Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019
A pleasant visit to SMTA - Vikasnagar
1st Feb 2018
Places to see near SMTA Vikasnagar.
I spent the first couple of days in SMTA Vikasnagar as a solo traveller. Abhinav was to join me
after few days and then we planned to visit the school in Chakrata where SMTA has its school.
The first day I was in the august company of Sachin Sir, and I got to know about the lay of the SMTA operational complex in Vikasnagar. Situated at the border lines of 4 states , vikasnagar provides ample space for visiting tourists.
We made our way to Aasan lake, the Siberian birds had migrated all the way from siberia to uttarakhand for a relatively warmer climate as the lakes and vegetation are frozen in siberia at this time of the year.
We were joined by our TISA friend Pawan Singh Rathore who is working as a teacher in a nearby school.
We were having pakodas and chai when a stray hungry monkey visited us. It seemed very confident and bared its teeth at all of us. After a couple of failed attempts it was able to take one pakoda and a bowl of sauce. It licked it clean before throwing it down the rocks near the lake.
After chatting there for sometime , Pawan and me landed up in Paonta Sahib Gurudwara which is half an hour away in Himachal pradesh. Paonta gurudwara has weapons of Guru Gobind Singh ji, who was tenth Sikh prophet. We filled our tummies with "langar" meals, and proceeded back to the quarters.
The next day I travelled to "Ashoka Edict". This is an rock at a nearby place in kalsi ghat where king ashoka's anoouncements are engraved. This is written in pali and prakrit. The mode of transport used in there parts is a 7 seater "Tata Magic".
It is a local and most economic means of transportation here. you may have to cram yourself in , but the cheap ride with pleasant conversations with the locals make up for the crammed space.
There is a place where ashwamedh yag was performed 1000's of year ago. This is an ancient site and protected by the archeological site of india. It is located in the midst of the mangrove and litchi's garden. There is a "kali maa" ka mandir on the way and a hike through the trees is worth remembering.
5km down the yamuna river, there is Dakpattar barrage, this is a long dam constructed to block the flow of yamuna river and used to generate hydel electricity. They have a nice park and tourist area to spend some time near the barrage. Bakery, Coffee house, rabbits , ducks :). You can walk over the dam which divides the 2 states himachal and uttarakhand. Take out your google maps and take a screenshot when it shows you standing at the line dividing the 2 states :P.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Life is But a Dream!
If you are happy and you know it, sing a song.
Singing nursery rhymes in the morning is the best thing, ever!
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Malgudi Days
Introducing children to the timeless antics of Swami and friends....
(....while quietly reliving one's own childhood) .
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Sabbatical
SMTA is looking for a volunteer!
You may have been working 24/7/365 for many years- like a 'bot'- spidering internet, crawling databases, coding, mailing, reporting, video-calling -- and you may have been secretly dreaming of a break all along; Just a break, not a new job. Because you are happy with your work, you love your company but you just want to get away from all this for some months, because you know that regular weekend holidays will not take away that deep feeling of having become a bot- a program! Dont give up hope, yet!
Sabbatical is often a paid (full/partial) long leave
If you have a little courage you can talk to your HR and apply for a sabbatical leave, to come and serve SMTA, a charitable society (NGO). Many organizations encourage their employees to do so under their CSR program (JP came here for six month on a sabbatical, while working with a major IT company in Pune some years ago). SMTA is looking for a volunteer English Teacher, for its state recognised primary school, serving tribal children near Chakrata. If you need more information, please write to us (satksri@gmail.com). You should check these write ups about sabbatical too: on Monster, on Fastcompany.
Where to?
The school is located in Jakhadhar, 25 km from Chakrata (location map). It is a beautiful valley, with a stream at the bottom and high mountains on its edge.
What will you be doing exactly? You will be interacting with children (class 1-5), playing games with them, teaching them origami, songs, games, plus anything, you feel confident about - besides conversational English and their simple English lessons. Another teacher will be there to help you initially. Internet access is available, so you can show children educational movies too. Here are some links to some interesting sessions conducted by our last volunteer:
Showing a film, Interactive games, Open Shut them, Go Bananas.. (more)
Board & Lodge: You will have your own room and simple vegetarian meals. SMTA will charge a nominal amount for board and lodge. Women too are encouraged to apply. The school campus offers a safe family environment.
Duration: One academic session (ten months) will be perfect. Three months will be our minimum expectation. When school is closed for winter and summer vacation, you too will be free to explore the Himalayas.
What do you get?
People have used sabbatical to cultivate new skills (like teaching, meditation), develop new perspectives ("Who am I, bsides a programmer?") and for creativity (like writing your first novel or biography). If you are a person who stammers, you may work on communication skills, with sachin as your personal coach... Anything is possible. Dont hesitate to discuss what you want to achieve beforehand.
You may have been working 24/7/365 for many years- like a 'bot'- spidering internet, crawling databases, coding, mailing, reporting, video-calling -- and you may have been secretly dreaming of a break all along; Just a break, not a new job. Because you are happy with your work, you love your company but you just want to get away from all this for some months, because you know that regular weekend holidays will not take away that deep feeling of having become a bot- a program! Dont give up hope, yet!
Sabbatical is often a paid (full/partial) long leave
If you have a little courage you can talk to your HR and apply for a sabbatical leave, to come and serve SMTA, a charitable society (NGO). Many organizations encourage their employees to do so under their CSR program (JP came here for six month on a sabbatical, while working with a major IT company in Pune some years ago). SMTA is looking for a volunteer English Teacher, for its state recognised primary school, serving tribal children near Chakrata. If you need more information, please write to us (satksri@gmail.com). You should check these write ups about sabbatical too: on Monster, on Fastcompany.
Where to?
The school is located in Jakhadhar, 25 km from Chakrata (location map). It is a beautiful valley, with a stream at the bottom and high mountains on its edge.
What will you be doing exactly? You will be interacting with children (class 1-5), playing games with them, teaching them origami, songs, games, plus anything, you feel confident about - besides conversational English and their simple English lessons. Another teacher will be there to help you initially. Internet access is available, so you can show children educational movies too. Here are some links to some interesting sessions conducted by our last volunteer:
Showing a film, Interactive games, Open Shut them, Go Bananas.. (more)
Board & Lodge: You will have your own room and simple vegetarian meals. SMTA will charge a nominal amount for board and lodge. Women too are encouraged to apply. The school campus offers a safe family environment.
Duration: One academic session (ten months) will be perfect. Three months will be our minimum expectation. When school is closed for winter and summer vacation, you too will be free to explore the Himalayas.
What do you get?
People have used sabbatical to cultivate new skills (like teaching, meditation), develop new perspectives ("Who am I, bsides a programmer?") and for creativity (like writing your first novel or biography). If you are a person who stammers, you may work on communication skills, with sachin as your personal coach... Anything is possible. Dont hesitate to discuss what you want to achieve beforehand.
