. Sometimes I also wonder that these are just tags, we as humans are way more complex creature to even realise who we are ourselves. However, one thing I am really sure about myself is I am a passionate person and a dreamer.
Through Ahimsagram I got to see a world where passion and dreams were given importance. It was the place who made me feel at home and where I was appreciated for been different. While money is a big reality of manmade world, one question I always ask myself is how much…
I got beautiful opportunity to visit Swaraj university as well as to get an experience of Learning Society Unconference. It showed me a beautiful world, a world where things happened with the support of a passionate community even in the scarcity of money.
Swaraj university
I reached Udaipur Railway station alongwith Neeraj a community member in Ahimsagram. We were on way towards Swaraj university to attend a workshop. We took an auto towards the outskirts of the city. Our half an hour ride took us to a lane(kacha rasta) located in the foothills of Aravalli Range of Mountains where our destination was waiting for us.
As we reached the place and I walked out of the auto, I heard a familiar voice of Sabu, someone I have already met in Vanvadi. As I turned I saw him coming out from the kitchen which I didn’t realised was present out there till then. He came rushing all jolly and happy and gave me a really tight hug. It was then that I started to observe the university hidden in the nature’s lap.
I saw a tea spot where people can sit like in a Tapri, a building with library, alternate kind of classrooms, an office along with kitchen and sitting cum eating space at the bottom, near to where I was standing. Sabu was preparing breakfast for us while we reached and offered us to sit in the sitting area while they setup our accommodation. I chose to walk around the campus while things were setting up.
As I walk, I saw guest rooms been constructed throughout the place at different locations. Dormitories where the students usually stay were getting setup to host us. A breathtaking view of a lake located downhill was visible from one of the edge of the campus. There were hills to go on hike of couple of hours on the other edges.
One thing I found really fascinating about the place was the open round classroom made out of hut. There was a blackboard on one side of the hut with open walls from the other three sides. A scenic view of nature was there to look at, at all times. How boring my classroom have been throughout my life. Probably that was the reason I never felt like going to them.
However, the most interesting thing about the place were its ideologies and people. University understand every person in the world is unique in itself and thus treat each student (or Khoji as they like to put it) differently. This is the reason why they have a self design learning system, in which each khoji is expected to create their own two years learning course about what they would like to learn(offcourse the facilitators helps them in achieving their target). Usually a Khoji spend 8 months at the campus and remaining 16 months of the course exploring the field of their interest through internships in various organisations. I feel those eight months are mainly to dig a person at deeper levels, helping them to go inside themselves.( Even from my personal experience, I have realised as I go more and more inside of myself, I become more and more stronger in what I want to do in life.)
The effect of this self desoigned learning course can easily be seen in the energy of the place. Passion and dreams were dripping from each khoji’s eye, working over their passions, doing things which I didn’t even know existed till then. Offcourse having each other for the much needed support makes it the perfect blend of things.
Being happy and sad are the two sides of same coin. Working towards passion doesn’t mean being happy all the time. These Khojis also have their own struggles. But then what is struggle for one might be way of living for the other person.
In swaraj everyone was a different person in themselves and they were not supposed to behave in a particular way. All they were expected to do was to be themselves. For the first time, I felt It was okay to be different.
As an afterthought, today I feel that swaraj is an evolved version of ancient Indian teaching system where disciples along with their Guru would spend time in the woods. There is a part of me that feel that had western industrialisation that dominates the world today hadn’t occured, that ancient Indian education system would have been still in play. Gosh how different that world would have been!
Learning society Unconference(LSUC)
For me Ahimsagram and through them a lot of other places such as Vanvadi and swaraj University were something i have never seen in my life. However the biggest surprise for me was definitely LSUC, which is kind of an annual event where people from say 100s of places like Ahimsagram, Vanvadi and swaraj came. It was a gathering of alternate people with radical thought processes, living throughout the country who have came together to spend a week together. I won’t say they had same thought process. However one thing that was common in them was they were really passionate people, who were doing something they truly believed in doing, with the vision of making a world much more sustainable place to live in with a much more wholistic approach to life.
One of the amazing thing I found in the place was how, everyone was apparently participant, even the organisers. There was spaces created throughout so that anyone can take a session or do something they really hope to do. I remember learning my first lesson of Parkour and being one of only two people who successfully climbed a huge(atleast for me) wall. I remember people offering coffee to people and you were supposed to pay only if you feel like, and only if you could afford. It was a place of gift culture. I remember it was the first time when I saw food been prepared for 600 people that can be considered healthy and tasty at the same time. I remember how hard the organisers were trying so that all 600 people get to meet each other, through activities, games, interactive session. I will always remember how on the last day of the event, during the lunch the organisers asked that only half of the people take plates while the rest half go and eat from the half that have picked the plate. It was so that people can interact more with strangers and hopefully become familiar with one another. There was a certain purity in the event that made me eat with strangers with safety and with a feeling of homeliness, family, connection. It was a whole different world.
I remember how I played many games that probably our parents used to play but we have never ever played in my life. I remember being free when I was out there.
I remember meeting a lot and lot of kids who never went to school and were doing Unschooling, where a kid is allowed to do whatever they want to do in life without any kind of restriction and boundations. I literally interacted with kids as long as 8 years old with maturity levels more than that of mine. It really made me question about my ‘schooling’ and studying from a prestigious school of my city.
I remember meeting adults who were probably more young than me. How innovative and fun there life felt. I remember thinking why do I take life so seriously.
Like most time during my journey, my entire life again transformed in those 5 days, I did things I never imagined doing in my life yet again.