Recent content on Mihir Pathak | મિહિર પાઠક
20th July to 9th Aug 2026 
 Highlights from last three weeks : 
 
 
 Jantar mantar protest. What is my stand - I support descent as a process. But I do not support violence happening because of entrance exams and mono culture in education. I encourage re-imagining the education system at large, what if communities design their own curriculum, according to their local - learning…
13th July to 19th July 2026 
 This week mostly went in meeting people at MS University and taking sessions with the Department of Community and Family Studies. Nidhi and I have taken sessions for this department’s students before as well; it was a good experience. I visited Vadodara twice this week. 
 This time we have plans to do sessions with all students - BSc students, Masters…
22nd June to 13th July 2026 (3 weeks) 
 Highlights from last three weeks : 
 Week 1 : went in guilt - guilt of not doing yoga, not being able to start composting, not being able to make food at home, and eating outside every day. 
 Week 2 : 
 
 Regular office work and team meeting prep 
 Patrango magazine panel discussion (Saturday) 
 TIDE team meeting (Sunday) 
…
15th to 21st June 2026 
 Hello hello hello hello. 
 I am writing this weekly note from an event called ‘Model City council’. It is Model United Nations Inspierd / remixed intervention designed and orgnized by TIDE Foundation with partnership with private schools. 
 There are different councils - child labour, climate change, women safety, quality education. 
 Young…
2nd to 14th June 2026 
 I wanted to write weekly note 23/2026 in Gujarati but finally I am writing notes 23-24 together in English. 
 I was thinking that I would write a long weekly note in Gujarati this time because I had many things to share, but anyway, here I am with a short note :) 
 ⁂ 
 I started my first (official) day at TIDE Foundation as Program Manager. This role is very…
25th May – 1st June 2026 
 This week also went by juggling between two offices. :) 
 I took an ‘Introduction to Children’s Literature and Storytelling for Early Years Children’ session with Planet Discovery School - CEE teachers. Went to the TIDE office after that and worked till evening. The TIDE office is energizing for me. 
 I took two days off from the office to…
18th to 24th May 2026 
 Last week was mostly juggling between two workplaces. (My last day at the current org is 31st May.) I met Varun for breakfast on Wednesday. We had a discussion about education and the NGO space. I am going to do a workshop at a residential school he is heading in Jashdan village. After meeting him, I went to the TIDE office and had meetings till late evening. Saturday I…
11th to 17th May 2026 
 
 
 This week was hectic and happening with lots of interesting developments. 
 
 
 On Tuesday, I met Deborah Dutta . We had a discussion about the possibility of her guiding us for a research study on “Impact of Nature-Based Learning with Young Children.” It was a very initial but insightful discussion. Let’s see how we move this…
4th to 10th May 2026 
 
 
 There was an important meeting at the office on Wednesday, so the whole team was preparing for it. The meeting went well. 
 
 
 Nidhi went to Mausi’s place for summer break. She will come back by 18th May 2026. 
 
 
 Saturday was my birthday. I am 31 years old now. I was alone at home on my birthday this time. A friend called me…
27th April to 3rd May 2026 
 This week went into navigating work stability. 
 On Saturday, I met J to explore the possibility of working at the TIDE Foundation. They are doing very similar projects to Local Khoji, working with young adults. It is a small org and I can work as an intrapreneur. Financially, it will be lower than my current salary, but I can take on side projects and raise…
Something has quietly shifted in childhood. 
 A generation ago, children moved freely between indoors and out. They knew the name of the tree in the street. They watched monsoons arrive and felt the season change in their bodies. That texture of daily life — small, unstructured, alive — is increasingly rare. 
 Today, the average child spends fewer than seven minutes a day in unstructured…
20th to 26th April 2026 
 
 We got Nagarathna Memorial Grant – 2026 to support our magazine publication work. Patrango : nature-sci-art based children magazine in Gujarati language. 
 I did summer camp with children at the school I am working with. 
 We went for dinner on Saturday evening with Mom. 
 We said no to Parul Ben for the Narmada thing. 
 
