At C3STREAM Land, Karan who we know through the weekend Vipassana sit heard about our network issues and took the responsibility of clean up and setting up a 1Gb switch. As we are also a place of learning and growth, I took on the responsibility of managing the switch and router after the initial setup and Karan taught me how to manage and configure the switch and router.
Karan took the time to explain everything to me step-by-step on Sundays, from assigning IPs and splitting them to each port, to organizing the routing of the Ethernet cables and labeling them for easy reference. He patiently guided me through the process, ensuring that I understood each concept before moving on to the next.
I learned to assign IPs and split them to each port. I also organized the routing of the Ethernet cables and labeled them for easy reference. I also learned to check for updates and install them on the router. We soon had an issue where I needed to do this and I was able to get us up and running quickly.
I also learned that managing the network is not only about
technical skills and I communicated any issues or concerns with Karan and the
team, and the internet provider. I learned a lot about myself during this
process, including my ability to take action, communicate effectively, and work
collaboratively with others.
I was grateful for the opportunity to learn from Karan and acknowledge his patience, and I found that I enjoyed working on this project. Through this experience, I developed a greater understanding of network infrastructure and gained valuable skills in organization, planning and coordination that I will use in other areas of work in C3STREAM Land.
The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) symposium is a major international conference that brings together mathematicians, mathematics educators, and researchers from around the world to discuss current issues and challenges in mathematics education. The symposium is held every four years and features a range of presentations, workshops, and discussions on topics such as mathematics curriculum development, teacher education, assessment, and the use of technology in mathematics teaching and learning. The ICMI symposium provides a forum for sharing ideas, research findings, and best practices in mathematics education, and plays an important role in shaping the future direction of mathematics education worldwide.
Pratap Ganesan, Saranya Bharathi, Muralidharan Aswathaman, and Vasantharaj Gandhi presented a poster presentation on how the Isai Ambalam School in India used cultural celebrations and festivals to promote universal values and environmental consciousness among its students. The research methodology employed the theoretical framework of interrupting disempowering ISMs (rigid and disempowering mindsets) and the wisdom profile that embodies universal values to address all ISMs simultaneously. The philosophy underlying the C3STREAM Land is based on the progressive and constructivist thinkers such as Bruner, Papert, and Sri Aurobindo, who emphasized self-knowledge and integral development. The interventions discussed in the poster include Aadi festival and garden, Maavoli, Christmas decoration and fair, and Pongal, which provided opportunities for students to learn about different topics, such as monsoons, environmentally conscious alternatives, and traditional games, and encouraged higher-order thinking skills. Overall, the poster emphasizes the importance of collective effort beyond silos of subject learning to promote universal values and create empowering narratives through festivals and celebrations.
One of the ways the teachers shifted the culture in their community was by addressing social issues that had previously been ignored. For example, they tackled the notion that only women should do kolam (a traditional Indian art form using rice flour), and encouraged the participation of men as well. This mixed-gender approach during the kolam event was a significant shift in the cultural norm.
As part of their project, the teachers organized a vegetable gardening competition to further encourage families to grow their own food. The winners of the competition were awarded a variety of vegetables, which could be used to make a nutritious dinner for their families. This initiative was highlighted in the symposium and received positive feedback from the audience.
During the symposium, participants were able to connect with the teachers and provide examples from their own experiences. This allowed for a meaningful exchange of ideas and strategies for addressing socio-ecological issues in different communities around the world.
Reflections from the authors
Attending the conference was a turning point for me as it boosted my confidence to speak about our work with children and helped me understand the significance of contributing to the world and the impact we create. I take pride in my personal growth as I was able to answer the audience’s questions without any assistance. The response was overwhelming, and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with a diverse audience worldwide. Our approach to breaking down societal barriers and isms with children inspired many, and people expressed their interest in knowing more about our work. I am grateful for the support of Sanjeev Ranganathan, Saranya Bharathi, Muralidharan Aswathaman, and Vasantharaj Gandhi in making this happen. The team spirit and the commitment that you all contribute enriched our work with children and I will use it in my life.
