As We Step Out- Parenting, Unschooling, and more

 ना ना करते आखिर - Vratabandha Sanskaar (VBS) for Vibha and Viaan performed on 31 Dec 2022! With already suffered trauma during our wedding, I was negating the idea of doing the thread ceremony. Plus 'How is it relevant in today's times' I said but नवरा suggested, "why not do some research and then with the right reasons decide our 'NO'". My research started. I met many people, visited Ashrams, read many books, and started making my own notes. And wow! I realized- उपनयन is deep and different, beyond religions, castes, and gender! I documented and published my takeaways in the book ' Vratabandha Sanskaar for the Confused Contemporary '. It is a Sanskaar that has the potential to transform a family and is focused mainly on the holistic development of the child. Having understood the deeper meaning of VBS, a year-long saga culminated in the Vratabandha Sanskaar for our twins- विभा व विआन on 31 December 2022. Just the way we wanted- low key, with close...

Vratabandha Sanskaar ("VBS") carried a lot of importance in society during the Gurukul Education system ("GES").  VBS is one of the most prominent of the 16 Sanskaars as per Sanatana Dharma. It  is looked at as the second birth of the child. VBS used to serve various objectives. One objective was to celebrate the child's graduation from S hishuawastha  to  BrahmacharyaAshram . VBS, then, also acted as a farewell, since the child left the house for good 10-15 years to pursue formal education in the GES. And, as the name suggests, VBS involved taking vows, which acted as a guideline for the next stage of life. Education then was free for all and a non-negotiable element in society. India had a rich literate population, literacy was a whooping 97-100%The society was divided into four Varnas- Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shoodra . Each Varna had its place in society and there was no discrimination Children from all Varnas went to GES and underwent VBS. During...

Two families, two set of twins, two cars, set out to explore - Tamil Nadu this time. Why? Dhanushkodi was on our wishlist for long. With the solo bike ride to Leh Ladakh, Tejas had ticked off one of the long pending item from his wishlist. Why not tick off the other too! Get - set - go..  Family 1: Dr. Shruti Jayasurya  , Abhinav Raj; Kids: Srishti and Smriti (5 yrs) Family 2: Prachi, Tejas ; Kids: Vibha and Viaan (7 yrs) What was our travel agenda? To explore things that give an identity to the location which includes food, people, culture, landscapes, flora, fauna, weather and so on. Tamil Nadu being the Temple State of India, we did visit a few of them. Most of these temples have interesting history, geography, architecture, sociology  elements which one can study irrespective of whether one s a believer or not. Journaling my thoughts here about the travel, the happy, the not so happy experiences. The Rotue:  While the destination calling us was Dhanuskodi, w...

 This city was calling me for a long time! One day, as I was suggesting my friend- 'Go take a break, go to an unknown city, spend a few days and you will be a new you' and I thought well, not a bad idea to implement it myself! Only change, I asked Viaan and Vibha (now 7) if they would like to join. Reluctant at first, to leave their 'Summer Holiday' mode, they agreed. And we started planning our 'Unschooling Expedition' to a city we have never been before. Coimbatore: Here we come! One week- No agenda, no checklist. Sharing here a few takeaways, from planning and execution which I feel helped us 'Enjoy the trip' inspite of being the solo grown up with kids. 1. The Planning Stage: Like any other work, this stage is important to plan any holiday for that matter. What were our objectives in doing this circus of travel? No it wasn't a luxury holiday. My objective was to get myself and kids an experience, an experience to understand: We have never done th...

Aarohified - Yet Again When we started upon this journey of unschooling, we took the leap of  faith and decided to trust our instincts. Unschooling being a less trodden path, we had to find answers to our questions ourselves. Questions like 'What about future', 'How will they learn', 'Do we follow a structure or a curriculum' and more. One of the resources which has been a part of our unschooling journey is - Aarohi ( Aarohi Life Education ), through their multiple avenues like Jagriti, Saturday Open Learning AMA (Ask me Anything) calls, social media updates, opportunity to visit the campus etc.  Last month, I had this surge of emotions- feeling lost, feeling 'I have to string everything together', we are drifting off our path, kids are listening, kids are not interested in learning, how to I balance my work and their learning journey- you get the drift! I am sure school or no school, these emotions hit many parents on and off.   How do I resolve my inte...