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The World at Isha Vidhya
Educating Rural India Jan 2016
Gratitude for Support after the Floods
November and December 2015 saw unprecedented rains in Tamil Nadu that led to widespread waterlogging and floods. Our schools in Cuddalore and Villupuram also suffered damage to the building and equipment. Cuddalore school particularly, which is next to the sea, faced large scale damage. After the storm shattered window panes, water entered rooms and destroyed the computers and files.

Many of our students and staff members, along with villagers, lost all their material possessions. Roofs and walls of huts collapsed in the villages, leaving villagers homeless.

In this hour of trial, several of our supporters came out to help ease the situation. Some raised funds to replace the computers. Few others sent trucks with new and old clothes to distribute among students, our staff members and villagers. Food material, household items and even stoves were sent so that people could start getting back on their feet.

Crops have been destroyed and daily wage earners are still struggling to get their life together. Isha Foundation, parent organization of Isha Education, sent their medical van so that the doctors could help diagnose minor ailments and provide medicines.

We thank each of you who donated to provide support during this period of disaster.
School Buzz
Learning number names playfully, eliminated any anxiety and created a delightful learning environment.
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Pongal, the most important festival in Tamil Nadu, was celebrated traditionally in all our schools.
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Tuticorin School students perform creditably in State Level Sports Meet.
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Events and Other News
Mumbai Marathon

Over Rs. one crore has been raised by Mumbai Isha Vidhya supporters who once again enthusiastically participated in the Mumbai Marathon. Read more
Run a Book Drive

Do you have books that your children have outgrown but are gathering dust at home? Give these books a new lease of life by donating them to Isha Vidhya school libraries. Read more
Funds to Replace Ageing Computers and Laptops

We need funds for to replace old, unreliable laptops of our Central Team. Read more
Name the Number Game
Learning by rote at a young age seems such a tough and fruitless activity, There is no joy in it. But school-teachers have the unenviable task of making their wards learn hundreds of things. Rather than curbing the joy of tiny-tots by excessive discipline, Isha Vidhya teachers bring play into learning.

Tuticorin School's upper kindergarten (UKG) teachers, Ms.Suba and Ms. Selva Rani created a game around the objective of the learning of numeric names. The class was divided into 10 groups with 3 to 4 students in each group. Each group was then handed a pouch with number cards (numerical) and cards with the names of numbers (in words). The students had to correctly match the number to its name. Once they got all the number names right, they passed their pouch to the next group and got a fresh set of numbers.

Students loved the game. They competed excitedly with each other to be the first and fastest to get the correct answers.
Pongal Celebration
The harvest festival of Pongal is a celebration of life and an offering of gratitude to the sun, the harvest and the cattle. Old ideas and things are discarded on the first day of the festival to make space for new life. Earth, fire and sun come together when pongal, the rice dish, is cooked in an earthen pot, in out in the open.

At Isha Vidhya schools we celebrate with all the traditional glory. Students and staff members dress in their finest clothes. Traditional songs and dances are performed but the most important activity is the cooking of the pongal . Loud cries of pongolo, pongolo fill the air as water overflows from the earthen pot as pongal is cooked.

This year, some schools even arranged for bullocks and bullock cart. Many students whose parents do not have the financial means to celebrate festivals, get to do so in school. They also learn about the intricate relationship between nature and man. This message is especially important in this time when humans are plundering nature for short-term benefits.
State Level Sports Meet
After winning a number of medals in Divisional Level Sports Meet, Tuticorin School students S. Thanga Jebin, A. Sooraj Sharan Gaysab and P. Aravindh qualified for the State Level Sports Meet. The state level competition, which was scheduled for the first week of December was postponed due to rains in Chennai. It was finally held from 18th to 20th December 2015, at Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore.

Students from 15 districts competed against each other in various sports. Each category had 30 contestants. Our three valiant students gave their all against strong contestants to perform creditably.

S.Thanga Jebin came 4th in High Jump. P. Aravindh was declared 5th in 100m Dash and A. Sooraj Sharan Gaysab reached 10th position in the Discus Throw competition.

Congratulations to the students and PET teachers! We look forward to more student participation and medal wins in coming years.
Mumbai Maarathon
260 Isha volunteers and 190 employees from 8 corporate firms ran in the Mumbai Marathon on 17th January 2016 to raise funds for Isha Vidhya. Long after the Marathon, Mumbai volunteers are continuing their drive to bring donations for Isha Vidhya.

Two of the participants share their thoughts:

Sreedevi ~ "Pure joy, joy that manifests as tears and smiles - that's what we experienced once again. Anything that Sadhguru and our Isha Family helps us experience cannot be anything but bliss. Feeling so blessed.
Do I know the names of the people I walked with? Do I know the names of the people I cheered for? Do I know the names of the people I danced and shared wonderful moments with? NO! All I know I was one with all and this happens only with Isha!"


Mahalaxmi ~ "It was an awesome experience. I was always on the other side i.e. in cheering team but this time I decided to register for Dream run. In the process I broke my limitation of asking people for donation. During the run it was just amazing. Don't know from where the energy came to keep shouting the slogans throughout and then to dance on beats of Sounds of Isha.
It was indeed a blissful experience! Thanks to the cheering team and Sounds of Isha, they made it more energetic. Of course all this was not possible without Sadhguru's grace"
Book Drive
Many of Isha Vidhya kids come from financially constrained backgrounds. Their parents cannot afford to purchase books, so the bright, colourful books and magazines in the school library are a big draw for them. We even have library-in-classroom for junior classes so that kids get into the habit of picking up books.

Many families have books that their children have outgrown and are lying at home, of no value anymore. You can run a book drive within your family, friends and colleagues requesting them to donate books. These need to be in a good condition so that the students at Isha Vidhya would be attracted to them and want to pick them up. People can also donate new books or even stationary/art and craft material. Once you have collected the books, you can ship them to our Chennai volunteer's address or Coimbatore Office address.

If you are interested in running a book drive, please write in to us at asmita.sinha@ishavidhya.org.

We have several other volunteering opportunities. To know about them, please register* as a Friend of Isha Vidhya.

*The registration process will take less than a minute.
Laptop for Central Team Members
Isha Vidhya's Central Team members are constantly on the move, travelling to different schools, collecting data, sharing information with school teams. Laptops that crash frequently or do not support modern software increases their workload and reduces efficiency. They have to write down notes in notebooks and then have to transcribe them online and create digital files.

We have identified a laptop model which is light, reliable and yet has a configuration that can support the work of our team members for a long time. Each laptop costs Rs. 25,500 and we need to replace 30 of them.

You can donate here. For inquiries or more information about donations, email at donations@ishavidhya.org.

For offline donations, please send your cheque to the address given below. The cheques are to be written in favour of the organisation printed in bold text. Tax benefits available.

India USA & Canada UK
Isha Education
14, CA Thevar Layout,
Kannaperan Mill Road,
Udayampalayam,
Coimbatore, 641 028, INDIA
donations@ishavidhya.org
Ph: +91 94425-44458
Isha Foundation Inc.
Attn: Isha Vidhya
951 Isha Lane,
McMinnville,
TN 37110, USA
Sathish.Raj@ishavidhya.org
Ph: +1 813-434-3515
Isha Institute of Inner Sciences
Attn: Isha Vidhya
10 Thorpland Avenue
Ickenham, Uxbridge
UB 10 8TW, United Kingdom
uk@ishavidhya.org
Ph: +44 7837060625
© Isha Vidhya 2016
C.A. Theyvar Layout,
Kannaperan Mills Road, Udayampalayam,
Coimbatore – 641 028, TN, India