I noticed that being part of this research paper and presenting it to a wider audience around the globe helped me realize the importance of the work we do here. Seeing people appreciate the paper this much indicates that we as a team are addressing the isms and doing things in an alternative method for the betterment of society.
I have learned that I presented well, but I still need more practice. I took extensive notes on Sri Aurobindo’s principles of true education, but only two minutes were allocated for me. As a result, I was only able to convey the essence of the Aadi Massam project and the garden. However, I noticed that I am able to summarize and convey my ideas effectively in a very short amount of time.
Overall, the teachers’ presentation at the international ICIM symposium was a success. They were able to share their innovative approach to shifting culture and addressing social issues, and their work was well received by the audience. The teachers’ dedication to their project and their willingness to try new approaches were admirable and inspiring, and they made a positive impact in their community.
The Let’s Talk Trash group in Auroville is a community of dedicated individuals committed to keeping their surroundings clean and sustainable. They have a routine of collecting waste every Sunday from different areas in and around Auroville. This week, they decided to come to Edyanchavady, and I enrolled the Shifuans, a group of of C3STREAM students, to join them. We met at the government school in Edyanchavady, and a few children from the school also came forward to lend a helping hand. The Let’s Talk Trash group provided proper gloves to each and every one of us, and we started collecting waste from the roadside and inside the school campus. They had different bags for paper, plastic bags, mixed waste, and glass bottles. It was amazing to see how everyone was so enthusiastic about cleaning the area and segregating the waste. After an hour of cleaning, we brought everything back to the school to load it onto the van. We washed our hands, and the Let’s Talk Trash group gave a short explanation of waste segregation and what happens when everything is put together. They explained that it is burned, and how that contributes to pollution and is not an environmentally friendly option. Burning plastic is a harmful practice that releases toxic chemicals into the air, which can cause various health problems. Polluting a pond can have severe consequences on the ecosystem and the living beings that depend on it. The pond is a vital part of the water cycle and serves as a habitat for many aquatic species. One of the major causes of pond pollution is human activity. Dumping waste, garbage, chemicals, washing clothes and other harmful substances into the pond can lead to a host of problems. The waste materials can cause an imbalance in the pond’s natural ecosystem, affecting the oxygen levels and the quality of water. This can lead to the death of aquatic plants and animals, making the pond unfit for other species to survive.
Through cleaning and waste segregation activities, the children learned about the impact of waste on the environment and the importance of preserving it. They also learned about the negative effects of pollution on living beings, including animals and humans. The children and Shifuans learned the importance of taking responsibility for their actions and the impact they have on the environment. They learned about the need to properly dispose of waste and reduce their environmental footprint. Participating in cleaning activities helped the children develop teamwork and collaboration skills. They learned to work together to achieve a common goal and appreciate the importance of each person’s contribution. The children also learned about the importance of maintaining a clean and healthy environment for their own health and safety. They learned about the proper use of protective equipment, such as gloves and masks, to protect themselves while cleaning. Overall, participating in cleaning and waste segregation activities helped the children develop a sense of responsibility and environmental awareness, while also building important life skills such as collaboration and problem-solving. These learning outcomes can help them become more conscious and responsible citizens of the world committed to preserving and protecting the environment. It was a great learning experience for everyone, especially the children. They realized the importance of keeping their surroundings clean and how to segregate waste properly. It was heartening to seehow everyone came together to make a difference in their community. We hope to continue to work with the Let’s Talk Trash group in the future to keep our community
Insights: ” It gave me a sense of purpose and inspired me to be more mindful of my plastic usage. It also gave me satisfaction knowing that I contributed to our environment”
On February 18th, from 8:45 AM
to 5:30 PM, C3stemland organized a radical transformation leadership program in
Tamil at Auroville SAIIER conference hall. It was a one day program in Tamil, facilitated
by Srilatha Juva, Professor at TISS. B.VOC students and teachers, SAIIER
staffs, employees, volunteers and their family members were invited for the
program.
