The new face of Indus World School, Indore!

It is going to be two months now that we have shifted location from Sai Kripa colony to Chhawani, which is a centrally located area in Indore.

Being centrally located it is nearly equidistant from all corners of the city. The building, which we took over from the Kamala Nehru Trust, is 50 year old and is magnificent! High roofs and well-lighted, cross-ventilated rooms. – Good space that we wanted for our children! Mentors were generally happy to see the big rooms and the corners there in for setting up activities.

This is a bigger place – two acres. Tennis court and basketball court are being constructed. Behind the building there is open area to play. We have set up our adventure zone and sand pit there. Trees have been used for making rope swings.

The renovation work started in May. Complete flooring has been changed, walls are given bright colors. Inside the class one wall is brightly colored which makes the class very inviting. The corridors and the facade is a combination of bright white and grey. Tree plantation and grass laying is going on. One of our parents helped us to plant trees outside the school boundary wall.

As the children rushed in on the first day – this place came alive! The change of place made a small difference to them. They were looking for familiar faces and their mentors. The younger lot was happy with the new place. The Jigyasa group children had small questions.

The first month went by in orientation of children and working on their baselines. It normally takes some time for children to get adjusted to a new class, new mentor and some new friends in the class. In a non threatening and caring environment children adjust faster and so we saw that within 15 days it did not seem to be new place.

The first meeting with the parents was on 1st of Aug. Sujit, our Chairman, had come down for this to generally interact with the parents. The initial strain of shifting to a new location, which some parents had reflected, seemed to be fading. An exhibition cum sale of Rakhees made by visually challenged children was arranged in the school. We received some valuable feedback from the parents.

A colourful programme marked our first Independence Day in the new campus as we remembered our martyrs and reaffirmed our allegiance to our nation.
August also saw the Math Week. Puzzles, games, magic in the class and on the field had the children hooked for a week. Children still talk about the Math Treasure Hunt and the Math Fair.

A much loved event happened today when children expressed their affection for their mentors. The Teachers' Day celebration was almost completely managed by the class VIII students. The couplets that they wrote not only aptly described each mentor, they also were a mark of the esteem that the children held in their hearts for their mentors.

So much more has happened in these two months. Each day holds its own excitement and learning. Yet, it only seems like yesterday that we had begun this new session.

Now we need to find out ways of influencing this community of people who are living around our school. In my initial discussions about this with our trustee, Suresh Agarwal, it seemed to be a tough task; but I think it is not impossible.

I always believed and shared it also with our mentors that it is our own positivity that makes a place vibrant and gives that happy feeling! I do not know what the role of vastu in it is, but I know that we play the most important role!

Smita Rathore