That’s why they call it the School

To most of us school meant  packed class rooms , packed play grounds, packed time tables, and metal boxes packed to the brim with books. In comparison, the school seemed like a wooded wonderland.

Where each child found his or her place under the shade of the tree of learning. Where the teachers were Akkas and Annas. Where there was no learning by rote. Where there was diversity instead of uniformity. Where each child was given the space to blossom in their own right. Where parents (yes parents!) were not burdened with loads of homework. Where you could choose to be a designer or a musician or a mathematician or a biologist. Where “concern for the environment” was not just a phrase in a text book because you could see it happen all around you. Where you knew the difference between a turtle and a tortoise and an alligator and a crocodile. Where you could speak your mind and not be afraid.

We remember the ‘Show &Tell’, the PTA meetings, the plays and the lovely old heritage building that housed the office.  But above all we remember the feeling of being surrounded by nature. The Rain trees, the Banyan, the Pond.

 “We do not encourage our children to be competitive”, was the refrain we often heard at PTA meetings. While this may have made some parents uncomfortable, compared to our school days, where you had to fight for a place to play cricket with your friends, where you had fifty kids in one section and 6 sections per class, we realized that we are truly, truly blessed.

 Not that everything was hunky dory at the School. But compared to all the good, the occasional blip seems inconsequential.

The board exams came and with it the pressure of not knowing, how the kids will cope with the exams. And most just sail through.

It is not hard to spot a child who has studied at the School. To begin with, they are good human beings and they are sensitive, bright and talented in more ways than one. We believe that the ‘wonder years’ that they spent at the school, made them what they are today. And as they step out into the wide, wide world, we believe that the Rain trees and the Banyan and the Pond and all the Akkas and Annas will keep watch over them and guide them along their way.

The question is; if the school is moved, who will keep a watch over them? We write to ask you to please reconsider your decision to move the school KFI from its present location.

Foot note: the school KFI provides a unique educational experience, not only due to the K philosophy but due to the environs in which the school is situated. Open, wooded spaces, lead to fertile, open minds.