The primary objective of the
program was to help participants identify their stand,fear, four profiles and
gain a deeper understanding of their background conversations, system principles,
and design from universal values. By participating in these sessions,
participants were able to develop a new project that addressed their problem
statement, focusing on self-growth or social issues, and using their potential
to bring about positive change in themselves and their communities.
Around 55 people took part of
the program. Throughout the program, participants collaborated with their
partners, shared their reflections and insights, and engaged in a collective
effort to create a better future.
The
program was an interactive session with everyone and involved practicing the
tools such as:
Introducing oneself with what one deeply cares about or universal
values that reflects one’s purpose and vision
Identifying one’s own profile based on four dimensions: wisdom,
social, personality, and professional
Understanding one’s own background conversations within the family
and how they influence one’s actions and choices
Deriving system principles based
on universal values
Designing projects based on universal values and system principles,
noticing system and cultural norms, and shifting them by being in action
Throughout the session, everyone engaged with their
partners and shared their reflections and insights on plenary.
Some of
the insights from participants during the session were:
I realized that I have been limiting myself by my own beliefs and
fears
I learned how to communicate effectively with others without being
judgmental or defensive
I discovered my passion for environmental sustainability and how I
can contribute to it through my project
I felt more confident and empowered to take action for my goals
Poovizhi
Organizing the program was an opportunity for me to stretch beyond my comfort zone and be in rigor. At the end of the session, I felt whole and fulfilled. I was able to ask for support from my team. I was able to notice my fear, my background conversations and that I judge myself when I shared my personal example with everyone specially because most of the participants were from local area and were people I or my family members know. I was able to name my fear and be in my universal values and share.
Sribhavani
I was inspired by the participant through their insights. I saw this as an opportunity to remind myself to notice my fears and let them go by acting from my universal values. I was able to notice, what can I do differently and able to discern others perspective of thinking.
I work with two Youth, VasanthaRaj and Sundar as part of the modelling and MSV team for C3StreamLand/AuraSemi. All the youth here have been introduced to Vipassana meditation. While the high standards set by GoenkaJi for daily Vipassana practice (2 hrs/day. These are not met even by most seasoned household meditators and in many cases even Dhamma workers at the centers) may not be maintained by the youth, I notice that they do practice of their own volition from time to time.
I notice
both Sundar and Vasanth sit upright, back and neck straight on their chairs,
eyes closed, palms on thighs and meditating. This post is about this practice
of theirs in the form of a Q&A
Q:
I notice that the two of you meditate on the chair at work now and then. How
often do you do it?
Ans.
About once or twice daily?
Q: How long
do you do it?
Ans. 2-3
minutes each time
Q: Why do
you do it?
Ans. To Bring
back our attention to work. When we notice that our mind is not on work
Q: What
causes you to have difficulty in attending to work?
Ans. The
normal mental wear and tear of the day
Q. Does the
2-3 hour of meditation work in bringing back your attention to work?
Vasanth:
Yes, the Concentration does come back 60% of the time with just 2-3 minutes
Sundar: For
me, with 2-3 minutes, the concentration comes back 90% of the time
Q. Have you
tried longer duration, say 5 minutes?
Vasanth:
Yes, if I am completely de-energized, I sit for 10 minutes. This is rare. I did
not test how often this works
Sundar: I
sit only 2-3 minutes at a time, but if I find it not enough, I go for another
2-3 minutes. I don’t have an estimate for how often the next attempt works or
how often I need to sit a second time.
Q. Do you
use a stop watch for setting the time?
Ans. No, we
just sit for as long as is comfortable. We estimate it is around 2-3 minutes,
but not more than 5 minutes.
Q. Any
concluding comments?
Vasanth: Practicing
Anapanna for a few minutes throughout the day helps me to regain my
concentration when my mind is wandering. It also improves my work efficiency.
Sundar: Practicing
Anapana helps me regain my concentration when my mind is scattered. However, it
can be difficult to maintain focus on the breath, as my mind tends to get
distracted by my thoughts.
This week Miss. Muthukumari created an opportunity for us to experience sound bowl therapy. I am grateful to join the yoga session with shifuians.
