Hi everyone!

It’s Keira, Quinn, and Adeem here. Today was our last full day in India. There was no school because it was the Telugu New Year here in Tamil Nadu.

In the morning we still went to school, but rather than helping out in our classes we helped the librarians and the makerspace teacher with some tasks. In the Makerspace (close equivalent to the York School’s Schad Lab), the Lego kits which needed sorting. We sorted Lego pieces according to colour and found missing pieces to complete Lego kits so that the children could practise following instructions. In the library, we organised the fiction and non-fiction bookshelves. We also reunited lost puzzle pieces with their original boxes.

Last week, with the help of the York School’s very own Mr. Cooper, Adeem and Dylan were able to execute their CAS project around teaching the children how to code Gigglebots and micro:bits to play soccer. These supplies were donated to the GPS Makerspace to use in future classes.

As a large group we were able to accomplish a lot, and hope it can go a long way for the school.

After helping out at GPS we went to a large ashram, Isha Yoga! When we first arrived at the centre we had the opportunity to experience the calming effects of the Theerthakunds. We learned that the water from the baths was sourced from spring water in the mountains located nearby. It was silent since everyone was individually practising their own forms of spiritual devotion. There was artwork on the ceiling depicting what seemed to be a traditional story and sculptural elements. Afterwards, we moved to the Dhyanalinga, which is the largest meditation dome in the world. We were instructed to silently enter the dome lit only with candles for visibility. There was an incense of some kind being burned, which left our visual, olfactory and auditory senses fulfilled. We had 10 minutes to sit quietly, peer into our inner selves, and truly reflect on our time in GPS. An interesting part of Isha Yoga is the focus on spiritual devotion as opposed to religious devotion. This experience was truly unique and greatly added to a large part of Indian culture we would not have been able to experience otherwise.

Today was a fulfilling final day in India which left us ready to go home, but sad to leave.

Quinn, Keira and Adeem