the world inside us is bigger than the world outside
we are walking galaxies. we are thinking planets. we are breathing moons. we are laughing sky. we are made of the same thing the cosmos is made of.
our imagination can make worlds appear. turn thoughts into things. our kind gestures can cradle humanity to freedom and joy.
when we open our hearts and minds we know we are cosmic beings who are not limited by dogmas and structures and cages.
we are free. the world inside us is bigger than the world outside.
a school founded on love for children
I read this book when I was 12. It is a moving tale of one man’s endearing love for children. In his school in Japan, ’Tomoe Gakuen’, children study in an abandoned railroad carriage in a magical setting unaware of the imminent war outside. In their later years, these children could shine through the darkness, they were thrown into, strengthened by the love the headmaster had for them and the fond memories of their school. I grew up wanting to build a school like that. I dreamt of a place for children where they will be loved, nourished and celebrated for who they are. Yellow Train is a manifestation of that dream, says Santhya Vikram.
education that meets the whole child
A childhood that is beautiful;
Learning that does not stand apart from life;
Thoughts that are bold and free;
Hands that have skills and know how to serve;
A Heart that can feel and be stirred;
Experiences that are grounding;
An education that makes them whole;
And some seeds and feathers to put in their pockets everyday…
a deep connection with nature and spirit
When you drive out on the highway from Coimbatore (a small city in the south of India), a small dusty village road leads you to a farm protected- from hurried living – with peacocks, cows, rows of tomatoes, corn and maize and tucked in the midst of all this a school building made of mud blocks. And as you walk in you will meet the soul of the school, hidden in the laughter of the children, the happy faces of the teachers and the warmth of the shared energy.
a campus protected from hurried living
A school in a farm has a place in the history of education like Gandhiji’s experiments with Tolstoy Farm…
The mud buildings with murals, with the play of light and wind, lawns and lily ponds and the tree lined avenues have a distinct architectural style, the hallmark of which is beauty and simplicity.
The world of goodness, beauty and truth.
“We need to form our thoughts so that we can be conscious that this school fulfils something special. We can do this only when we do not view the founding of this school as an everyday occurrence, but instead regard it as a ceremony held within cosmic order”
Rudolf Steiner, Aug 21, 1919.
Kindergarten:
Receive the child in reverence.
The young child is humanity’s closest connection to the spiritual world. The young child who comes into the Kindergarten looks at us with earnest, trusting gaze and asks
Are you at my side? Will you give me what I need?
Can I really trust you? Will you go along with me for some time?
The child is met with an environment that brings warmth and safety, rhythms that protect their formative forces and a teacher who meets the child with honest unaffected love. Such a love that streams forth is what nourishes the child. The children in these tender years believe that The World is good. With utmost respect and understanding of the sacred energy that surrounds the children, they are received with reverence.
Primary School:
Educate them with love.
Nourished by play, fantasy and imagination, stories and life giving forces in the Kindergarten, children cross the rainbow bridge to arrive into Primary School. This young child that came to us with utmost trust in our ability to hold and protect them is now ready to meet the world of formal learning. A curriculum rich in stories, music, art, rhythm and movement feed their rich feeling life and invoke in them a sense of wonder. The foundational years of the primary, build in the children creative thinking, capacity for expression, curiosity and confidence in their abilities. They need an adult who can educate them with love and who will help them look at the world with their imaginative eyes. The education offered stirs their feelings to meet the child of this age who is deemed an ‘Artist’.
To these children The world is Beautiful.
Upper School:
Send them forth in freedom.
Something new is dawning in - The child’s emotional life .. It is not just sexual maturity they are approaching, it is real earthly maturity – adulthood on all fronts. And that is really a kind of new birth. The child is now at crossroads. Caught between the two worlds – The disappearing world of childhood, the imminent adolescence and the slowly arriving world of adulthood. We witness in the children a birth of new consciousness – The consciousness of the self and the world. Along with this, is the consciousness of thought. Adolescents love the challenges of thinking logically, seeing cause and effect and deducing their own theories from phenomena. Thinking becomes their gateway to experiencing life.
A feeling of selfhood begins to arise with the question – Who am I? . This new consciousness makes the world around stand back – The I begins to emerge, separate and alone. What they are seeking is the Truth in the World. With their destiny unfolding in front of them, they walk out into the world in freedom.
“The soul of yellow train is in the space of love that is created between the child and the teacher, the past and the future, the cloud and the rainbow”
The school works to serve the children who come through the door to meet us each day. And at the heart of this endeavour, stands a circle of teachers, bearing the deepest conviction that they are supported by the spiritual world. And they, stand there, with an ability to intuit what the times are asking of the school today.
at the heart: a joyful community of teachers
For she is our own, the darling of our hearts. This is what Santiniketan meant to Tagore. Precisely what stirs in our hearts for Yellow Train.
She is our own, the darling of our hearts, Santiniketan.
In the shadows of her trees we meet
in the freedom of her open sky.
Our dreams are rocked in her arms.
Her face is a fresh wonder of love every time we see her,
for she is our own, the darling of our hearts.” – Rabindranath Tagore
At the heart of Yellow Train is a community of teachers who are passionate, committed, courageous and striving. A large family that resonates with the unified energy - of meeting the children with utmost reverence and love. Every day they create the space for life, learning and joy.
Our School, Our Farm.
In 2010 when we came to the farm, it was 27 acres of arid brown land with 3 large trees around a farm house, a row of coconut trees, barren fields, two dried wells, heat, dust and emptiness.
In ten years, the farm is a thriving, rain fed, green oasis with over a 1000 trees, 2 afforestation patches and a dairy farm with over 60 animals, agricultural patches growing corn, maize, greens and vegetables and an orchard with over a hundred fruit bearing trees. On one side - rain water harvesting pits, bio gas plants, solar panels and on the other side - ponds, marigolds, sunflowers, birds and dragon flies; all making it an ecosystem that is rich, self- sufficient and beautiful.
“Mother is that really a train! There, in the school grounds!”.
“There’s a new railroad car coming tonight”, said Miyo Chan. That night children camped in the school grounds awaiting the arrival. A great big railroad car was just visible in the morning haze. It was like a dream – a train coming along the road without tracks making no sound.
This train which had carried so many people, had its wheels removed. Its traveling life was over. From now on it would carry the sound of children’s laughter. - Excerpts from Totto Chan
As a tribute to the school that was founded on the railroad cars that inspired the founding of Yellow Train, stands the Bogie Library, bringing to the children and the whole community, the magic of books and tales.
10 Years of Yellow Train in 10 pictures
A dream was born. 30th April, 2010
Early years, Sivananda Colony Campus.
Yellow Train Children's Festival Nov 2012
Primary Building Inauguration, Sep 2013. A visiting rainbow.
The spirit of the community. A forest in the making. Oct 2014.
Yellow Train Marathon, 31 Aug 2014.
Birth of the Garden Campus, Nov 2015.
92410 - Our bogie arrives
Circle of light, Nov 2018
Dec 2019, Inauguration of the senior school campus