Farmhouse Retreat

My class on Education Policy and Decentralisation took a field trip to a village. One of the students, Sanjeet, was kind enough to offer his farmhouse for all of us to stay at the night before. Sanjeet has an amazing story which I will save for another post. Briefly though, for 20 years or so he worked in the corporate world and decided to leave his job and enter in the MA program at Azim Premji University. His family runs a school in a village outside Bangalore and he wanted to learn more about education in India and put his talents to good use in the social sector.

There was about 15 of us including my Professor, Dr. Paik. This class is more like a community and how they interact with each other, with me, and our Professor is a case study in itself. Right from day 1 of the class, I felt the warmth, kindness, and enthusiasm from each one of them. The farmhouse adventure is a testament to their true generosity and compassion.

We left the campus around 5:30pm on this bus that looked more like a party bus. There was a disco ball on the inside and they had funky lights. Right from the start, I knew this would be a memory of a lifetime.

                            

                                                  

What do you think there are trying to say?

We got to the house and it felt like a reunion of people who had known each other for years. All of the students are in their second year of their Masters program so they have known each other for a year and half. I did not feel like an outsider at all.

We put our bags down and started to play games (my favorite!). We started with Dobble which is the same as Spot It but they do not have the cute yellow Spot It figure and the Dobble character is purple. Then moved on to karaoke, HeadsUp, dinner, and a bond fire. Most of us went to bed by 2 a.m. And no alcohol, school rules.

I don't know how to put into words how I felt at the farmhouse. It truly felt as if I had known these people for years. I had so many deep conversations about life, education, family, partners, self-care, real-estate in India, women, pets, farming...the list goes on and on. Everyone was open to talking about anything and everything. We are now bonded for life! Thank you Dr. Paik for bringing us all together and creating a community rather than just a class! I have a deep admiration for all these wonderful people that are doing such great work in India around education.