From Vineeta Sood, Mirambika, Delhi

Udaipur had been a wonderful experience in my life. It was like rediscovering myself. I was feeling so lonely on this planet! Shikshanter has extended the companionship, much required. I had a chance to meet such wonderful people. Kanku, Sakhi, Kaari, Ajay, Krishan, Gopal, Vikas are the torch bearers of whatever was thought and discussed before, after and during those five days. Knowing Shilpa, Manish, Vidhi, Vivek, Manav, Claud, Anita, Yusuf, Munir, Sugandhi, Coumba, Lisa, Ramashwariji, Ravi, Maria, Zaid, Alok,------ all of you is just a great wealth, which can’t be expressed in any possible way. Though I was meeting all of you for the first time, I had a very distinct feeling that I have known many before hand, so much so that Sugandhi and I tried very hard to recollect, where could we have met only to discover that this is the first time we are at the same place and time.

I learnt a great deal during those five days. The most important of my learning was how in this short period of five days, such strong emotional bonds can be formed. I am a believer of the fact that in a stimulating environment, we can learn a great deal from informal situations when people trust and respect us and provide a free & nonjudgmental atmosphere and this was demonstrated at Udaipur. What I learnt from Peter added yet another dimension to the entire scope of learning and this was my first encounter with any kind of theatre games that convey much more than what words could do. To be more precise on my reflections, I would try to answer the Questions sent by Manish.

What do learning societies mean to you now after attending the conference? What do you feel are the essential ideas underlying learning societies?

Learning societies is the name I discovered at Udaipur for some thing I believe in. For me learning societies are the societies where people learn as they live, from their own experience, from the people around them and from their environment. I feel there is no place on this earth where this kind of learning is not happening. Here the cause of concern is that people are loosing faith in the wealth of their traditional knowledge, which we need to revive. Also if learning happens from just immediate surroundings, the scope of learning is very limited. So, there is a need to provide wider range of experience that can be done by the society itself. Children form a very important part of any society and their curiosity, inquisitiveness and patience make them very good learners. What kind of environment can we create so that it helps children learn naturally? So, essentially, it conveys, how all of us can learn in the most natural way and live in harmony with nature and our environment. And the natural way of learning is demonstrated beautifully by how a child learns in the first four years of life, if we don’t meddle much at that stage.

What do you feel are the most important questions and issues to focus on if we wish to regenerate learning societies in South Asia?

To me if we want to regenerate learning societies in South Asia, the most important Questions and issues are how do we · Start respecting and accepting ourselves for what we are · Rediscover the wealth of our traditional knowledge, analyze the modern knowledge in the context of our existing realities and adapt it sparingly · Make this information accessible to the youth and children of our region · Keep our minds open and alert · Apply the principle of trust, respect and unconditional acceptance with a possibility of open dialogue to all our relationships with children as well as adults · Live in harmony with nature and environment · Create an environment that is conducive to natural learning · Find new Questions · Identify redundant questions and irrelevant answers · And many more. Practically, how do we strike harmony within and around us?

What are the next steps/activities that you think should be undertaken to help unfold learning societies in South Asia?

All I can think of at present is: · To try to think about the ways of harmonious living · To start an awareness campaign about the requirements of a child and the natural process of learning specially among parents and the teachers because, today, the child is really at the mercy of these two classes and these are the people who shape our society by molding young minds. · To become aware of ourselves so that it is possible to be aware of the processes going on in and around us. · Though I am fully aware that this is a process of self-realization, I do feel that if we leave it just to that, it will take so long that it will not be fair to our children.

This is just the beginning of my thought process, which will keep evolving, with the passage of time.