A Home Away From Home

My stay at Fig Tree Cottage was nothing less than being at home with copious amounts of hospitality. The staff here made the stay beautiful, comfortable and inviting. Every morning, Mithlesh ji arrived with a fresh cup of coffee. These big windows offer a lush green and a small pond with lotuses about to bloom. Just a few steps away from the pond are Guava-laden trees. 

This is a privilege one receives when at Fig Tree Cottage - hospitality. The staff works harmoniously. Each morning, they prepared a homely and healthy breakfast, which is something one rarely finds when away from home. 

There are small details to the Cottage that are not to be missed - copper bottles and glasses, cleanliness in every corner, a beautiful bookshelf, and greenery in the space. It didn't feel like a work trip at all; more like a holiday with some work thrown in, all made easy by the presence of these people who ensured your stay was smooth and full of warmth. 

The staff meet you every morning with a smile! The Cottage is surrounded by some sweet little cafes, where one can always get more coffee for a change. 

Enjoy your stay at the Fig Tree Cottage in Dehradun; they are only on Instagram: www.instagram.com/fig.tree_cottage

Wamly,

Neelashi Mangal
Guest at the Fig Tree Cottage
September 2025

Courage and Patience Part 2 - KNPS Phagwara

 Kajal Sharma

Courage and Patience: Powerful Tools

1. Courage and patience are two essential traits, Which grow within oneself to make the base.

2. Courage requires making everything settle,
   Patience can give us positivity by giving us a great battle.

3. Courage and patience give us a way towards success, As it reduces the work’s stress.

4. These traits are like magic, Making our life cool and dynamic.

5. Let’s apply courage and patience in the circle of life, To go with the flow and reduce crime.

   - Poonam Rani

Raman Sood

In the depths of trials, where darkness looms, Courage ignites, dispelling gloom. A flickering flame, bold and bright, Guiding souls through the darkest night.

Patience, a virtue, a steadfast grace, A gentle current in life's tumultuous race. With steady resolve, it softly whispers, Navigating obstacles like skilled river blisters.

Courage rises, a warrior's might, Facing fears, ready to fight. With bravery as its trusted shield, It conquers doubt, refusing to yield.

Patience, a companion, serene and wise, In stillness, it learns as time flies. It endures through trials and tribulations, Embracing delays, steadfast and sure.

Courage and patience are inseparable, Hand in hand, a testament, rare. Together they embolden the human soul, Leading us forward and making us whole.

So let us embrace these divine virtues. In courage and patience, our spirits align. In the face of adversity's wrath, We shall find strength on life's arduous path.

- Reena Sisodia

In the face of fear, courage stands tall, With a heart so strong, it never will fall. 

It whispers, "Keep going, don't lose your way, For every storm, there's a brighter day."

Courage is not about being without fear, But facing it bravely, with strength sincere. 

It's taking a leap when doubts arise, Trusting your instincts, and reaching for the skies.

Patience, a virtue, oh so profound, Like a sturdy oak tree, deeply rooted in the ground. 

It teaches us to wait, to endure and believe, That every setback, we can still achieve.

Patience is calmness, a tranquil stream, In the face of chaos, it keeps our dreams. 

It whispers, "Be steady, don't rush ahead, For great things come to those who tread."

Together, courage and patience intertwine, Guiding us forward, their light will shine. 

With courage, we face challenges unknown, With patience, we wait, and our seeds are sown.

So let us embrace these virtues each day, As we navigate life's winding way. 

We'll conquer mountains with courage and patience as our guide, our spirits will glide.

Seema Rani

Joy Of Learning

 

Joy Of Learning blossomed once I discovered the idea of the Heart Tree, thanks to my Coach and colleague, Venus Upadhayaya.

Life is learning, and learning is life! Every day and every minute counts, and the experiences shape us. Have you ever wondered what this joy of learning is?

Talking about schools, schooling and what goes into making a good school, the rise of liberal arts education, the learning process has to evolve to keep up with the times. Over three decades of working with schools and travelling worldwide to understand how we learn have been my life's key driver for happiness.

After visiting countries from the east to west, including Singapore, Finland and the USA, looking at the way children learn and what makes the joy of learning come alive at schools, I thought it all begins with reading. It is not about print or digital, as the art of reading alone helps children pick up skills for life. They experience values and virtues working with mentors and peers, adding value to the school curriculum.

