The walk up to the built campus was a journey of its own – past the creaking of trees that towered from either side of the road, sheltering the smaller plants and animals. The walk seemed unnecessarily long at times especially if one were late for class, but it was essential to the architecture of the school itself, as that is where a lot of the learning happened. As the seasons changed, so did the experience of the journey through the campus. It Sometimes meant taking one’s footwear off to feel the earth beneath one’s feet. Sometimes it meant carrying books, chowkis and stationery out of the classroom to under the shade of a tree. It even meant sitting by oneself in solitude, observing and reflecting. Often it meant asking and being asked questions without the fear of being judged or ridiculed. Regardless of the activities and the answers or questions that emerged from them, learning was happening – learning from mistakes, experimentation, failure, nature, companions, teachers, and students – it became incidental to the lives that were being lived.
“While one is young is the time to investigate, to experiment with everything. The school should help its young people to discover their vocations and responsibilities, and not merely cram their minds with facts and technical knowledge; it should be the soil in which they can grow without fear, happily and integrally.”
J.Krishnamurthy
G.Gautama has facilitated this learning through a diverse range of initiatives that pushed the limits of education beyond conventional methods, such as Mixed Age Group Learning in Junior and Middle school and a dynamic and wide learning program for High School students.