We have ignition.

The countdown has begun. From Monday, 28 June 2021, Kymaia, and the stakeholders in her happiness, begin a new journey. Having sat through dozens of 'demo classes', interviewed more teachers than we have combinedly had over our entire academic life, and haggled on price, fought on timelines, and debated on teaching methods, we are now finally ready to launch at the beginning of next week.

Here is a list of her teachers and the schedule:

1. Syllabus by Priyanka: Kymaia will keep learning at the same pace as her peers are in school, the same subjects, using the same books, but only for an hour a day. She will be taught by a young former schoolteacher who has 10 years of experience in at-home learning. The interesting fact is that she has books from every board for all classes from Std I to Std IX. She does not do Std X because parents have way too high an expectation from not just her (which she is OK with) but from their wards, and this breaks her heart. A graduate from SNDT in Pune, she prefers coming home and teaching in person, which is just as well with us. Priyanka's connect with Kym was almost immediate, and within the first 5 minutes of us introducing her and closing the door, we could hear loud raucous laughter and 'I want to show you something's from inside.

2. Piano by Erika: Every human must know enough to appreciate, and perhaps create, some music. Kymaia was very interested in guitar initially, but her fingers were too delicate to learn at an earlier age. For the past 2 months though, she has made good progress with her piano teacher, and we shall be continuing this for as long as Kym retains an interest in the instrument. Erika is a habitual class topper, a lawyer by education, a linguist by choice (she speaks excellent Mandarin and is learning Korean), and a very sweet, understanding, but tough teacher with qualifications from Trinity College London. Kymaia is learning the right techniques (her first class was just about how to sit in the 'I am great' pose!) and the right approach to the piano. Another reason she enjoys going to Erika's place is her Cocker Spaniel, Gypsy, who makes up the third member of the girl gang. Kymaia is so comfortable with Erika that the last time she was there, she taught her the 'Samurai jump' on her sofa, with Erika, her parents, and Gypsy as the supportive spectators.

A shout-out to Studio Meraki, Pune's premier school of music, of which Kymaia is a part, and from which Erika comes. If you or your child has any interest in learning music in Pune, this one is highly recommended.

3. Chess by Priyanka (a different one): Kymaia has been learning the basics of chess for the past 2 months, and has enough confidence to now play other children her own age online (Psst: She won her first such game. I know, I am one of those dads who'll boast about the smallest achievements of their child). Kymaia has subscribed to chess.com (which I would highly recommend, if you are interested in this game whatsoever) and learns this royal game on Zoom with her teacher, a FIDE-rated player from Mumbai, who speaks Gujarati, Kutchi, Hindi, English, and a bit of Marathi and German. It is interesting to see how much Kym has matured under her teacher in this game in such a short time by how she has started to read the board and think aloud. One of the funny things is that she thinks we do not want her to 'waste' too much time on chess, and so, plays online on the sly. We have repeated this lesson (to make her believe that something is a treat so that she thinks we won't allow her to binge on it, just so that she binges on it behind our backs) with reading and now she finds small hiding places where she reads, away from our vision, thinking that if she were to be caught, she'd somehow be reprimanded. Little does she know...

4. Science-Mathematics by Mugdha: We had specifically asked for a teacher who could teach her:

(i) physical science by observing the world around her, her place in the universe, and the common laws most things seem to follow at human scale (this would teach her to be more aware of how things happen around her, with an emphasis on Newton's laws of motion);

(ii) biological science by teaching her about plants, animals, and humans (this would teach her how life works, and include ecology and the importance of living a sustainable life, with an emphasis on understanding the fundamentals of evolution); and

(iii) mathematics, which is the language of science.

Mugdha is a chemistry graduate who studied Physics, Biology, and Economy for the love of the subjects, and knows translator-level Korean (what's with Oriental languages and Kymaia's teachers, we wonder!) and a smattering of French. She and Kym hit it off within the first minute of meeting online, and by the time the 'demo' session ended, Kymaia wanted to show her teacher her collection of Wimpy Kid books, and had to be physically dragged back and sat on the chair to finish the session off in a fit of giggles. We think Mugdha and Kym will get along fine.

