At Vidyakshetra, kids learn to get their hands dirty

Agriculture is pivotal to the curriculum at Vidyakshetra, a Gurukul-inspired school in Bengaluru established in 2016. It imparts life lessons through direct experience. Tending to crops teaches children patience, perseverance, and the resilience to face growth and loss. Whether in moments of abundant harvest or unexpected setbacks, the students are taught enduring values with every seed sown and nurtured.

“Belagene kushi!” (Kannada for starting the day with joy)—that’s how Mohit, the agriculture teacher of Vidyakshetra, explains the enthusiasm of the children working on the school farm every morning. After the morning prayers and chanting, the students and teachers begin working with seeds, soil, natural fertilisers and pesticides. For the younger kids, between the ages of four and nine, it’s more of a play. They sing songs and get their hands and feet dirty, while for the elder ones—between the ages of 10 and 21—it’s serious business, as they are trained to think and act like farmers.

Kalindi (name changed on request), a 13-year-old student at the school, says, “I feel great satisfaction to see the seeds grow. Earlier, when our crops failed, I used to feel bad. Now, I will ask why they failed and what we can learn from this failure.” With this mindset of discovery and experimentation, children learn the play of the seasons, multi-layer farming or intercropping, permaculture, mulching, composting and more. They have discussions to decide when to plant and what to plant. If children who grow up in the cities are reluctant to touch mud, here, the children aren’t squeamish about making fertilisers using cow urine and cow dung. In fact, Vamana (name changed on request), a 12-year-old student, says he loves the process of making organic compost and natural fertilisers like Jeevamrutha, a manure made with ingredients like cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, soil, and water. The school’s goshala or cow shelter—currently home to a cow and a bull—enriches their farming experience by allowing the students to engage with farm animals and understand their role in local agricultural ecosystems.

Also read: Tarachand Belji is turning farmers into eco-warriors

‘Eat what you grow’

The pedagogy and curriculum are built on four pillars: the self and the family, society, environment and spirituality. The school blends traditional Indian learning with contemporary subjects. One will find children practising yoga, kalaripayattu and dances that focus on improving their inner vital energy. Then there is agriculture, handloom, house construction, pottery, weaving, and woodworking, which focus on working with the hands. The students’ intellects are stimulated through experiments in the sciences, derivations of mathematics, and concepts of economics delivered through the school's entrepreneurial initiatives. These initiatives include the school making products like handloom cloth, pickles, soaps and incense sticks as a community activity, in which teachers, parents and children participate. Additionally, children in classes 10 and 12 also prepare for The National Institute of Open Schooling examinations, which are equivalent to the other state or central board examinations taken across the country.

When we feel connected to something or someone, we don’t exploit them; instead, we treat them as part of ourselves and show them respect. A child who grows rice will not waste rice.

Children between the ages of four and 10 go on weekly nature walks for ‘prakriti parichaya’ or to understand nature. This constant exposure to nature, observing insects, the weather, flowers, animals and water bodies, allows them to appreciate the interconnectedness of everything and engage with nature more profoundly. “When we feel connected to something or someone, we don’t exploit them; instead, we treat them as part of ourselves and show them respect. A child who grows rice will not waste rice”, says Muneet Dhiman, founder of Vidyakshetra.

These tiny hands are trained to grow tomatoes, lady’s fingers, chillies, leafy greens, and small portions of grains like ragi and turmeric. Like professional organic farmers, they pluck their produce and give it to the school’s kitchen. The children get to eat what they produce. Having seen and participated in the growing process, they have a respectful relationship with food.

The kitchen at Vidyakshetra is fully organic and runs according to the principles of Ayurveda. Since the school farm can meet only a small portion of the needs of the 135-children-strong school plus its teaching community, the kitchen also sources vegetables and groceries from other organic farmers. But insistently, whatever goes on every child's plate is grown organically and sustainably. The teachers and parents of the school also come together to make Indian sweets and snacks for the school community once every month. Everything is made by hand in unrefined, cold-pressed oil or organic ghee.

Also read: Salomi’s green revolution starts in the classroom

A way of life

Kishore Chandra, a parent of two Vidyakshetra students, says they hardly order in food from outside, as they prefer to make everything at home. His 14-year-old daughter dabbles in the kitchen, making delicacies from scratch using homemade ingredients. The school’s philosophy of conscious consumption—‘making’ and ‘growing’ more than ‘buying’—seems to have become a larger way of life for its students.

Chandra’s son, in fact, wants to become a farmer, and the school is keen to support his interests. However, the rationale behind including agriculture in the curriculum is not necessarily to create farmers but to nurture individuals who can work with their hands, grow their own food, and work with nature rather than against it.

The children embody “nidhaana”—or “unhurried calm” in Kannada—which Mohit says is one of the most valuable lessons students take away from his krishi classes. But why should they slow down? “When they slow down, the learning becomes deeper,” says Dhiman. With more profound education comes “viveka” or wisdom—the discretionary power that constitutes well-rounded individuals.

Currently, Vidyakshetra has only 135 students, but it adds 15 to 20 students every year. The institute is not in a hurry to scale up. Instead, it focuses on supporting interested individuals who want to start Gurukul-based schools across the country. It aims to create 108 such schools in the next 20 years.

(Banner image: https://vidyakshetra.org/)

{{quiz}}