Built with stabilised mud blocks and filler roofs in the suburbs of Bangalore is Bhoomi College. It was established in 2009 by KNA Foundation for Education. As the focus is on holistic living and learning, the college has been offering free courses on sustainability from August 2012. “Have you heard of gift culture? Seva Cafe in Ahmedabad and Karma Kitchen in California have been experimenting with the idea where customers don’t have to pay for their food but if they wish, can pay for another customer’s order. It works on the principle that human beings, when they receive gifts, would want to give gifts also. We decided to offer this course without charging tuition fee because of our belief in this gift economy, which we believe is a necessary alternative. Our students can donate any amount, small or big, for a student in a future batch if they wish to. In fact, none of our teachers and facilitators charge any fee. We do charge a nominal amount for food and stay-on actuals, but offer scholarships if the student needs it,” explains Seetha
Ananthasivan, executive director of the college.
The course offers modules on “inner and outer” ecology, sustainable food and farming, ecological economics, science and technology, renewable energy, sustainable buildings, social entrepreneurship, waste management, eco-principles in organisation building, human rights and legal issues in environmentalism. “Students are encouraged to engage in a critical analysis of ecological issues faced by the world today as well as discuss the positive steps that can be taken to address them. It gives them a positive outlook on what can be done and helps them in getting in touch with a network of people and organisations that can support them in this journey. The course is very hands-on and interactive. We take on a limited number of students — around 20 this time — so we can pay attention to each one of them. Last year’s batch of 10 students graduated in June,” Seetha says. Students of the batch are awarded a diploma.
Sindhu, a corporate trainer who enrolled for the course, says, “Hands-on experience in natural and organic farming is important. It is the best way to learn ecological principles and eco-architecture. We would be spending five months in the college and the rest in various other places like NGOs. It’s a beautiful course where there is a student-teacher partnership. You can learn and share!”
The admission process doesn’t have too many parameters apart from a basic knowledge of English and an age criteria of 20+. “We look for students who deeply care about what is happening to the world and the Earth today, and who want to know what they can do about it. The selection procedure involves submitting a detailed form where they tell us why they want to do this course and a personal or group interview. The interview can be done on phone as well, depending on the candidate’s location,” says Seetha.
Bhoomi College also offers short duration courses, such as food, holistic health, gardening and farming, holistic perspectives, ecological education and co-creating a green campus and deep ecology and learning from wilderness. To reinforce their commitment to mother nature and to enhance the community spirit, the furniture for the college hostel was made of a foreign weed called lantana and the dining hall was made with mud bags — a result of the efforts of over 70 volunteers.
The college also boasts of an organic vegetable garden to work on, a library, a cowshed, rainwater harvesting and black water recycling facilities to minimise their waterprint. As a part of their gift culture, they also bring out a magazine called ‘Eternal Bhoomi’ which is sent to over 3,000 school and college libraries, free of cost. “We believe that sustainability is a complex issue and we need to understand root-level problems and also look at root-level solutions rather than short-term, end-of-branch solutions. A movement towards sustainability is gradually growing around the world. In India, we need educational institutions to join and foster this movement. The only way forward is to focus on youth and women to create livelihoods through activities for sustainability,” Seetha says.
— aswatianand@gmail.com