5. English & Hindi by Devsurabhee: We wanted that Kymaia be able to learn and enjoy the languages she speaks without the burden of studying the grammar, and Devsurabhee was the perfect match. Herself a home-schooled kid (from Std VI onwards), she went on to get an MSc from Edinburgh and now runs a successful marketing consultancy from Goa. Devsurabhee is a PADI-certified open water SCUBA diver, a trained fashion designer, and has worked with marquee brands such as Air India and Marriott International. Coincidentally, apart from being a native Hindi speaker with a fluency in English, she is proficient in piano as well as French (which she taught at the Alliance Francaise de Goa), with a more than a nodding acquaintance with Tamil, Konkani, and Urdu, thus further strengthening my belief that there exists some connection between intelligence, music, and linguistic ability, though I'd be damned if I can say for sure which is the cause and which, effect. Once again, she and Kym hit it off so well that an observer would be forgiven for thinking that they have known each other for longer than the 5 minutes they spent together at that point.

As an aside: You may wonder why I keep talking of how quickly or smoothly or deeply or well someone connected with Kymaia. The truth is that we presumed that anyone who we requested a 'demo' class from was proficient in the subject or skill they taught, and that each of them would be as good a teacher as the other, with the only differentiation being whether and how they connect with Kymaia and how quickly that relationship was built. We have rarely stood around being an active part of the 'demos', but listened to her and her potential teacher interacting from just outside her (slightly ajar) door, and deciding on which one would fit the bill based on the banter and class control (wherein the teacher was playful and kind, but firm about what she was teaching). With that out of the way, let us go to the next one.

6. Marathi by Alka Aji: Now, no one can deny that Kymaia is a privileged kid. And while we try our best to keep pointing out that much of what she gets, achieves, and owns has a long line of privileged ancestors before her, we do not deny that she comes from high-achieving, highly educated, and well-read families from every side, whether from her mother's, mine, or even those related tenuously to these. Alka Aji (Aji = Grandmother) is the genius-level intelligence mother of the brilliant husband of the smartest-kid-on-the-family-block, Aditi, who is my maternal cousin, and teaches Marathi and Hindi all over the country pro bono, because she believes these languages deserve to be taught, learnt, and used. We were not going to pass up such an opportunity to get Kym to fall in love with the local language (and my mother tongue), and requested Alka Aji to help Kymaia learn, speak, and write Marathi. The idea was to limit her Marathi classes to simple conversations, songs, stories, poems, mythology, narrations, and so on for the first 3 months at least, before she moves on to reading, and then 3 more months later, to writing, which should be the easiest part since Marathi (like most Indian languages) is a phonetic language. I am personally very excited to see how Kymaia takes to a language she is not very comfortable with (she is the most comfortable with English, followed by Nepali, followed by Hindi, and Marathi a distant fourth). Alka Aji, with her infinitely deep well of stamina, wisdom, and experience, will have a lot to teach Kymaia. And not all of it will be about Marathi.

7. Indian Sign Language by Joanna: There are 10 million deaf people in India. Kymaia will have that many more people as potential friends. Also, she (and anyone else who knows ISL) will kick ass at dumb charades! More importantly, Kym will learn empathy from those who cannot hear or speak, but are just as useful and productive members of society as she is and will be. Joanna (and her husband, Brian) came as a breath of fresh air, with very high energy, great passion, and tremendous patience, all of which make them not just superb teachers, but also very much loved by their students. Their classes are engaging, fun, and educational, without ever being boring. Kym did a small 16-sessions-long course in the past month with them and we'd love for her to continue on those lines. Joanna is self-taught (we have observed this one again as a common thread that seems to bind many of her teachers) and has been teaching ISL for 13 years, has her own YouTube channel, is an artist and creator (of hyper-realistic painting and wildlife) in her own right, having exhibited at the 2019 Delhi Art Festival, is proficient in piano, has plans to learn a foreign language, and currently lives and works in Goa (there you go: more commonalities with other teachers!).

P.S: We found both, Joanna and Mugdha through Chalkboard Academy.