My reflection on sound bowl therapy: When I hear the sound during meditation, I feel relaxed. It improved my concentration and felt brisk after the session.
Sound Bowl:
This bowl is also called a singing bowl. Buddhist monks used this bowl during meditation practices.
She used a bowl, sound wave takes 7secs to fade for single struck on the wall of the bowl. This sound helpful to activate 7 chakras (energy centres) in the body. Each chakra has its own frequency to activate. Sound bowl help to activate them by singing it in different note.
The length of time it takes to fade depends on many factors like size and shape of the bowl, material and the way it struck.
Because of these factors, it is pretty hard to assign accurate frequency for a singing bowl.
The 7 chakras in the human body are
Root Chakra (Muladhara): This chakra is located at the base of the spine and is associated with the colour red.
Sacral Chakra (Svadhishthana): This chakra is located in the lower abdomen and is associated with the colour orange.
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura): This chakra is located in the upper abdomen and is associated with the colour yellow.
Heart Chakra (Anahata): This chakra is located in the center of the chest and is associated with the colour green.
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha): This chakra is located in the throat and is associated with the colour blue.
Third Eye Chakra (Ajna): This chakra is located between the eyebrows and is associated with the colour indigo.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara): This chakra is located at the top of the head and is associated with the colour purple.
And also, we did asanas with supporting material like shawl in this week. We did back stretch and front stretch. This new method supported us to stretch beyond our comfort zone. We learned the asanas along with its benefits. There are some asanas than can help us recover from back pain and varicose nerve problems.
Gomukhasana
Dhanurasana
Bhramari Pranayama:
This is one of the pranayamas we learned in the yoga session. While doing this pranayama, we create a bee humming sound. It helps to calm our mind and helps to heal nerve system.
I learned to do the asanas with their benefits. It is good to have practice in routine life.
At STEMland in Udavi school, learning new games is always a fun and exciting experience. We work with the 10th graders in their classrooms and don’t have as much of an opportunity to engage with the games at STEM Land. However, recently, we had the chance to try out Abalone a very popular game among children at Udavi school and we had a lot of fun with it.
Before diving into the game, we took the time to understand the rules and mechanics of the game. For those who have never played Abalone before, it is a two-player strategy game where the goal is to push six of your opponent’s marbles off the board in any direction while keeping your own marbles intact. The game requires critical thinking, strategic planning, and as we were novices a bit of luck as well.
Playing Abalone at Stemland Udavi provided an opportunity to not only have fun but also use critical thinking and strategic planning. We could see how this could improve the cognitive abilities of children while enjoying the game. Having played it, it is not a surprise that Abalone has been named “Game of the Year” in several countries, including Switzerland and France, due to its unique design and engaging gameplay. The game has even sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Overall, Stemland Udavi is a great place to try out new games and learn new skills. With its friendly and welcoming environment, it’s the perfect place for anyone who wants to have fun while expanding their horizons be it children learning Mathematics or youth coming in to learn programming/electronics/VLSI design.
At C3STREAM land we have sessions of continued practice of Radical Transformational Leadership sessions every Thursday within our group as well as being open to people from outside.
Few people in our team have attended the PC training with Dr. Monica Sharma and the team. To continue the practice of delivering the tools we have planned to deliver one tool in a week on Thursday mornings. I have created an excel with the number of PCs and the tools and invited the PC’s to choose the tools for which they feel they need more practice and came up with a plan for next 5 months.
Being able to practice tools each week and being able to present tools each week creates a culture of being rigorous in our practice – understanding the tool better and deeper.
The plan includes a backup person also. Whoever is delivering the tool prepares on their own first and have a call with Sanjeev a day before to get clarity on how to deliver the tool, check if the examples are suitable.
On 02/02/2023 it was Sandhiya’s turn to take Four Profile tools and I was the resource person. We worked on “My Four Profile”. Once Sandhiya completed her presentations, I gave feedback to her and Sanjeev coached her.
