We add news items to this newsletter throughout the month rather than compile them at the end of the month. Do visit this page regularly to read further additions.

On Friday, July 25, 2008 The School had an inspiring guest at its assembly, Vivek Phadnis. Vivekji is a 73-year-old former employee of a Nagpur-based government mining company Manganese Ore (India) Ltd. who was closely associated with social reformer Baba Amte for nearly 30 years. He and his wife currently run a domestic gas (cooking gas) agency in Nagpur. But his story lies beyond this introduction.

When Vivekji walked into the assembly hall and sat down I think most of us were struck by the pleasant and positive atmosphere that he brought with him. He talked to us about a variety of things. His closeness to renowned social activist Baba Amte and how he went with Baba Amte’s son Dr. Vikas Amte, to receive awards on behalf of Baba Amte - he humorously called his job as the luggage carrier - to Shri J. Krishnamurti’s inspiration in his life.

But what struck me the most was the story of how he lost his right arm, which he said made his life complete.

Vivek Phadnis talking to the students at The School

Vivekji was in a bus one day after meeting Baba Amte and the bus struck a large tree. All of a sudden there was a lot of commotion and people were trying to get off the bus so he too decided to do so. Sitting on the right side of the bus, when he reached for his suitcase he could only see his left arm and then he noticed a piece of flesh on his torso. Vivekji then tried to remove the flesh with his right arm and that is when he noticed that it was not there.  His right arm was gone. Most of us would imagine screaming or crying but Vivekji did not. He checked himself for a head injury and accepted the fact that he had lost his arm within a minute. There was no pain, right through, from the time of the accident till the amputation at the hospital, late at night.

During this period of time Vivekji said that he was not himself, he was instead everything that Baba Amte, Krishnamurti and the people of Anandwan, a community rehabilitation centre for leprosy patients in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, had taught him. "I had seen people with no arms, no legs, no fingers in Anandwan, I had lost only one arm," Vivekji said. "I could feel Baba Amte and J. Krishnamurti right beside me." He added that his life would have been incomplete without this experience.

Throughout the narration of this event Vivekji reiterated that "I am just an ordinary man and it wasn't him who dealt with the situation." Vivekji maybe be an ordinary man but he left me with an extraordinary revelation. People can touch us so deeply that in our times of need they can be beside us not physically but spiritually.

The assembly then ended in a way that Vivekji loved most about Krishnamurti schools, we all sang together. It was a fitting conclusion to such a moving interaction.

After assembly I had the opportunity to interact further with Vivekji and he told me about Baba Amte's response after hearing of his injury. Babe Amte replied by saying, "Think not of what has left, think of what is left." Baba Amte then quoted a verse from one of his own poems:

"Shrunkhala payi asudhe
Meen gati che geet gayi
Dukh udhdaayas aataa
Aasvaanaa ved naahin."

Which translates into – “Chains shackle my ankles, true. Let them be. I continue to sing the song of the future, of progress. True, sorrows envelope me. But my tears have not the time to wallow in them.”

By telling us how he was touched by others, Vivekji, in effect, touched me deeply.

- By Madhavi Venkatraman, Class XI, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The School KFI recently hosted a workshop conducted by the FilmCamp, Bangalore. The 1:1 Film Workshop, as it was called, promised the training of students in making a short one minute film over the course of one day.

It explored the links that films and characters had to us and the situations we found ourselves in.  It started from the basics of the process such as story writing, and scripting to more elaborate elements such as storyboarding, positioning of cameras and finally the shooting and the editing. Over the course of the workshop, the effort and thought that goes into the making of even the shortest and simplest of motion pictures was evident.

The morning was spent conceptualizing the theme and ideas for the movies we planned to shoot. Later these were sketched in the form of a ‘story-board’ indicating clearly the movements of the actors and the positions of cameras-all to avoid ambiguity later. The stories for the movies were based around the beach and shooting took place during the evening. You can be rest assured that quite a crowd assembled to watch the process! On reaching school again, editing took center stage, with the search for the perfect shot gripping everyone.

In the process of making a film, I learnt the amount of effort and dedication that goes into a production, and keeping the team together and focused is no laughing matter. It helped me better understand some of the things that I had watched and will watch. It also made me more aware of the nuances of the medium. The learning that the exposure gave me was immense and it was certainly an experience and big screen moments seem a just a touch less magical now!

- By Swetha Sridhar Class XI

Friday, July 11, 2008

The All Parents Meeting, a once a year forum that The School arranges since the year 2000 to inform and involve parents in the journey of the school and hear their questions on issues related to the school, was held on Friday July 11, 2008 at The School's dining hall.

A large number of parents gathered, after snacks, juice and tea, listened to an opening talk by Mr OR Rao, Secretary of The School, who dwelt on the incoherence we see today in society and the challenge of parenting, teaching and running a school.

Principal Gautama Anna spoke about the challenges that change brings to the surface. Living as we do in an age of rapid changes, fast deteriorations and the urgency of change that Krishnamurti often spoke about. He spoke of the changes in the school and the possible meaning of school for teachers, parents, students and its processes as a ground of relationship, sharing, working together and for discoveries. This may also extend, possibly, beyond school into larger society..

Two significant areas of change for the school are the Vallipuram campus and the Outreach work.

Vallipuram Campus: Gautama Anna gave the parents an update on the Vallipuram campus, a residential school under construction on a 100 acre farm about 75 km from Adyar. The initial plan is for the Vallipuram campus to be a retreat and workshop centre for students around 2007-08 ahead of its gradual evolution into a school with boarding facilities by 2008-09. Unfortunately, permission hurdles and The School's unwillingness to cut corners has lead to a delay in plans.

Outreach: Parents were impressed by the outreach efforts of the school. A documentary film outlined the school's efforts to provide healthcare and nutrition to children in Kilapakkam, where the school has a farm, its role in proposing and assisting with the introduction of activity-based learning, and the introduction of the mobile labs for state schools, drew much appreciation.

Some of the parents’ questions revolved around ways of identifying flora and fauna on campus, the school's ways of creating connection between their urban-centric children and the underprivileged India.

Increased traffic congestion and high fuel prices: These day-to-day problems call for a simple solution, car pooling. Several parents raised this issue. While it was possible for the school to consider running two vans instead of the one van it was also necessary for parents to take initiative. Suggestions were made that willing parents display their phone numbers on a board provided by the school that will help them coordinate with each other.