The 6 C's:  Critical thinking; Creativity; Collaboration; Communication; Character; and Citizenship. When you read, your imagination makes you think; this is step one for any action. Today, with fleeting attention and the lack of retention, we must focus on the mind, consciousness and thought. Our thought must govern our actions, and we are in times of knee-jerk reactions, which leads to a lack of trust and questioning relationships.

How do we move from critical thinking to good Citizenship? The answer lies in spreading the joy of learning and focusing on reading, writing and speaking. You will say this happens at school, and I disagree. Many first-generation schoolgoers, our young people, have yet to have the privilege of listening and learning from family members as in the last century. There is a need for good mentorship and role models. It is not easy to find an adult who will be a voracious reader, our teachers at schools are all from the school systems where they have relied only on rote learning, and the need for reading beyond the text and sharing stories seems alien to most.

With over thirty years of working with schools and focusing more on schooling, my experience reaffirms that we must empower every individual with personal and social development. It is only possible if they experience the joy of learning and are good at reading, writing and speaking. To prepare a child to face the world, we must first read as a family, community, and nation. It is essential to be with a book and delve deeper within. The power of reading will shape our speaking in turn.

Today we must look at reading, writing and speaking as skills for life. Please understand the medium and language; read what you enjoy and with leisure. Reading newspapers and magazines adds to our knowledge of society and gives us information. The application of knowledge is crucial for us to be better educated. Talking about education and learning, we need to grow as a nation of righteous citizens, and this will make India a nation of thinkers and doers.

The New Education Policy focuses on learning beyond needing marks or merit. Happy teachers will alone help transform the education system. The teachers first need to experience the joy of learning - reading, writing and speaking, which will empower them with their personal and social development and help them become the role models we need for our young people. Literacy and numeracy are not the best measures for learning. The passion for reading, writing and speaking should be the way forward.

As an author and a practitioner of experiential learning, reading is necessary and part of my everyday life. Parents and adults request me for the success mantra for children. They even ask for tuition and remedial beyond the school system. My only answer is that every child must read to lead. It begins with the people the child lives with and unconditionally accepts as role models. Anyone who reads will be able to write and speak. They will experience the joy of learning. 

The last few months have been full of literary festivals and book fairs. Seeing young people throng the stalls at literary events has been an absolute pleasure. Speaking with young people and looking at how we publish quality books in our country has given me tremendous hope for the future of reading and the joy within.

"Don't just teach your children to read…Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything". George Carlin

The joy of learning is an extensive and profound learning experience that immerses us in a model of inquiry and problem-based learning. Looking back at the story of India, a civilisation rich with literature and how we learnt for generations, you will find that reading alone is at the core of the joy of learning. Read-aloud sessions begin education and form a narrative for a life full of knowledge.

- Sandeep Dutt focuses on school transformation, emphasising culture as a service. Over 30 years of experience have empowered thousands of teachers and touched the lives of nearly a million children.

Image courtesy Venus Upadhayaya, from her training session at the DBN Schools in Jammu, India.

The Print published this post

https://theprint.in/yourturn/subscriberwrites-liberal-arts-education-has-to-continuously-update-itself-for-better-impact/1435203/

Responsibility and Cooperation - Aspiration JMMS

The Aspiration group has created an audio podcast. It is an interesting story of a ‘Gulmohar’ tree, who is afraid of shedding its leaves and flowers during the autumn season. The surrounding trees, animals, and insects take responsibility for making him understand a tree's life cycle. 

Two important values, ‘Responsibility’ and ‘Cooperation’, has been the focal point while narrating the story. We have taken care to do collective storytelling, so that value of cooperation and responsibility is on everyone. While creating this story, the process was essential. It was a combined effort of everyone. We realized the power of co-operation and its positive energy.

This story gives a strong message to how educators and peers can help a child develop his inhibitions and be a part of the group. 

The ‘Nanha Gulmohar’ is narrated by the four enthusiastic learners of John Martyn Memorial school. 

Aspiration JMMS@John Martyn Memorial School, Salangaon, Dehradun - Renu Raturi, Sandhya Thadani, Sonali Sharma, Asha Bhandari 

On My Show This Week - Venus Upadhayaya

Reporter | The Epoch Times

m.theepochtimes.com

Venus Upadhayaya 

"I am passionate about Education...

