Our planet as it once began has been constantly undergoing changes. The only difference between the changes taking place in the last few centuries and those before that is that now these changes are instigated by man’s actions.
The students know one thing like a gospel truth: life cannot exist without oxygen. It was time to however introduce them to other atmospheric gases playing equally significant roles in the upkeep of our planet.

Students understanding the task at hand. The atmosphere consists of 78 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen and 1 per cent of all other gases and water vapour. The students were meant to correctly label the pie chart.
Amrita Lalljee, Amba Jhala and Anirudh Nair were down in Pench to conduct a very unique workshop this month. The trio, established names in the field of performing arts, visited our students with the motive of making them have some fun and simultaneously helping them find their voices.
Our students walked into the E-Base, unaware of what we had in store for them for the next three days. The workshop encompassed all kinds of learning and fun, from laughing out loud to performing skits based on personal experiences.
Performing Arts is strongly linked to building one’s confidence and opening up. Our aim is to help our students not only find their voice to make them confident community leaders but also identify performing arts as a strong medium of expression and raising awareness.

Our students in an exercise that involved laughing their hearts out! Yes, it works wonders to them open up.
With reading assessments almost complete, we’re working on fixing the last few details of the libraries.

With so many boxes of books making their way to Pench, organizing was the order of the trip. (Image: Monica Szczupider)
We’ve returned to organic gardening once again this year, but only in a different school. This year, Kohka Middle School has taken it on themselves to go organic.

Plowing the patch for his peers to sow.
Have you ever picked up the wrapper of your favourite cookies or chips to understand what really went into making it?
This week our students at the E-Base did just this. Very often, we, as consumers, are unaware of the impact of our choices. Be it in the form of our carbon footprint or fueling the business of mining precious elements of the Earth.

Pooja elucidating the meaning of having a product that travels endless number of kilometres to reach a customer. (Image: Jash Koradia)
We may have been off to a slow start because of the, may we say, ‘belligerent’ weather (For those who didn’t follow the diaries, yes, the weather was actually dead against us), but we were successful in the end. A section of our summer plants fared very well and our winter plants made us proud.
However, our real pride was the students of Turia Middle School. They showed responsibility and organisation one often doesn’t see in middle school students. We looked at the organic gardening project as a way to instill not only knowledge of organic cultivation but also of cooperation, team work and patience for mutual benefits.
To bid goodbye until we return with our diaries in the next academic year, we’d like to revisit some memories of our enjoyable yet very educational experience. Here are some of the photos that capture the pith of our organic experience.
After a busy month, we’re back to share some good news-
The methi, spinach and coriander have fared brilliantly! The spinach has already been picked for use once and is still going strong.

The palak patch on it’s second round.
We have realized one thing- Composting requires patience and dedication.

Students filling up the compost bins after lunch.
We’ve finally surfaced! If you’re wondering why we’ve been so quiet all December, we should let you know, we’ve been putting in a little of that extra effort for the winter sowing.
Just like in July, we sowed our seeds with hope. And, looks like we’re going strong!

The methi going strong!
As part of our E-Base program for the year, we have taken it upon ourselves to not only go organic, but also be sustainable! Here’s introducing our second project for the year-

Kohka Middle School now has a very exciting addition- a compost unit!