By Shruti:
Something was simmering within me for a long time, it took me a while to realize that I was seeking the true meaning of my existence. Especially after my daughter was born, I felt I had very little to offer to her apart from being a successful ‘corporate mother’ during the day and making time to play with her in the evening or weekends.
I worked in an IT company in the marketing and communications space for about 10 years. I had followed the Bhoomi’s Facebook page for two years before I applied for the course. My journey since has been the most transformational and wholesome.
Today, I have a different perspective of life. On a more spiritual and philosophical plane, the experience helped me reconnect with nature and in the process helped me reconnect with myself and understand my responsibility towards the planet that we all live and love.
Nature is within me and I am a part of it. This is a part of me that probably always existed but was hidden by the many layers and filters that the course helped me discover.
Learning at Bhoomi was structured in a way to make it enlivening. The first module called the inner-outer program allowed the participants to connect with their inner ecology within as well as nature without. All the participants received an opportunity to understand the psychology of their own nature and various incidences in their life that shaped them. Identifying the hero in our self is a gratifying and elevating experience.
The consecutive modules are complemented with hands-on training, co-working and sessions through the day. The faculty asked us pertinent questions and seeded thoughts that helped us evolve as earth conscious citizens. On a beautiful bright day after the rains we would enjoy planting saplings on the farm, another day we would be researching the impact of economic policies on the agricultural industry.
Guest faculty like Agricultural Economist Devinder Sharma, Narsanna from Deccan Development Society conducted intense sessions and workshops to enlighten us on areas like economics of environment and sustainability, food and farming. Apart from that illustrious faculty like the guru of organic farming Narayan Reddy, Social Entrepreneur and Evangelist Abhishek Thakore, Soil Vasu, the course allows 360-degree development of the individual in the field of sustainability as it covers media studies, social activism, social entrepreneurship and theatre as well. The courses were unique in the terms that the curriculum was flexible and its emergent design was based on the profile of the students and their requirements.
One of my concerns has always been the uni-dimensional result oriented approach to education. This limits us from seeking knowledge beyond prescribed books. In our quest to ace what is prescribed we learn very little of everything else. Bhoomi throws open a new challenge to a lot of us who restrict ourselves to what traditional education pedagogy offers to us. Self-learning is difficult if one does not have interest or curiosity. Therefore, when we are meant to self-learn we really don’t know where to start. I also felt that the course required rigour in writing as documentation allows us to absorb what we learn better. Environmental activism requires an understanding of legal frameworks and new age digital media. I hope the inclusion of these topics in the course will make it a truly holistic environmental course.
I enjoyed field trips the most. They were very nourishing and allowed me to experience the real challenges on the field and meet very inspirational people. I revelled in the glory of the forests and nature during the deep ecology program in the Sharavati forests.
I am nature. As nature, I feel beautiful, positive and abundant. Everything is possible now – I have met conscious people, engaged with ‘hopeful’ people, invited enlightened individuals in my life who will be my co-travellers. I have already started my journey by involving myself with Bhoomi’s initiatives, I have also started conducting workshops for children to introduce them to nature and to educate them about preserving it.
Shruti is a student of the Sustainable Living course at Bhoomi College.