Aug 2 • 2020

Episode #36: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Venus Upadhayaya, currently a reporter with the Epoch Times at New York. Venus reports on a wide range of issues. Her area of expertise is in Indian and South Asian geopolitics. She has reported from the very volatile India-Pakistan border and has contributed to mainstream print media in India for about a decade. Community media, sustainable development, and leadership remain her key areas of interest. She helped us give shape to Learning Forward India, she was one of the first few people who joined us for Brewing Knowledge, a little group for Coffee and Conversations in 2015. Together we built the Core-Values module for teachers and the heart tree for helping understand the role of the teacher in building the inner core of every child. She has travelled across the world, in her quest for knowledge and to build learning communities.

Learning Forward show brought to you by the Learning Forward India Foundation.

Humility

Humility is a virtue that everyone should possess. Educators need to be humble if they want their students to listen to them. In our human life when we have something immediately pride, vanity and many other undefined forces enter into us. We extol ourselves to the skies. We feel that we are the superior most. We start looking down on our fellow beings and also many times hurt their feelings.

Have you ever seen a tree? When the tree is in full bloom laden with fruits it always bows down to offer you its fruits. The whole tree stands upright due to its roots which firmly go deep down in the earth. This is the humbleness which we human beings should show. There have been many great men like Mr George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc who even after attaining a high post were very humble. They never had a speck of pride in them and this was their greatness.

Ms Bharti Rao narrating the
story to the children at School

Kings like Harishchandra have been so humble that to fulfil the oath of a sage, he left his kingdom and separated from his wife and child. When pride diminishes and disappears humility increases and looms large. An educator should always remember and understand the fact that one may know a great deal, but one may not know everything. One needs to possess the value of humility and should be willing to learn from others whether they be their students, parents or colleagues

The pursuit of humility once we properly understand, yields to better relationships and faster growth. You should always treat everyone with respect irrespective of their age, job and that he is as worthy and important as oneself. An effective teacher is one who is a humble person. I end this article by quoting the words of Sir Chinmoy “The strength of Pride must eventually surrender to the power of humility.”     

Bharti Rao

The Fabindia School, Bali

The Heart Tree - Venus Upadhayaya

VISION AND LEARNING: Have you ever observed that anger exists before the reason for that anger exists? Just like awareness or knowledge exists before the language in which we express it. Poets would understand emotion exists before the expression.

There's a great choice and an opportunity available in expression. A language's destiny depends upon how refined emotions does that society/community/civilization cultivates and how refined are its skills of language to express it. Language is very important for the synthesis of learning and skills of language are very important for creating a learning community.

Language is not just identification of sounds and skills of decoding. Language is a refined process of awareness of oneself and the world around. The world you create inside is the world you experience outside and language is a part of that experience.

While in auto to office today I was thinking of a word 'Suryakamal'. A sanskrit word, this word is a combination of two words 'Surya' that means Sun and 'Kamal' that means 'Lotus'. I was wondering how powerful this word is! When you chose this word in your expression you make a powerful choice, you undergo a powerful cognition process that's because of a powerful synthesis of two experiences of sun and lotus and their legacy. There's beautiful poetry in their combination.

The beauty of Sanskrit as a language lies in the way the language combines distant words to create new words that heighten emotion, comprehension, cognition, expression, poetry and exchange. Knowledge is the fundamental on which is built human consciousness and language is the medium that carries that. Imagine your experience of ganga without the word ganga.

Imagine the experience of your beloved without his/her name. Imagine the experience of your country without its name. Imagine the experience of truth without the word truth; it would become so difficult to contain and express our experience of truth without the word 'truth'.

Now imagine how long it would have taken the human civilisation to come to this point where each word denotes a process of refinement and each word carries a legacy of human experience and knowledge.

There lies the vision of my research and center of learning. Dear friends, let me introduce you to the Heart Tree. #thehearttree

(Heart Tree is based on my research into learning, teaching and learning/knowledge communities. This endeavour is supported by few individuals who are my friends. Heart Tree is not a legal, commercial entity currently. Welcome to the spirit of Heart Tree.)