 
 There is…
13th to 19th April 2026 
 
 Whole week was spent contemplating on where to move & work next, and working on summer camp prep at the office. 
 Saturday I spent doing random tasks from all the side projects. 
 Sunday we went for a final meeting with Parul Ben and Falgun Bhai. We shared our concerns. 
 A friend’s sister’s daughter got a job in a bank in Ahmedabad. She…
I. A Child Watching an Ant 
 Watch a young child encounter an ant. They crouch down, lean in close, and follow its path with their eyes — absorbed, unhurried, full of questions. They want to know where it is going, what it is carrying, whether it can feel anything. This quality of attention, quiet and entirely unselfconscious, is one of the most striking things about young children in nature.…
30th March to 5th April 2026 
 Highlight of the week — 3rd to 5th — Udaipur trip. 
 
 
 It was a long weekend. We went for a short break to Udaipur — a much-needed timeout from work and home responsibilities. 
 
 
 The first two days were a little touristy; we walked so much. But the last day was slower and quieter — we met friends: Vishal, Ayush, and his partner. 
…
I believe in experimentation — tinkering, trying things, staying curious. And I believe in the butterfly effect. 
 I work as a full-time educator in a school, spending time daily with children — designing learning experiences, facilitating sessions, doing experiments. Whenever I see a need or feel the urge to try something new, I do. I believe in the power of nature-based and project-based…
23nd to 29th March 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 
 Tech4Good Community is helping us make a website using Ghost. I really liked their approach. I remember my days when I used to build websites for schools and organizations. Let me celebrate this moment. Let me remember how many websites I have made till now:
 
 Ashramshala in Dharampur (Wordpress) 
 ARCH, Dharampur (Wordpress) 
…
16th to 22nd March 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 It was a busy and stressful week overall. Conflicts, magazine work, office work, home stuff… everywhere negotiating and performing. 
 
 
 We went to see anime film called ‘Hoppers’ 
 
 
 Got membership of the International Association of Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People . Thank you,…
9th to 15th March 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 Ah, it is difficult to sit and write this week’s note. Too many thoughts are going on. 
 The non-profit registration process is stretching a little — back and forth is going on. Hopefully it will be done soon. 
 The children’s literature project is also moving at its own pace. I am not controlling anything this time. I am trying to…
2nd to 8th March 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 
 
 Most of the weekdays were in office. 
 
 
 Two evenings had calls for the Children’s Lit project. 
 
 
 
 The Children’s Lit project is draining my energy. Too much coordination with too many people — sharing expectations, handling theirs. I am feeling like I voluntarily chose suffering in this case.…
23rd Feb to 1st March 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 This week was spent attending a close friend’s wedding and working on the children’s literature project in Bhopal. 
 We are finally planning to register a non-profit organisation — just to secure funding for the children’s literature project and other initiatives. I am surprised and in awe of the universe’s plan. 
…
9 Lessons and Tips in Personal Branding for modern knowledge workers, especially as work becomes more distributed and remote! 
 Personal Branding 101 by Saurabh Garag
Document every single project you do. Documentation is not just about taking photos or videos — it’s about capturing the learner’s journey in a way that others can learn from. How did you facilitate? What were your session design principles? What are your reflections? Essentially, build a playbook so other people can learn from your successes and your failures. 
 
 Build in…
16th to 22nd Feb 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 









 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 The week was kind of hectic. Most weekdays were spent at the office. I took two days of leave and went to Vadodara to take care of some family-related work. 
 On Saturday, I did a session with Sajhe Sapne students — (…
I have worked in education for the last 13 years. In that time, I have done almost everything — working directly with children, running workshops and summer camps, teaching subjects, training teachers, developing curriculum, doing research, and leading large-scale implementations. 
 But why do I do what I do? 
 
 I love being with children and young adults 
 I love creative mediums…
9th to 15th Feb 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 
 This week was hectic. Not getting time to write deailed notes. 
 Week days spent in office work 
 week days evenings and weekend went in children litreture project meetings, learning calls with different orgs. 

