#0060: We love to learn!

Reading time: 12.30 min

Hey !!👋

You are invited to come and meet me and Adi

https://wequil.app/room/M5UVU0BGIR8FZM

This week let's read about:

• Adi visits his birthplace, Bangalore

• Adi explores metro station for the first time

• Kids who are welcome everywhere

Hello,

Bangalore trip happened because we wanted to connect with a lot of people doing amazing things in education and alternate spaces.

Our first day started with our visit to Project DEFY, which is based on the principles of experiential learning and a self-designed education.

The centers are called nooks and we visited the JP Nagar branch in Bangalore.

Adi was immediately in love with the nook and we were all inspired by how the center was designed to promote learning and creativity.

Every nook is headed by a mentor and this place smells creativity, with resources all around kids can choose to cook, play, experiment, learn music, research, create art, write and imagine and many other things

We were lucky to meet some of the kids who shared their interests with us. One of the boys we met could speak in 6 languages, one of them loved to cook and there was little girl who loved art.

We were lucky to meet the founder of the Project DEFY - Abhijit Sinha, he was kind to share his experiences and the idea behind DEFY.

He explained the need for alternate learning spaces in India, where a large number of children are deprived of quality education. He shared how DEFY is providing an informal but meaningful learning experience for these kids.

We shared our common interest for food and desserts over dinner and discussed the schooling system in India.

It was a great evening that provided us with interesting insights about Project DEFY, the people behind it and their inspirational story of changing lives. Abhijit Sinha also shared his upcoming plans for Project DEFY which were quite exciting.

Next we met Vineet Shrivastava the founder of Wibyte and he was kind to take us for lunch, we had a good discussion on homeschooling and project based learning over Andhra meals, Adi shared his scratch projects with him. He connected us to a lot of homeschoolers in Bangalore.

We were staying with my childhood friend and her family in Bangalore, it was a lovely experience to be able to connect after so many years. We spoke about our hostel days, shared secrets and lots of laughter.

My friend has two lovely kids and we visited the HAL museum and the Sri Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technical Museum together. Kids were super excited and it was a great experience.

Bangalore offered us a lot of memories in these few days. We met some amazing people who shared their inspiring stories, connected with friends old and new, tasted delicious food, explored the city and learnt a lot.

Adi and his metro adventures

After missing the metro experience in Nagpur and Hyderabad Adi was really looking forward to the metro in Bangalore. He was really excited to see the infrastructure of Bangalore Metro and he wasn't disappointed either.

The metro stations were well maintained and the lines were very clean. He was also pleasantly surprised to find out that most of the stations had escalators, making it easier for senior citizens and people with disabilities to travel on the metro without any difficulty.

He was easily managing booking tickets, using the metro card , and even found out that there were customer service counters in each station to help out if there were any queries.

Adi was also impressed by the punctuality of the service, as all trains arrived on time and departed on schedule. He enjoyed taking the Bangalore Metro to travel between different parts of the city, as it was not only convenient but also cost effective.

Overall, Adi had a great experience travelling on the Bangalore Metro and would definitely recommend it to his friends and family for their next trip to the city.

We have been in different homes in the last 23 days, as we have been traveling to different places. Each home has its unique style, and each house has been filled with laughter, smiles, music, and play. We have experienced a lot of new food and activities that we would never have imagined before our journey began.

In every place we visit, the people are so welcoming and kind-hearted. We can't help but be in awe of the beauty of the landscapes and be moved by the strength of the people we meet. We have had so many wonderful experiences, learning about different cultures and embracing them with open arms.

Experiencing different homes I was curious to see how Adi will adjust to different settings, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

In one of the Airbnb accommodations, Adi helped me clean up, cook dinner, and take care of the dishes.

In Hyderabad where we had mostly adults around Adi was able to talk to adults, share his work and projects, learn about his host family's culture, and create a bond. He participated in discussions, was able to convey his thoughts and opinions, express his feelings, and even taught us a thing or two.

In my friend's house in Bangalore where we had little kids, Adi enjoyed playing games, listening to music, going out for fun activities, and having long conversations about silly topics. He was very gentle and patient with little kids and was able to share and play with them.

Currently, we are in a house with a lot of people and boys his age, I see that he plays with the boys and at the same time keeps his distance when they are on meaningless videos on phones, he finds time to finish his projects and continues to learn.

In one of the spaces where I was not feeling comfortable in Nagpur as there were not many things to do there for a kid his age, he surprised me by finding things to play with, creating small objects from available items.

Adi is growing up with each of these adventures, discovering himself, learning, and exploring new places. He is a brave little kid who loves challenges and adventure, whether it may be a new game, trying out new food, or discovering unknown places.

He has been so brave, adventurous, and fearless throughout this journey. I could never have imagined that my son will be able to adjust to different homes in such a short period. He is growing up too fast!

This made me think of Jordan Petersons' video on raising kids

Message for kids

“Do not bite, kick or hit, except in self-defence. Do not torture and bully other children, so you don’t end up in jail. Eat in a civilized and thankful manner, so that people are happy to have you at their house, and pleased to feed you. Learn to share, so other kids will play with you. Pay attention when spoken to by adults, so they don’t hate you and might therefore deign to teach you something. Go to sleep properly, and peaceably, so that your parents can have a private life and not resent your existence. Take care of your belongings, because you need to learn how and because you’re lucky to have them. Be good company when something fun is happening, so that you’re invited for the fun. Act so that other people are happy you’re around, so that people will want you around. A child who knows these rules will be welcome everywhere.”
Jordan Peterson