Spaces in Shikshantar that illuminate my mind, by Anandhi Didi

Aug 21, 2023

I read this quote somewhere:

Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never, ‘not now’… I’m grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.

In Shikshantar there are multiple spaces where I have the ‘now moment’. Spaces that illuminate the mind. The illumination is more evident when you are there with the children.

The vegetable garden space, where children try to understand the process of plant reproduction. It kindles the light of the power of thinking both for the facilitator as well as the children when they exclaim ‘Oh, so I am eating the ovary of the plant, when I am eating a fruit’. Or when emotions of happiness, resilience, awe are coloured by children at different places in Shikshantar which they connect to. Be it the ‘snakes and ladders’ area or the beneath the trees.

Such spaces illuminate my inner space as well as I find commonality between the children’s thoughts and my own. The children’s thoughts when they connect to a certain story or a theme illuminates my ruminating mind and I grow in stature as a facilitator.

One such moment was when reading an article about the olive ridley turtles, which ended with the lines- ‘Will they survive into the next century with the healthy marine ecosystems to live in? That depends on us. They need all the help they can get”.  The children felt overwhelmed and shared about the responsibility they now have on themselves. My belief in myself increased tenfold, for having kindled the light of conservation in the little minds.

Helping the little minds to soar in their imagination, dream for themselves in the physical space of Shikshantar illuminates my inner space.

Anandhi Didi