Anand Dwivedi
Founder
Village: Pabekh
Dhiraj Mani
Principal
Village: Pabekh
Mohan Singh Panwar
Class: 8thHome Village: Anjanisain
APV taught me how to respect myself and the law of nature, that I am complete and whole. APV is a model where teachers live together in a community and where conscious evolution is the center of gravity. Where the deep values get seeded by the lifestyle through which many skills get shared and many kinds of personalities gel together. The main force behind all the positivity and learning is meditation, where each member of the community is deeply rooted in self-evolution.
In education, a picture is given where a teacher is supposed to know everything, and that students are supposed to gather information from their teachers. But my experience at APV tells me that children are often much more sensitive and intelligent than their teachers. The most important thing that I have learned from children is how to live fully in the present moment. Their innocence keeps me very close to them and gives me an opportunity to be my true self. I realized that all I had to do was to create an atmosphere that could help children bloom without pushing them. The students brought out the creativity in me, and with their encouragement I started to learn how to play the tabla, sing, and how to be a friend and teacher with them.
I realized that if you are learning everyday than that keeps your mind fresh and alive. But what happens the moment one becomes a teacher is that one becomes authoritative and complacent, leading to laziness and boredom. In contrast, teachers at APV are here because they want to learn first and foremost about themselves. After all, education is not all about textbooks and theories – it is about experiencing the true nature of all things and the self.
Manisha
Class: 4th & 5th
Village: Pabekh
Pooja
Class: 6th
Village: Bansoli
How did you come to APV?
I was a student here, and I really liked it. I thought it was a unique place, and I still think that. I knew, when I graduated, that I wanted to come back to APV.
What is special about APV?
APV has all the necessary things of life- music, meditation, mindfulness, true community, In other schools you do not find that. There is knowledge in APV.
Do you find APV different as a teacher, rather than as a student?
I don’t consider myself just a teacher. I feel as if I am in a lot of ways still a student, still learning at the school. If anything, I facilitate learning with the other students. The only difference I feel now is a sense of responsibility. I have to take the other students with me in learning- as just a student I was only responsible to myself.
How do you feel when you wake up in the morning at APV?
Very light. No stress.
Shanti Mamgain
Class: 7th
Home Village: Dobe
I didn’t know about APV, and that APV was a different type of school that was more creative. My aim was to teach children and earn money. When I began at APV, I was amazed to see music in the school, children doing meditation, and more practical methods of teaching. I had never seen such things in my life before, and these new ways of teaching were incredible for me.
The things which inspired me a lot were meditation and teaching with practical methods. When I started doing meditation, I felt my life began to wake up. I felt that the way that I was living before, I was a sleepwalker. Meditation changed my life a lot. Now I feel that this is my new life, that I was born again on this earth. Now, meditation is my first priority and other things are secondary.
I was not very interested in teaching. Honestly, I just wanted to earn money. But when I started teaching more creatively, it was amazing how deeply children learned with practical methods. Whenever I teach with real life methods, both the children and myself enjoy ourselves. Meditation helps a lot in teaching. If there is any problem in class or with one of my children, we do meditation together, and observe ourselves together. Then the problem gets solved very quickly. The children help me as much as I help the children, and we grow a lot together.
It is my experience that when we do group sittings in community, it is very energizing. We all become one. Instead of doing meditation alone, it is more effective as a group. We learn a lot from each other. We work, meditate, and take care of the community together. It’s amazing and we enjoy it a lot. Sometimes it is difficult to live with different people, but meditation helps us to understand each other and our differences.
Diksha
Class: KG & 1st
Sharda
Class: 2nd
How did you come to APV?
I was a student here. I loved it and wanted to come back.
What was special about APV?
The student-teacher relationship is very strong. There’s a lot of love and compassion.
Do you find APV different as a teacher, rather than as a student?
When I was a student I was very carefree- run here, jump there, play everywhere. Whereas now, as a teacher, there are responsibilities. You are responsible for the children, but at the same time it is still fun to be with them.
How do you feel when you wake up in the morning at APV?
The first thing that comes to mind is ‘How am I going to live my day?’ Being mindful of that.
Saraswati
Class: 3rd
OLD TEACHERS:
Jaya Bahuguna
Rajneesh Bahuguna
Naresh Panwar
Lucky Panwar
Reshma Panwar
Namrata Rawat
Garima Rawat
Jatin Rawat
Mansura
Kavita
Shristi Shukla
Jyoti Pant
Sanjay Chauhan
Sangeeta Chauhan
Ruchi
Vimila
Mamta
Suman Khoyal
Babita Rawat
Kavita Rawat
APV FELLOWS:
Marc Alongi
Tatjana
Chad
Charlie
Samir
John
Vlad
Khushi
Matthew
Charlotte
Matthew
Jack