We believe in telling our the whole truth to our children even if it makes us uncomfortable. We have a teenage kid. Our belief is derived from our experience of raising our three kids. Our actions provide lessons for our children.

We started home schooling with a rough agenda of what we thought we should cover. Coming from our past experience, initially the schedule was packed with plenty of literary education. We found ourselves stressed out and our children tired out at the end of each day. In spite of keeping the agenda flexible for the children we found that any prescribed textbook was only a guide and there was a lot more to discover by looking out for things ourselves. This curiosity usually got killed if we restricted our search for experience and knowledge.

1) It forced us to comply to a pattern.

Conventional education makes independent thinking extremely difficult. Conformity leads to mediocrity. To be different from the group or to resist environment is not easy and is often risky as long as we worship success. The urge to be successful, which is the pursuit of reward whether in the material or in the so-called spiritual sphere, the search for inward or outward security, the desire for comfort—this whole process smothers discontent, puts an end to spontaneity and breeds fear; and fear blocks the intelligent understanding of life.

Its been really hectic since my last blog entry. I am now very sure that I still have a long way to go before I can say I have understood it all! But the experience of the past few days has been a little eerie, sometimes overwhelming, awe-inspiring...I will leave it to the reader to decide I guess.

A Yatra into your own self
{article appeared in Crossover India}

A family of five make an unusual pilgrimage of [w:Gujarat]. To visit the Gods of development—unsung, unhonoured heroes working on water, education and primary health.

I’ve often met, over many years, people who have spoken wistfully of their need to step away from the corporate rat race, and ‘do something meaningful in life’.

Its been an adventurous but tough journey so far. We have been trying to have 5 kids at home enabling them to learn the right way to live and helping them to learn on their own. We started with a big bang a month ago. Having seen a few other brave souls enable education at home for their children we had all the theory in place....it just needed to be put into practice. I am still a little raw from the wounds of the experience but having gotten over the initial euphoria and then depression now I can truly say our boat is set in the right direction at least.

Dearest Soumya: It would be refreshing as always to have you home for a few days. You must come and stay with us.

Thought you'd enjoy this... :)

According to ancient Tamil scriptures..

Ten sins of writing
1. Omitting vital details
2. Excessive details
3. Repetition
4. Contradiction
5. Using inappropriate words
6. Confusing ideas
7. Adding meaningless words
8. Explaining unrelated topics
9. Slowly reducing integrity of intention and finally losing the meaning
10. Remaining slience when words are necessary

be blessed,
murali.

Dear Sir

I hope you are fine and doing well. Please give my regards to Anuradha and your children.

Just happened to see your website, it is nice and lot's of discussion happening!

I wonder! What makes you to take such a decision! It is like sun rising from west, turnaround! This makes me thinking "Are we [living] in such democracy! Are we so free? Is this freeness within us?"

Why everybody can’t do this? Is this the system or society's problem? We are just tied with routine life, bonded with so many things!

Dear Navyug:

Never shall I forget the association I had with you and QAI. Didn't find the heart to write to a fine individual like you to tell you that we have wound up everything in Bangalore and gone in search of a better environment to begin living like sages. Part of the reason is guilt in going away from the fine institution your team has built under your stewardship. To a smaller extent it is mixed and confused feeling of disappointment, sadness, excitement, and adventure.

Dear Amma & Appa:

Our prayers for your good health and peace of mind. Hope you two are enjoying with Rajee, Hari and the kids. We are settling in with the gurukulam. The kids and us are have great time together learning many things that we have never known existed in the world before. As we work with the kids we are learning so much more about all of us. Therefore they have become our teachers, we their students.