Saidevi Sanjeeviraja grew up with nature as her fixed companion within the Jap Ghats in Tamil Nadu. Rising up close to the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, she was surrounded by peacocks and an endangered species of squirrel. Weekends usually concerned chicken watching each on and off college grounds. This setting provided her ample unstructured time in nature.
“Since my mom labored because the principal of my college, I had the liberty throughout summer season holidays to roam round 20 acres of land, usually in solitude. Such an surroundings nurtured my curiosity — I spent hours observing ant lions developing tiny entice holes or watched tailor birds adeptly weaving cobwebs between leaves to create their properties,” she recollects in a dialog with The Higher India.
She would usually discover herself drawn again into the lap of nature even after her educational journey in finance and worldwide enterprise.
Reflecting again on these childhood, she realised that shifting to Bengaluru as an grownup had created an enormous hole in how kids interacted with nature.
“Whereas the town boasts a wealth of inexperienced areas, with parks and lakes inside a few kilometres from practically each residence, there’s a noticeable hole in how kids can work together with nature,” she says.
“Not like the unstructured freedom I loved, kids in Bengaluru expertise extra regimented interactions with nature, restricted to temporary, managed visits to parks. They’re usually directed by adults and certain by many restrictions, like not being allowed to run or sit in sure areas,” she provides.
Not like her personal childhood, the place hours might be spent observing the intricate behaviour of ants or the architectural talents of tailor birds, the city kids had little or no unstructured playtime in pure environments.
Realising that structured and restricted park visits had been inflicting kids to overlook out on the identical experiences that had formed her, Saidevi determined to create’ Thicket Tales’. This organisation goals to bridge the hole between kids and nature in cities by making studying an fascinating journey.
“I needed to create a pure immersive expertise for kids the place they might discover like how I explored, in order that they’re impartial amidst nature,” she provides.
Bringing nature into training
With Thicket Tales, Saidevi introduces center college college students, notably these from low-income households, to the wonders of nature by means of hands-on experiences like nature walks, storytelling, and environmental tasks.
She has been remodeling the way in which science and social science are taught by integrating them with nature.
The organisation operates throughout roughly 100 faculties and parks in Bengaluru, offering an 80-minute weekly session that enables kids to be taught by interacting with the surroundings. Every session goals to foster curiosity and encourage kids to find and be taught by means of self-directed exploration.
Initially met with skepticism, Saidevi’s method has step by step gained acceptance as its impression has turn into evident by means of movies and tangible outcomes.
The organisation consists of a gifted workforce, together with a educated biologist, a science communicator, and an instructional director – all working collectively to make ecological training accessible and immersive.
The ability of Thicket Tales lies in its simplicity and impression. As kids discover the parks round Bengaluru, they interact in actions that problem their cognitive and sensory abilities.
“These walks are stuffed with alternatives for spontaneous studying — kids would possibly determine a chicken species by their calls or perceive pollination by watching bees at work. This hands-on method goes past bookish data. It deeply instills an appreciation for and understanding of nature,” she shares.
“For kids in low-income settings, these experiences turn into much more profound. Typically missing entry to extracurricular actions, these nature walks provide them a brand new world to discover and luxuriate in,” she provides.
Saidevi notes how by means of actions like scavenger hunts or storytelling beneath bushes, the kids develop crucial considering abilities and acquire empathy in direction of all residing creatures.
One specific occasion stands out in illustrating the transformative potential of Saidevi’s packages. A gaggle of scholars labored on figuring out completely different species of butterflies over a sequence of periods. They got cameras to doc their findings and shared their observations with enthusiasm.
“One pupil, who initially confirmed little curiosity, grew fascinated by a standard Mormon butterfly he captured. His newfound curiosity propelled him to be taught extra about butterflies, main him to current his findings to his friends and oldsters with confidence,” she provides.
One other story is of how, throughout a dialogue on local weather change, a pupil realised the significance of the town’s inexperienced cowl. Utilizing maps from 1973 and 2011, college students had been in a position to attract poignant connections between dwindling inexperienced areas and rising city temperatures.
“This train not solely bolstered their geographic abilities but additionally instilled a way of duty to advocate for greener practices of their neighborhood,” she shares proudly.
Constructing a way forward for eco-conscious residents
Via these immersive programmes, kids should not simply passive learners however lively members and changemakers. They’re taught to determine environmental points inside their communities and inspired to plan options. Whether or not it’s a litter drawback in a park or lack of inexperienced areas, these younger minds are empowered to suppose critically and compassionately.
Sonia, a category 8 pupil at Ashoka Shishu Vihara college of Bengaluru, shares with enthusiasm the essence of her studying journey. “I really like these nature courses,” she started, her phrases imbued with heat.
“Probably the most lovely a part of this journey is experiencing all of it with my associates. My college gave me the fantastic alternative to study nature, what results in local weather change, and the animals that inhabit our world,” she provides.
She paused, reflecting on the data she cherished. “I’ve even discovered about several types of snakes, crops, and animals. It’s fascinating to find all these items along with associates.”
With a twinkle in her eye, she continues, “Saidevi aka (sister) doesn’t simply train us from books. She exhibits us real-life examples, like photos on TV and samples of leaves and flowers. It’s wonderful! Once we go to parks, she explains all the pieces we see, and now I may even determine a few of the bushes and birds round my residence and within the parks.”
Sonia’s ardour was evident, her phrases portray an image of a nurturing and galvanizing instructional expertise that had really ignited her love for the pure world.
Saidevi’s imaginative and prescient is to domesticate a era that isn’t solely knowledgeable concerning the surroundings but additionally concerned in its preservation. Thicket Tales is greater than only a nature stroll — it’s a motion in direction of rethinking how training can incorporate real-world points, fostering a era that deeply respects their pure world.
“Recognising the success of those packages, native authorities our bodies like BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) have proven curiosity in incorporating our strategies into their college curriculums. There’s hope that such initiatives will develop, create ripples of change throughout extra faculties,” she provides.
By rekindling a baby’s innate curiosity and love for nature, she isn’t solely enriching lives but additionally cultivating a extra conscientious and sustainable future for Bengaluru and past. Via nature, these kids be taught the interconnectedness of life – a lesson that lasts a lifetime.
Edited by Vidya Gowri; All photographs courtesy: Thicket Tales.