2nd to 8th Feb 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 Mon to Fri - Mostly office work. I did some tasks related to the children’s lit project whenever I got a chance. 
 Wed - I had a meeting with B about the children’s lit project. Slowly it is taking shape. We found someone for designing and layout who can be part of the core team. 
 Fri - We got the grant money in the account. Now we can…
26th Jan to 1 Feb 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 26th Jan - chutti, B was at home. We mostly talked about children’s literature, the idea of starting a children’s lit magazine. 
 one friend already tried this project before but she couldn’t take it further. 
 This idea is a long overdue project which me and B have discussed many times. Last time when H came, me, H and R also…
A group of children sits in a circle. 
 I show them a picture of a man cutting a tree. 
 I ask a simple question: 
 “How do you feel when you look at this picture?” 
 Hands go up. 
 One child says, 
 
 “I don’t like it. We should not cut trees. Trees give us oxygen.” 
 Another adds, 
 
 “It is nice. We can make a table…
19th to 25th Jan 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 Mon to Fri - mostly office work. 
 Monday we met Raj. Had a nice discussion children litreture, language and offcourse ‘developmental sector’. 
 Friday evening , office friends came to home. It was a long overdue visit. 
 Saturday - In the evening, I visited Vidyun Foundation ’s learning center. Met Devki and Vishnu. 
…
12th Jan to 18th Jan 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 12th & 13th Jan - Office 
 14th Jan - It was Makar Sankranti / Uttarayan in Gujarat. I am not very interested in flying kites. Actually, I never learned it since my childhood. My father used to fly kites—I used to try out—he was super excited about all the festivals: Diwali, Uttarayan… I was a little slow, silent, not excited in…
If you ask young people how they feel about insects, many will say:
 “Disgusting.” “I don’t like them.” “They scare me.” 
 Whether it’s ants, spiders, honeybees, or other small insects, fear and discomfort are common reactions. 
 Butterflies are the exception.
They are welcomed with wonder and awe — largely because we have labelled them as beautiful . 
 What’s interesting is…

 
 

 In early childhood education, language is often treated as a technical skill—letters first, sounds next, grammar rules soon after. But children do not enter the world thinking in alphabets or sentence structures. They enter the world experiencing meaning —through the body, emotions, relationships, and action. 
 This is where the idea of semantic grammar becomes…
5th Jan to 11th Jan 2026 (Mon to Sunday) 
 Monday : Office work 
 Tuesday : Office work 
 Wednesday : Had a short meeting with Samagata Foundation Team about the children’s library project. 
 Thursday : Vaibhav bhai and Soma didi visited Ahmedabad. Soma didi is working on a project based on ‘semantic grammar’. We had a session at the Community Education Center…
It is okay if I do not want to start my own NGO because I am afraid that I will not be able to raise funds, or because I am worried that my program will not align with traditional measurement tools. 
 It is okay if I do not want to start ‘classes’ or a learning center, or take paid workshops where I constantly market myself, where parents look at my practice as a product and…
Personal Milestones 
 Got married (2nd Feb 2025) 
 Shifted to Ahmedabad — Joined an organization working in Early Childhood Education. 
 Started ‘Khojbeen Mandali’ to work with children & young adults through nature exploration, theater, inquiry projects and more. Got a lot of clarity on my position in the educational space. It is my 12th year in this space. (check out our…
29th Dec 2025 to 4th Jan 2026(Mon to Sunday) 
 
 
 29th to 31st Dec 2025 - Large-scale event at office 
 
 
 1st and 2nd Jan 2026 - Office work 
 
 
 3rd Jan 2026 - Saturday, I was at home. In the morning, I was reading about the work of an organization called Nazariya Art Collective . Later, I spent time writing my year-end reflection - 2025 Reflection . In the…
Most education systems are very good at answering two questions: 
 
 What does a child know? 
 What can a child do? 
 
 But a far more important question often remains invisible: 
 
 What does the child care about? 
 The answer to this question lives in the affective domain of learning. 
 
