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The World at Isha Vidhya
Educating Rural India September 2014
Win at Kabbadi competition
From the Editor
This is the season of festivals in India. Sometimes it seems we spend so much time with celebrations, but there is a reason we do so. It’s all about learning and knowledge and understanding others, learning values and appreciating the world we live in .

At Isha Vidhya we encourage the school to celebrate all the festivals. The children are usually familiar with their local, but there many more that serve as a way to learn about the cultures of other communities. They bring students from various communities together and foster understanding and oneness.

The Isha Vidya teachers spend time to explore the details of the stories behind the festivals and the rituals that define them. They share the folklore with the children, using these to highlight values and qualities they want the kids to imbibe, without sermonizing.

Under the weight of commercially marketed festivals several local customs and traditions are slowly dying. Also, since Indian festivals are linked closely to earth, seasons and nature, we hope that through these celebrations we will revive them in our students and thus reestablish their connect and respect to the rhythms of our planet.

We hope you too celebrate the joy of our festivals!

Isha Vidhya Team
Feature: Story of a volunteer
Innumerable people volunteer at Isha Vidhya without expecting anything. We salute all of them, while bringing you the story of Mrs. Vijaya.

How Vijaya came to volunteer at Isha Vidhya Cuddalore is tragic in a way. She belongs to Pudukuppam, one of the villages devastated during Tsunami. She and her husband, Mr. Devadoss, came in contact with Isha Foundation when the Foundation relief team worked in their village to rehabilitate people post Tsunami.

Impressed with the selflessness and dedication of the Isha volunteers, Devadoss and Vijaya hosted Isha volunteers whenever they visited their village. They also attended Isha program to learn yoga which deepened their association with everything Isha.

Another tragedy struck the family when they lost their only son to an accident. Vijaya almost broke down with this loss, and even contemplated suicide. Words of Sadhguru, where he says 'every one was born with a purpose in this world and they have no right take it on their own' pulled her away from the edge and she decided to spend her life in a fruitful manner.

Vijaya knew about Isha Vidhya school and its mission. Being an exceptional cook, she asked for permission to volunteer in Cuddalore school kitchen. As soon as she was given the go ahead, she started visiting regularly and got involved in all activities – cleaning, cooking and even gardening. She finds joy in watching children enjoying the food she cooks. Emotionally she shared with us “I see my son's face in each child's and I hope my health stays good so that I can continue to volunteer here”.

Thank you, Vijaya, for your love and dedication. Isha Vidhya is thriving because of people like you.
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Share your story of volunteering

Have you volunteered with Isha Vidhya; perhaps run for our children? Share your experience, along with photographs so that we can post it on our Facebook page. You can even share short videos, which you may have shot, or ask someone to record you while you share your experience. We will share the video on our Youtube channel if the quality is good.

Drop us a mail at asmita.sinha@ishavidhya.org if you want to volunteer with us. We have many ideas but not enough hands to execute them. Join us, Today!

We have several other volunteering opportunities too. To know about them, please register* as a Friend of Isha Vidhya.

*The registration process will take less than a minute.
Donations and Investments
Critical requirements:

We posted the story about Kaviya on our Facebook page. Kaivya dropped her fear of learning with the help of learning material. Simple kits, scientifically designed, have helped many kids like her to overcome their inhibitions about classroom learning. They have found joy in knowing that they could solve problems as well as the next kid.

The Learning material kits contain solutions to problems based on a single topic or concept. They appear like a toy puzzle so that kids love to play with them. Once they begin to play, the challenges of solving the puzzle engage them and slowly learn how to solve it. During this journey, they also learn the method and concept without even realizing that they are indeed being taught through the game.

The kits have produced results where classroom teaching alone was proving to be inadequate. The two together have managed to breach the myth that kids are incapable of learning.

Each year we need to replenish and expand our collection of kits to cater to new students and address more topics. The cost is large. We are hoping that companies and individuals will sponsor them for our nine Isha Vidhya schools and forty government schools adopted under GSAP program.
Click here for details

For inquiries or more information about donations, email at donations@ishavidhya.org. To donate online please visit here

© Isha Vidhya 2014 14,
C.A. Theyvar Layout,
Kannaperan Mills Road, Udayampalayam,
Coimbatore – 641 028, TN, India