The journeys of the mind

Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur

At Aarohi there are two kinds of travel that we do.

Outdoor visits: Every alternate Friday we go on local (day) visits to factories, shops, museums, scenic spots, and also to specific people’s house/office.

Outstation trips: Three to five trips in a year ranging from a few days to a few weeks.

To know why we undertake these trips, what we like about them, how they help us learn, we present here thought capsules by some of the children from Aarohi.

When you travel you learn lot of things about the places and cultures. If you don’t see and learn, you may get confused. But when you see and experience, you get the real picture in your head. For example, when we went to Kanha National Park, we learned a lot about the jungle and the animals we saw there. We remember better when we experience something. Even when we watch a documentary about the jungle and wildlife on computer or TV it is not the same as really seeing and feeling in front of you. The experience is totally unforgettable. – Twesha

Whenever I go to trips I learn something and come. I like that we travel to different places so I get opportunity to learn about that place and I get to do many more things which I have not done in life. When I went to Kanha my hidden talent of bird watching came up. I learnt how to live in a jungle. I also learnt how to recognize the wild animals. The Rameshwaram trip was hectic but I learnt about clown fishes and many more things like sea-cages, hatchery, feeding the fishes. I also went to a museum and aquarium. Talking to a scientist was a very nice experience. He shared about fishes and showed different life cycle of a fish. I learnt about seaweed, corals, and sea cucumbers. I learnt how to make an actual boat using thermocol. – Skanda

I learn by going to the local people and asking about their daily life and their profession and asking questions for our learning. I learn the value of money. I also get to know how much should I spend on what. I learn the distance and the route while we are travelling and also learn to prepare myself to pack suitable stuff and care for my food and health. I prepare myself to be in the place by researching about the place. I also learn by thing’s I didn’t do – example didn’t send a email in advance to book some activities we wanted to do. – Yashas

So when I travel I can learn from different people by going and meeting them, so in my home I can’t do that. So when I went to Pune I learned how to make geometric dome and how to chop cabbage in different styles and my challenge was to live without luxury. So if I would have been in my home I could have not learnt to do these things so I would like to travel more.

Before I used to learn from books and now I’m learning from travelling. When I use to read books and learn then I could only read and when I am travelling then I can talk to people: what is it, how it is made, etc.; I can ask questions. So when I went to Pondicherry I learned to talk with different people of different countries. I will suggest other people to also travel and learn. – Ansh

We can learn what we see outside. We can learn the language of the conductor in the bus. Next time, we can speak the language with them. We can learn how the bus works and we can see birds and learn about birds. We can learn what we see like for example trees. We can talk with people and learn from what they say. We can look and learn. We can observe which insect we see. We can talk and learn. We can spend time with people and we can learn. When I saw stones in one of my trip, I was curious about it. – Shiva

Trips help me to learn and understand different places, cultures, and language. When I go for vacations (with family) usually I explore food and places. However, in educational trips I’ve learnt to manage money, about paddy fields, animal habitats, bird names, food arrangement, cleaning window, learning about rocks and plants, etc. I usually like exploring the places. Most of all I want to learn more about different places where I have not been to. I am looking forward to my next trip. – Davin

Travelling to learn helps me to understand about new things that I have not seen before like Pamban Bridge opening and closing, seeing CFMRI museum. It helps me in getting ideas. It helps me in language and reading. It gives me chance to do star gazing in the night. It is different from other ways of learning because you can see the things in real and from different angles. I like chit chatting with my friends during the travel. – Shreyas S

When we travel we go meet and talk to different people and we take their Knowledge. While we are travelling we learn by observing things. Travelling is different from other learnings because we are not sitting and copying what is written in the book. I would like to continue learning like this only. – Radhika

Trips help me get interest in a vivid range of topics. For example, we had been to Rameshwaram and Mandapam recently and the theme of this trip was of marine and water. But we can learn a LOT other than this. I collected information of how the people there live, their income, etc. It helps me to experience new places, get to know about their living styles, and a lot more. Travelling to me is, understanding and experiencing other places and people. It opens doors of options of learning. – Shreyas

Travelling is enthralling
You learn a lot
And come home with a thought.
You learn skills
You get your fill
It is a lot of work
Still it is worth it.
Get up early
It’s too foggy, you can’t see clearly

You go to the beach
Speak in a different speech
You see fish
That’s going to be a dish.
It is hot, you are tired,
You’ve burned out all your fire
You talk to people
You can’t be feeble
You stay in a place
You realize it’s not about the space.

You look into a book and read
When you get there, you have what you need
With experience as the seed
You move with independence and lead.
You come home changed
By travel you’re trained.
You go to sleep
Dreaming deep.
– Sidharth

Travelling helps me to learn to manage while I am not very comfortable. In travel I like to see outside and observe the stores, houses and buildings, and also do bird watching. – Advik

While travelling I interact with different kinds of people and listen to the things they have to share. While travelling I also see places and things outside, like restaurants, religious places, and on and on. From this I get the opportunity to learn about new places and see how they work. Especially, when I visit new places that I have never visited before. I LOVE talking and that’s good for me so I can interact with people. You even learn how to express yourself by talking to new people. – Pratyaksh

Explore, discover, and dream
Travel is to just come out from comfort
And discover new things
Don’t waste your time in your home
Travel as much as you can
Travel as far as you can
Travel as long as you can
Life is not meant to be lived in one place
So travel, travel, travel.
– Arsalan

The authors run an open unschool called Aarohi and invite all readers to visit and see how open learning can be an amazing way to work with children. They also conduct training retreats and online training for teachers and parents. Visit www.aarohilife.org.