Who We Are
Alternative Educators
We like to think of ourselves as constituting an open learning community/network for mature learners. The programs we conduct are for 'grown-ups', and the content of the programs is of a sort that is not to be found in conventional institutions of learning...
We are a motley group of people, linked together by our vision of wholesome meaningful lives for everyone, and by our advocacy of such living...
Our Pedigree
While most of us have been involved with the 'alternative sphere' for many years, our attempt at together creating an open learning space began in late 2006 with the Gap Year College, an educational initiative that was based in the Garhwal Himalayas.
Vinish Gupta
Vinish, a linguist by formal training, has been a teacher and educator for over two decades. He has been involved with environmental and social movements and campaigns; he was also a member of a Buddhist monastic order for over a decade, during which time he had the opportunity to study and explore traditional Indian philosophies and systems of living. Vinish was educated at Jawaharlal Nehru University, at IIT Delhi, and at Deccan College, Pune. His current interests include value education, and design of environmentally sound systems and technologies. Vinish is the Managing Trustee of Jeevanshala Trust.
Karuna Morarji
Karuna has a long-standing concern with understanding relationships between education and visions of human possibility and development. As an educator, she enjoys sharing an appreciation for critical social theory as a lens to see relationships between things that often appear independent and disconnected. Other current interests include food, film, processual / historical analysis and collaborative ways of teaching, learning and living. Karuna was educated in Sweden, India and USA. Karuna is married to Vinish.
And a wide network of
Friends, Associates, Co-Explorers...
Shikshantar: The People's Institute for Rethinking Education and Development
Udaipur
Udaipur
Mysore
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
Varanasi
Dharwad