For over three decades, Pushpa R Menon lived a life that was always in motion. Between classrooms, meetings, administration and mentoring, work filled her days for nearly 35 years. She spent 17 years teaching at VSSC Central School and another 17 in administrative roles before retiring as principal in 2022. Even after retirement, she continued mentoring at a Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan school for two more years.
But after that, when life suddenly became less busy, Pushpa began thinking about something many people wonder about at that stage of life — what comes next?
That thought eventually led her to open the doors of the house she had lived in for nearly 25 years to people looking for a place to slow down for a while. On November 3 last year, under the shade of a sprawling mango tree in Kuravankonam, Sanctum – A Space to Evolve came to life. Not as a commercial venture, but as a space where people could read, work, talk, reflect or simply spend time without feeling rushed.
“Books were the starting point of Sanctum,” Pushpa says. “I have always been a reader and have built a personal collection over the years. Instead of letting the books sit untouched at home, I wanted to open them up to others through a space where people could browse quietly.”
Over time, the idea slowly expanded. A small self-service coffee and tea corner was added, followed by spaces for board games like chess, carroms and snakes and ladders. She also arranged a co-working area for those looking for a calm corner to write, study or work.
Soon, Pushpa began adding hands-on workshops to the space. “When we were growing up, people naturally learned things like fixing taps, hammering nails or doing small carpentry work on their own. But today, it’s a whole different situation. That’s what made me think about workshops like carpentry, embroidery, pottery, macramé, clay modelling, etc.”
The workshops quickly became spaces for connection as much as learning. Strangers shared meals, stayed back long after sessions ended and, in some cases, built friendships that continued beyond the workshops.
Sanctum now regularly hosts and plans sessions in different art and craft forms, including upcoming workshops in Kalamkari, fabric painting and liquid embroidery.
Even the old mango tree outside seems to have joined the idea behind Sanctum. Though there is little room to sit beneath it, visitors are free to pluck and eat mangoes whenever the tree bears fruit.
“I never wanted this to become a crowded commercial space. I wanted it to stay open and personal. People should feel at home here,” she says.
A small group of regular members visit Sanctum for different reasons. Some come to read, some to work, while one member drops in every evening after office hours simply to play carrom for an hour.
“I asked him why he wouldn’t just buy a carrom board for home. He told me the ambience matters,” she laughs.
Over the past six months, Sanctum has also hosted poetry readings, book discussions and intimate gatherings. Several of Pushpa’s former students offered to collectively support the project financially through memberships. She politely declined.
“I don’t want just money. This is simply a place to be. A place where people can uncover themselves,” she smiles.
Sanctum functions through a membership model. A one-month membership costs `2,200, while six-month and yearly memberships are priced at `12,000 and `23,000. Non-members can also access the space for a day at `200. Workshops, however, are open to everyone with a registration fee.