Reflection on being a resource person:
My name is Sandhiya, I stand for courage, care, and happiness for myself and others. I notice that growth happens beyond my comfort zone. Though we had done the exercise many times each time it gives us an opportunity to reflect and learn about ourselves. By delivering the tool I was able notice that I was uncomfortable but when worked through it I was able
Reflection on being a backup person:
My name is Poovizhi I deeply care about equality and equity. I learnt that I have all the four profiles ( wisdom profile, social profile, personality profile and professional profile). When I work from my wisdom profile I am able to notice that the way I see at my other three profiles changes.
Participants insights:
I have been thinking that the shift in social profile is happening only now a days but during the exercise with my partner he said his parents have done inter cast marriage. I learnt that the shift has been happening from earlier also.
I learnt that wisdom profile is important
I learnt that wisdom profile is important because even if I change my profession my wisdom profile remains the same.
I thought that personality profile is not important but I learnt that all profiles are important.
The 10th-grade students at the Udavi School in Edaiyanchavadi are preparing for their upcoming state board annual examination. With 13 students taking the exam this year, the school has implemented a mock examination every day as a method of preparation.
One of the unique aspects of the preparation process at the Udavi School is the freedom given to the students to study wherever they want, whether it be in the classroom, under the banyan tree, or in the portico. This freedom allows the students to choose their preferred study environment.
Not only do the students have the freedom to choose their study environment, but they are also allowed to actively engage in learning by sharing information and concepts. The students are learning by memory, discussion, and active engagement with the material. This mode of learning has been shown to increase retention and understanding, which will serve the students well in their exams.
Additionally, by dedicating each day to one or two subjects and writing a mock exam, the students are gaining crucial practice in memory retention, writing, and time management. These are all important skills for the upcoming state board exams, and the mock exams will provide a sense of what to expect on exam day.
Finally, this mode of preparation is fostering confidence in the students. They can see their progress and feel prepared for the upcoming exams. Confidence is a key factor in exam success, and the Udavi School is doing a great job in helping the 10th-grade students build their confidence.
The Udavi School’s approach to preparing for the state board exams is innovative and effective. By giving the students freedom in their study environment and encouraging active learning, they are ensuring that their students are well-prepared and confident for the exams. It is inspiring to see how the Udavi School is helping its students succeed.
One of the most important aspect of life is it’s nature of instability and unpredictability. One can’t experience Joyous states week after week and day after day, regardless of how hard one might try to create or hold on to them.
Thus, while I count the last two years of my life at C3StreamLand the two best of my life so far, I still have weeks where mental struggle comes to the surface. I usually have no trouble meditating every day, and I rarely struggle with exercising regularly but I struggle with things like waking up early or consuming too much sugar or my energy levels. The last week was one such where I encountered exhaustion more often than I usually do. However, two experiences stand out from that last week.
The first is that in the middle of the day, I was exhausted and could not get any cognitive work done for Aura. Neither was I able to get any work done on debugging the inverter/adaptor circuit I was building for the lab. My mind would just not work. It was sluggish. It did not want to think analytically. I would look at any task that required a certain level of analytical skill and my mind would just go blank. As for my body, it was sluggish as well, not having exercised for a while and in no mood to either.
These are usually the times I use to get some other chores done such as washing clothes, cleaning my room, go shopping or do some work related to volunteering such as Vipassana course registration or SAC Finances. I usually always experience a mild sense of satisfaction and not a little pleasure from my volunteer work. However, this time, after an hour or doing some SAC Finance work, I could not believe the effect it had on my mind. It’s almost like my mind had a nice hot bath and some massage afterwards. It was suddenly sharp and refreshed and able to tackle some hard cognitive problems. In the middle of the afternoon, I was motivated enough to get some physical exercise. The rest of the day went as smooth as any of my best days.
My thoughts after experiencing this were, This is incredible. This is the sort of work that energizes and refreshes. Certainly, I have experienced this sort of thing before, but not very frequently. If there was a pill that could do this, it would be the wonder drug of the century. It is a great fortune to be able to have some activity that can do this.
