‘I ASK QUESTIONS, SO CLASSMATES THINK I’M WEIRD’

Trisha Salvi’s (above) school, Tridha, had customised desks and a library in each class. It taught her how to stitch, and plant, tend and pick vegetables.

Now in her fourth year of an architecture course, she says it’s been a challenge adjusting to a conventional classroom.

“It feels like a one-way process, teachers coming in, teaching, leaving and children reproducing their words on paper,” says Trisha, 22. “In a class of 40, only two children ask questions and I‘m one of them, so the others think I’m strange.”

On the upside, all the questions have helped her build a good rapport with her teachers. “Some classmates seem to have a problem with that too… they seem to think the teachers are biased towards me when actually we’re just talking,” she says.

The pace is a lot more hectic than she’s used to too. “The long hours and stringent deadlines make me wonder, sometimes, if I am ready for this kind of lifestyle and if this is how it is going to be when I start working,” she says.

“My peers are used to this grind, this amount of homework and exam pressure. They deal with it much better.”

Trisha’s mother, Rutuja, says they knew this time would come — a period of adjustment that would be relatively difficult — but the joy her daughter knew at Tridha mattered more.

“Anyway, how long can institutions promise personal attention? You grow up and learn to deal with situations on your own, and she will too,” Rujuta says.

My confidence took a dip. It’s different to speak among six children and suddenly have to open up among 35.

ROHAN JAIN, 26, a former student of Mirambika school, Delhi, who now works with a non-profit

› I grew up doing everything in small groups. In college, I find most students are looking for or already have that one best friend.

KUNAL LALCHANDANI, 21, former student of Ahmedabad’s Riverside school now studying business administration

They are used to a community, but will eventually come to terms with the more formal systems because they are still young and flexible when they make the shift.

DR SAMIR DALWAI, developmental paediatrician and director of New Horizons Child Development Centre