The basic purpose of ideal institutions of learning is to nurture responsibility in children, through careful observation and alert responsiveness. This will enable them to go beyond the idea of the wants of their individual self and realize them as a part of an interconnected whole. The children will also be trained to look at the fundamental factors of any given situation through which an internal process of transformation happens.
The advent of readily and easily available flood of information has led to two major concerns amongst many others, especially in children. First, it has reduced attention spans which make sustained thought and deep inquiry difficult. Second, it leads to an imbalanced development of the physiological and psychological self. These continuous impact of excessive stimulation are leading us towards a major challenge of our times- the inability to take up a responsibility and act upon it due to lack of interest, boredom, laziness etc. The conditions are similar in the majority of children across India, probably across the globe, irrespective of their physical, geographical environments, social and traditional enculturations.
In order to nurture this in children, we will have to identify or train teachers who are not mere information gatherers or transmitters but are agents of transformation through various creative pursuits. This is not anything new but already being experimented and practiced through the cycle of ‘reflection-action’ by various small groups, across the globe. These diverse open-ended communities of learning practices have arrived at contextual solutions in their own possible ways and means, as an attempt ‘Towards Naitalim.’
In this regard, we consider it necessary to hold a collective gathering to bring together various people who work in the area of education to discuss, formulate and share the ideas and develop pedagogy for implementing to suit the present times.
This proposed three day gathering will be an exploration of such isolated practices coming together, for filling in each other’s gap through sharing of their expertise, experiences, resources etc. Here both experienced and new ones come together so the nature of the baton passed on remains as is. Together through dialogue. There might be a ‘Naitalim Collective’ formed or eventually something hopeful will definitely happen leading to a society where there is hope and compassion. This is proposed as a jointly held gathering by various organisations and learning spaces, under the auspices of various mentors across India at the Cuckoo Forest School in Tamilnadu.
This gathering is proposed to be held on 27, 28 and 29 March 2026.
Neelkanth Chhaya
Prof. Chhaya was born in Nairobi in a family of five brothers and sisters. His father was insistent that they must know Gujarati and they must know the stories of our lore. Therefore, at home, they either had to speak in Gujarati, Swahili or English, forbidding a mixture of languages. They used to come to India on what was called “home leave” of one and a half months during the colonial period. Later he came to India to study architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad, from 1969 to 1975. After graduation, he worked with Prof. Anant Raje for a short while and then returned to Nairobi, where he worked in a private firm from 1976 to 1984 and later served as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
He settled in India in 1984 and started practicing in partnership with Kallol Joshi at Vadodara. On winning a competition for the Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, Chhaya, and Kallol Joshi, moved to Ahmedabad and resumed practice under ‘Mandala Design Services’. The practice was joined by Sohan Nilkanth in 1990. The three partners practiced together till 2000.
His teaching experience in higher education includes the Institute of Environmental Design at Vallabh Vidyanagar and Visiting Professor at the Master’s Programme for Architects from Developing Nations, Otaniemi Technical University, Helsinki, before joining the School of Architecture at CEPT as a faculty member in 1987 and retired as the Dean in 2013. He has been an Adjunct Faculty at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, since 2015, and holds the UNESCO Chair in Heritage, Sustainability and Livelihoods at Srishti. He has served on Academic Councils and Boards of Studies at several institutions.
He was the coordinator of the Gandhi Heritage Sites documentation project and co-authored the book Gandhi’s Places published in 2024. He has served in numerous national committees and boards, including as a Member of the Senate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar and a Member of the Building and Works Committee of the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. He was elected as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Hunnarshala Foundation in 2015. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Hunnarshala Foundation and Khamir Craft Resource Center, which empowers traditional knowledge and sustainable practices.
Sushma Iyengar
Sushma Iyengar is a social worker. She founded Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, the well-known women’s collective in the late eighties. During the past three decades, she has founded and led organizations in the area of gender justice, indigenous cultures, traditional livelihoods, local governance, and post disaster rehabilitation. She is associated with many civil society organizations in India as a mentor and educator and is the president of Khamir, a platform for craft artisans which works with the eco systems of their crafts, and an adjunct professor with the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University. Her publications include Picture This! Painting the Women’s Movement (University of Chicago, 2013). She is the lead curator of the exhibition ‘Living Lightly – Journeys with Pastoralists’ – an outcome of her longstanding interest and experience with indigenous communities, including nomadic pastoralists.
Sushama Sharma
Sushama Sharma is a social activist and teacher who is confident about this because she has worked with the Naitalim philosophy developed by Mahatma Gandhi. She is currently principal of the school being run by the Naitalim Samiti at Sevagram Ashram (Wardha), which was Gandhi’s last home.
Reji Thomas
Interdisciplinary scholar and consultant with three decades of experience in sustainable development, decentralized planning, rural industrialization, and environmental assessment. Trained at IIT Bombay and Gandhigram Rural University, with extensive academic, research, and entrepreneurial contributions.
Jayabharathy
Sushma Sharma is a social activist and teacher who is confident about this because she has worked with the Naitalim philosophy developed by Mahatma Gandhi. She is currently principal of the school being run by the Naitalim Samiti at Sevagram Ashram (Wardha), which was Gandhi’s last home.
Anbaraj Anna
Interdisciplinary scholar and consultant with three decades of experience in sustainable development, decentralized planning, rural industrialization, and environmental assessment. Trained at IIT Bombay and Gandhigram Rural University, with extensive academic, research, and entrepreneurial contributions.