 What is the affective domain of learning? 
 The affective domain…
22nd Dec to 28th Dec 2025 (Mon to Sunday) 
 A brief update this week. At the office, our pilot project with children is coming to an end. We are preparing the assessment framework, post-tests, and children’s portfolios. 
 There’s a major event on campus from the 28th to 30th of December, so everyone at the office is busy with preparations for that. 
 Since this is the last…
8th to 14th Dec (Monday to Sunday) , 15th to 21st Dec 2025 (Monday to Sunday) 
 This time also I couldn’t make time for writing weekly notes. It is ok. I am happy that life is overpowering. But I need some break now—too many things are happening. Maybe the coming Christmas week will be a little slow and calm. But you never know… 
 Nothing much happened in the first week—mostly…
24th Nov to 30th Nov (Monday to Sunday) , 1st Dec to 7th Dec 2025 (Monday to Sunday) 
 Again I am writing a bi-weekly note. Life is going super fast… ups and downs… twists and turns… 
 I am not going to spend much time writing this note. I will get some time during the last week of this month. So I will write a longer reflective note at that time.
11th Nov to 23rd Nov 2025 (Tuesday to Sunday, Monday to Sunday) 
 Days are going super busy on the work front and other stuff. Not getting uninterrupted time to write detailed weekly notes. Here I am putting logs of the last two weeks. Mostly spent time at: 
 
 office working : writing children’s stories, puppets, working with children 
 Ahmedabad book festival 
…
4th to 10th Nov (Tuesday to Monday) 
 Very late for weekly notes but never say never. I’ll write short but will not skip the ritual. 
 Tuesday was at office. 
 Wednesday was a holiday for Gurunanak Jayanti. We went for the Ahmedabad Heritage Walk for the first time. Woke up at 6:30 and reached the venue at 7:20. Nidhi and I both enjoyed the walk. I was surprised by the variety of…
27th Oct to 3rd Nov (Monday to Monday) 
 Monday to Thursday was office work. Slowly people are coming into the zone of working after the long Diwali vacation. 
 We are preparing for a new project with children which is on insects. Our previous project was on trees. It is a fun process. I am looking at teacher’s work as artist’s work - writing stories, songs, designing learning…
13th to 19th Oct 2025 (week 42) 20th to 26th Oct 2025 (week 43) 
 Again, this time I am clubbing notes from the last two weeks. My office has started, so I really don’t have the bandwidth to write detailed notes. I’m putting informative notes here and adding very short emotional note/reflection also, I will add on in this note later. 
 
 Mon - drama practice at office 
…
6th Oct to 11th Oct 2025 (Monday to Sunday) 
 Monday - Friday 
 This week was heavy lifting at the office. Our whole team was preparing for a drama performance for children aged 6 to 8 years. We’re going to perform it on 14th October 2025. The play is based on a Gujarati story written by Gijubhai. 
 Throughout this week, we took regular sessions with children and also did…
30th Sep to 5th Oct 2025 (Tuesday to Sunday) 
 I am writing this on Monday and the ongoing week is super duper hectic, so I am keeping this weekly note short. 
 I am still in garba fever… still listening to Hardik Dave garba… “Khamma Khamma Khodiar Re Jogmaya” … my current tune while I am driving to the office on my Activa. I remember my dadaji whenever I…
22nd to 29th Sep 2025 (Monday to Monday) 
 I am typing this on the 30th night. I had already made mental notes and rough work in my notebook about this weekly note, but I’m late to type and upload it. I have a reason: It’s Navratri week. 
 I have never been excited for Navratri before this year. I have several reasons for that: 
 
 I never got the steps of garba, not…
15th to 20th Sep 2025 (Monday to Sunday) 
 Ah, the day is over… the week is over as well. In a few days the month will be over, and in a few months the year will be over. This week was an emotional roller coaster. I am not feeling centered; I am feeling like I am scattered everywhere. I need an anchor. 
 Maybe I will start writing morning and evening pages again to gain stability.
8th to 14 Sep 2025 (Monday to Sunday) 
 Mon - Fri: Office work mostly. There is chaos going on at the office because of some management level changes. It’s an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and less clarity. Let’s hope for the best. 
 We have almost finished the pre-test with children. From 17th Sep, we will start our actual pilot session with children. I am super excited for…