December – March 2005

News from RIVER

Global Development Award for Rishi Valley Rural Edcation Centre

Rishi Valley Education Centre (RVEC) of the Krishnamurti Foundation has been awarded the first prize for the “The Most Innovative Development Project 2004” at the Sixth Annual Global Development Conference held at Dakar, Senegal on January 26, 2005.

Sponsored by the Government of Japan, this Global Development Network (GDN) award is open to all development projects in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the transitional economies of Europe and Central Asia.

Adjudged by a multidisciplinary panel of experts, the award was given to the Rishi Valley Centre over several contestants, in recognition of its path-breaking multi-grade multi-level methodology and teacher training programmes developed for meeting the needs of children belonging to the underprivileged sections of society its rural schools.

News from the School

Students of Class 12 put up the intense play of Albert Camus. It was directed by Vinayak Uppal. The main players were Anandi Rao as the dour mother, Namrata Kartik as her bitter daughter, Saudamini Dabak as the son who returns incognito and Gauri Nori in the role of the bereft daughter-in-law. The play was grim yet very moving.

Mrs. Rima Sinha conducted a drama workshops with students of classes 7 and 8. Students wrote their own plays and produced them for the school.

Bhaskaracharya’s mathematical text named after his daughter Lilavati was recreated on stage in the form of a ballet by the Dance Department. Dr. Shirali wrote the commentary for the ballet, Mr. Hanumanth Rao created the songs and the narrative, Mr. Seshadri wrote the music and Mr. Venugopal choreographed the ballet.

The renowned dance team of Mr. and Mrs. Dhananjayan spent a day at Rishi Valley giving a demonstration class on the language of dance in the morning and giving a polished performance in the evening. It was a rare privilege for students to see the masters at work.

Professor David Macdougall, of the Australian National University, spent two months in the Valley shooting footage for a film project on the school. Several students made short documentary films with his help.

Professor Umapathy of the Indian Institute of Science gave a talk on the application of exotic chemicals.

The Madras String Quartet gave a recital of classical music, including works by Beethoven and Mozart.

Mr. Irshad Khan gave sitar concert.

The end of the academic year March 2005 saw the school bid a reluctant goodbye to several veteran teachers of the school. Chief among them was Dr. Shailesh Shirali who spent more than twenty years at Rishi Valley as Head of the Mathematics Department, Director of Teacher Education and Principal; Mr. Jayant Tengshe who was Director of Studies, Mrs. Sunanda Ali who taught English in the High School and Mrs. Padmapriya Shirali who taught Mathematics, Environmental Studies in the Junior and Middle School. Mr. V. Prasad, Mrs. Aruna Prasad, Mrs. Usha Palat, Mrs. Mani; Mr. Sriram and Mrs. Gayatri Sriram have also left the school.

News from the Dairy

Since the incidence of Mad Cow Disease in parts Britain, import of livestock has been halted. The Andhra Pradesh Livestock Development Agency is buying male animals from Rishi Valley Dairy for breeding purposes in the State.

News from the Estate

Almost five years of drought have taken a toll on our agricultural output. The past few months have been spent in building up compost with the help of earthworms. Mr. Santosh is the new Estate Manager and Mr. Narayan Reddy continues his fortnightly visits to the school as consultant.