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We are building Cuckoo

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We believe you are reading this page at this point in time not just by chance or coincidence, but through the play of a larger relationship which binds all of us together. WHAT IS CUCKOO? ‘Cuckoo Movement for Children’ began in 2004 as an approach to providing rural children with facilities that ensured they grew healthily in engaging environments regardless of their financial background. It set up libraries in remote villages and hamlets and screened international movies and documentaries to expand children’s imaginations. Cuckoo is an environment that channels our primordial instinct of survival into an evolved state of being, by doing. Each and every initiative borne of these practices is therefore grounded in the surrender to the natural order of the Flow of the Universe.   IS THIS AN ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL? We met with Arvind Gupta and explained the idea of the school. He listened to our ideas patiently and asked us how many Government schools there were around our school and how ma

A girl who hugged the stars....

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" Where words fail,Music speaks... " - Hans Christian Andersen - The Beauty in the stars is that it can only be seen.. But, we have all wished or dreamt of a tiny second where we are touching the stars and giving it a hug for being with us during the most distressed times... Certain years ago, I came across a school for the deaf and dumb children located near tirupur..When I got to know and play with them, I have dreamt of a second where they were able to hear and feel the music that has been there for most of us in each and every step of our lives.. As of till now, all the wonderful words that I have heard, has come from those children..Even when it wasn't filled with sound, it was the most elegant of all... When I came across Mandy Harvey two days ago, I got to know about the project that is taking place in Nevada, Las Vegas called Music : Not Impossible..The project tends to bring the same experience when we go to a concert to the deaf

எங்கோ ஒரு நட்சத்திரமாக

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மரமென்பது முதலில் ஒரு விதையென்பதைத் தாண்டி.. ஒரு மெல்லியத் தண்டு.. பின்னொரு வலிமையான தண்டு.. பின்,ஒரு பட்டுப்போன விறகு.. இவையெல்லாவற்றையும் விட.. அது,முதலில் இவ்வானை தொட்டுவிட‌ முயலும் ஒரு எல்லையில்லா சக்தியாகவே உயிர் பெறுகிறது... மிகவும் ரகசியம் வாய்ந்தது... இந்தக் கண்ணீர்களின் நிலம்... அந்த தசைகளைத் தாண்டி அவன் அரத்தழுவ விரும்பியது.. அந்த நொடிந்த சுயத்தையும் அந்த இருளையும் அவற்றினுள் உறங்கும் அந்த தொட்டுணர முடியா பேரொளியையும் தான்... வாழ்தல் என்பது மீண்டும் ஒருமுறை தன்னை மெதுவாக பிறப்பித்துக் கொள்ளுதலே.. நம்முடன் என்றும் இருப்பதற்காகவோ நம் சுயத்தை சரி செய்வதற்காகவோ அல்ல... அவர்கள் இந்நிகழ்காலத்தை விடவும் உயிர்ப்பெற்று இருப்பதினால் மட்டுமே நம்மை விட்டுச் சென்றவர்களின் நினைவுகளை கொண்டாடப்போகிறோம்... கொண்டாடுகிறோம்... யாரோ ஒருவர்  ஓர் ஆட்டுக்குட்டிக்காக ஆசைப்பட்டால்.. எங்கோ ஓர் மந்தையில் இவ்விரல்களின் தொடுதலுக்காக அது வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிற

A walk that changed thousands of lives

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"The way to success is more important than success" "Hate the sin, love the sinner" "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" Around 40 years back, Vinoba Bhave, on a march for bhoodan, reached a village near Krishnagiri called Pochampally. He approached a local zamindar who owned over 1,000 acres of land and tried to reason with his humane side. vinoba requested the zamindar to donate a part of his land to the Dalits of that area. The zamindar flatly refused. Not one to give up easily, vinoba set up camp at a nearby dilapidated Shiva temple. Amongst the many people in that camp who had marched alongside him was a young woman named Krishnammal Jagannathan. On the second night at camp, Krishnammal’s baby began crying inconsolably. Vinoba walked up to the mother, picked up the

விண்ணளவு பூமி

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A leaf is the most perfect form of life on earth. From a light shade of green in its days as a baby, it changes many colours with age and season until it turns brown, latches away from her mother and dances down to her grave, where she continues to give. While for us grown-ups a forest MUST contain many, many trees, for the child a single tree is a forest in itself. They feel the magic in the air. The croaking of frogs is music to their ears. In an age when the newspapers and TV only glorify violence and make us insensitive to our fellow beings, we must take an extra effort to help our kids return to the roots we have now forgotten. To simpler times when we cared for all life forms. To the age when we painted kolams in our front verandahs, not just because they looked pretty but also because they contained rice powder for the ants to feast on. Cuckoo Forest School is hosting a 3-day workshop of fun and learning. Let’s share stories and listen to the silent music of the hills.

To New Beginnings!

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And so, as our physical space grows and evolves at the Cuckoo Forest School, so does it on the world wide web. We are proud to announce that we have moved to a new space on the internet:  http://cuckoochildren.in/ Do follow our website for any and all updates regarding Cuckoo. Cheers!

Nothing Goes to waste in Nature or Art

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Toy Making Workshop - An experience through Photographs   “Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”   ―  Rumi The Cuckoo Forest school, is one such school in the country which had people from all walks of life come together from across the country as far as Nagaland to help in building the school's first building, 'The Library' block, which is a fully mud construction structure. The amount of love and energy that was poured in by everyone while building the structure is inexplicable in words. There was a whole lot of manual labor involved in the construction and all of us were amateurs at it with the only thought of kids that this school would accommodate and this love and vibration could be felt throughout the school premises which also kept us and the volunteers going, in constructing the structure. Since this blog is more to do with our experience during the 'Toy Making Workshop', we will stick to