Guests from India

Ankit Chadha is a writer-storyteller who brings together performance, literature and history. He is a regular speaker at Children’s Literature Festivals and has performed at leading schools of India including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Mother’s International, American Embassy School, DPS and Cambridge School. He has collaborated with leading schools, authors and NGOs to make reading programs more effective for schoolchildren by implementing storytelling techniques. Additionally, he has conducted workshops for teachers and students on creative writing. The SCERT appointed him as the chief resource for storytelling to train would-be teachers.

His writing has varied from research-based biographies of personalities like Kabir, who form an essential part of India’s cultural history, to modern adaptations of folk tales that have been passed on from one generation to another through oral tradition. He specializes in Dastangoi – the art of Urdu storytelling, and has written, translated, compiled and performed stories under the direction of Mahmood Farooqui.

Indu Harikumar is a children’s writer, illustrator and craft teacher and also works with a non-profit working with underprivileged children teaching them through art.
Some of her published works is:


1. How do we weigh Appukuttan? — English, Eklavya ,written and illustrated.
2. Appukuttan ko toley kaise? - Hindi, Eklavya, illustrated
3. Kundamandi Gulumal - Malayalam, Purogamana Kalasahitya Samithi, illustrated
4. My book is the best - Pratham Books, illustrated
5. By us, for us - Katha, illustrated
6. Palanquin bearers - Katha
7. Three friends - Eklavya

Chintan Girish Modi is a writer and researcher with a deep interest in children's books, arts and peace-building. He has been teacher and education consultant with schools in Mumbai and has been writing on themes such as empathy, social justice, dialogue, nonviolence and compassion in schools and informal learning spaces.

Babusha Khare has done her Masters in Library Information Science. She has a total work experience of 9 yrs and has been a librarian at CMS for the past 6 yrs. She organizes training programmes for the librarians of all the Campuses of CMS. She is involved in the reading programme for students of classes I-VIII. She helps in procuring the latest reading material at CMS and helps in the process of updating the libraries.

Seema Biswas has done her MBA and Masters in English Literature. She has a total work experience of 8 yrs and has been associated with City Montessori School , Lucknow , India for the past 4 yrs working as a trained Teacher Facilitator in the Pre Primary Section of the Quality Assurance and Innovations Department. She looks after the pedagogies of classroom teaching and organizes various orientation workshops and seminars for the Pre Primary teachers. She helps the management in maintaining the standard of Quality Education across all the Campuses of CMS.

Saher M A Sayed has done her Masters in English Literature and Economics(Gold Medalist).She is pursuing her M.Ed and has a total work experience of 17 yrs and has been associated with City Montessori School , Lucknow, India for the past 12 yrs working as a trained Teacher Facilitator in the Senior Section of the Quality Assurance and Innovations Department. She looks after the pedagogies of classroom teaching and organizes various orientation workshops and seminars for the Senior teachers of English. She helps the management in maintaining the standard of Quality Education across all the Campuses of CMS.

Shalini Massey has done her Masters in English Literature. She has a total work experience of 10 years and has been associated with City Montessori School, Lucknow, India for the past 5 years working as a trained Teacher Facilitator in the Primary Section of the Quality Assurance and Innovations Department. She looks after the pedagogies of classroom teaching and organizes various orientation workshops and seminars for the Primary teachers. She helps the management in maintaining the standard of Quality Education across all the Campuses of CMS.

Background

CMS – City Montessori School is the world’s largest city-school with 20 campuses in the city of Lucknow.  The school that began with just 5 children in 1959 on a borrowed capital of ’300, today has over 45,000 students from Montessori to Class XII (ICSE & ISC) in the current session.

CMS founders, Dr Jagdish Gandhi and Dr Bharti Gandhi, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Sant Vinoba Bhave, started CMS to inspire generations of children to become socially motivated and conscious citizens of India and the world.  Their motto “Jai Jagat” has been the school’s greeting from the beginning CMS children are taught the value of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbukum’, or the ‘Earth is but One Country and Mankind its Citizens’.

CMS Vision

CMS vision is to nurture visionary leaders and proactive world citizens committed to work for world peace and unity.

CMS Mission

CMS mission is to inspire every child to become both good and smart, a gift of God to mankind, a pride of the human race, and a potential light of the world.

“CMS is not a school like any other.  It is distinctive not only for its size.  More than anything, it stands out because of its philosophy.  For more than 40 years, it has educated students to respect the values of tolerance and peace and sought to make them citizens of the world.” ¾ UNESCO Press Release No.2002-37 dated 3rd June, 2002

The UNESCO Prize for Peace Education was given by the UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura to Dr Jagdish Gandhi and Dr Bharti Gandhi at UNESCO Headquarter in Paris on 24 September 2002

A cross-border friendship morphs from online to offline - Chintan Girish Modi