Udaipur Hands Down Skills

Udaipur residents teach one another through the work of Shikshantar.

Photo by Angela Coles

On the streets of Udaipur, India, people learn together: Locals teach each other to grow organic food and herbs, create community art, weave ­handloom cloth, and harvest rainwater. They make bicycle-powered washing machines and blenders, and construct solar cookers and musical instruments from castoff materials.

Through the work of Shikshantar, an organization devoted to radical education and the Gandhian concept of “swaraj” (self-rule), Udaipur residents swap information and learn with their hands. Shikshantar believes anyone can be a teacher and when people collaborate, they can develop a “culture of learning.” The organization helps support that learning through community media, intergenerational ­gatherings, and apprenticeships. Check out swaraj.org/shikshantar.

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13 Radical Acts of Education are part of Learn as You Go, the Fall 2009 issue of YES! Magazine.

YES! Magazine encourages you to make free use of this article by taking these easy steps. Burton, L. (2009, September 01). Udaipur Hands Down Skills. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from YES! Magazine Web site: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/learn-as-you-go/udaipur-hands-down-skills. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License