Journey Ahead

Our Intent

Over four decades of working with children in different environments, evolving and growing with them, observing their responses to different situations, has led us to the following very significant learnings.
  • We find that one of our major responsibilities is to create and maintain an environment where children can develop into emotionally strong and balanced individuals, as this forms the base for healthy learning and growth in all areas of human endeavour.
  • We believe that each person must set his/her own goals and is, therefore, the only one qualified to judge his/her work. Learners need guides, not judges.
  • We have realised that setting one’s own goals is an essential part of any learning experience as these goals guide the learner through the process of education. We thus question the wisdom of forcing every child through fifteen long years of a standardised, conventional education which totally ignores each child’s uniqueness and leaves no space for the honest development of his/her talents.
  • We have learned that it is very important that we grow with a deep awareness of ourselves and our relationship with the land which sustains us, so that we may gratefully give back to it the love and nurturing we have always taken from it.

We believe strongly that we need to help our children retain their primal connection with nature. Our location in the city did not permit us the space/opportunity to realise this larger vision entirely.

We are very fortunate that 8.5 acres of land at Hydalu Village near Nelamangala, Bangalore, has been made available for Bhavya’s use. It is a dream come true! We are creating a Natural farm on this land as the first step towards integrating Natural farming practices into our curriculum. Our larger purpose/goal is to become a self-sustainable community which will benefit the environment and society at large. We would like to learn to co-exist with all the creatures which live on the land where they can thrive without being wantonly destroyed, or driven out.

In this new space, operational from March 2017, our objective is to broaden our scope of activity to help children develop basic life-skills and also to help them identify and develop their passions and talents. For instance, the children:

  1. will work directly to enrich the land and grow the food they can safely consume. They will learn to do this in a manner which respects the land and every creature living in/on it.
  2. can choose and explore their areas of interest/passion such as music (vocal, instrumental), weaving, sewing, pottery, dance, drama, yoga, meditation, etc.

We have always seen natural farming as a significant and integral part of Bhavya’s educational programme.

We see Natural Farming as a holistic approach to farming which enables life to thrive in its own spaces in a peaceful and harmonious manner, exactly as we have tried to help our children grow. There is very little need for human intervention in a thriving Natural Farm and all our needs can be comfortably met.

Through this process, we will learn to relate to the land in a gentle and nurturing manner. Our children will learn to live in harmony with Nature. We will all learn to give back to Nature and to life while taking no more than what we need.

We believe our children need to grow up as conscious beings who are very aware of the consequences of all decisions they make in all areas of their lives. Education must aim at making us live our lives intelligently and wisely so that we are at peace at all times with what we do. We believe that it is important for our children to be aware of where the food they eat comes from, and what it is that they put into their bodies day after day. When our children are exposed to Natural Farming, they begin to become aware of all these things. They also understand how important it is to protect and conserve soil and water. Their minds become more sensitive to the needs of the natural environment and they are driven to create ingenious ways of working with nature instead of against it. This awareness would extend to any career that they might choose later in their lives. They would live in a manner that would support life rather than destroy it. When the children begin natural farming as a cooperative venture, they learn to work together for a larger cause and they learn to share with others quite naturally.

There is an urgent need for all of us to understand that if each and every one of us does not do something to protect and conserve nature we will soon have to face the dreadful consequences of running out of water and consequently, of food.

This is a great opportunity for us at Bhavya to get close to Nature as we have never done before, and finally to enable Bhavya to fulfill its true mission. Natural farming is going to be a major thrust of Bhavya’s program henceforth. Our children will finally be involved in meaningful learning experiences.