8. Maths, Arabic, and Life by Khan Sir: There's an interesting story behind this. When I started writing about us having taken the decision to pull Kym out of school, a Facebook friend of mine living in a far off land promptly wrote to me privately that her father has been an educationist (from a school teacher to the Principal) for 35 years and would love to interact with Kym. Turns out that this man is a University wrestling champion, with proficiency in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Persian, and Arabic, having worked in and outside India, and having earned degrees like they were some trifling things standing between him and knowledge: BSc (Science & Statistics), MSc (Agronomy & Entomology), BEd (Science & Maths), MA (Economics & Maths), and MEd (Education & Maths), eventually shifted to be with his daughter overseas. I am out of breath just reading this back! Anyway, to cut a long story short, his daughter went out of her way to arrange for a machine and a scribble-board (the one on which you write using a stylus) for Khan Sir, and I believe he is keenly looking forward to start. What will he teach? Technically, about innovative ways to do mathematics and some conversational Arabic, but in its true sense, perhaps about life, given that he has led and continues to lead such an eventful and fulfilling one. We have decided to try this out for the first month and if it works for both Khan Sir and Kym, we shall continue further. This one, by the way, is being done without charge. So, we are grateful to Khan Sir and his daughter sitting in a faraway country and doing all this for a (yet unknown) little girl in India.

9. Mandarin by Deepa Laoshi: We went through several demos, all on the same day (today), and finalised the tutor from the Pune-based The Oriental Dialogue, one of the premier schools in India that has high-quality teachers and equally high-quality students who graduate from there (Kymaia's piano teacher is one) who we believe had the best interaction with Kym (it was casual and playful without losing class control). Deepa Laoshi (as she prefers to be called, meaning 'Deepa Teacher', though the word Laoshi is closer to Guru) is an MBA from the University of Newcastle and a certified language trainer from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She is a banker by profession and a lover of all things Chinese by choice. To Kymaia, she is the gateway to a new culture, new experiences, a new understanding of her universe, and a new world, which, if she familiarises herself within the next few years, could open new doors of opportunity for an even more interesting, and hopefully joyous, life.

Why did we choose Mandarin? Because, in tonality and origin, it is different from the Indo-European languages. Our other options were Arabic and Tamil, any one of which would have been good for Kymaia to get a taste of another language altogether. However, for various reasons (mainly that it is the most widely spoken language in the world and that the 21st century will probably belong to China), we decided on Mandarin. Of course, whether Kymaia can keep up her interest and the teachers, their patience, only time can tell.

10. Storytelling and Home Science by Mamma: Tashuji, my wife, and Kymaia's mother is a storyteller par excellence (why don't we have a 'mistress storyteller' like we have a 'master storyteller'; I spent an hour thinking of what word to use, and realised how poor our language is if it ignores half of humanity), and is a fantastic cook (as those of you who are aware of Tasha & Girl, our zero-synthetic food brand, already know), recycler (if you've been to our home, you'll concur), artist, and a human being with an EQ so high that you'd need (at the very least) 6 of me to add up to that. She has been a people's person all her life, and that is not because she has any tricks that she uses, but solely because of how she seamlessly and noiselessly aligns her goals (whether for the length of the conversation or an entire career) with those of the people who she interacts with. Now, THIS skill, whether it is teachable or not, is something Kymaia must learn (I am too old a dog and too cranky an old dog, to learn new tricks, especially about how to be a more likeable canine), and who better to teach her that than her own mother? About the home science part, I must admit that there is no word that is not sexist that I can use to explain that it is the art and science of keeping a home, and all I can say in my defence is that even if we had had a boy, he'd have to learn how to keep a home, a science that we men of today badly need to learn. So, I would probably be joining the mother-daughter duo in learning what I may have missed growing up in the 1970s and 80s. If she'd have me as her student.

11. Physical Fitness by Baba: I used to do a bit of boxing in college, and have been reasonably fit throughout my life, mainly through sport: squash, football, cricket, running, swimming, golf (OK, the last one doesn't count, but still). That does not, however, give me any experience to be her coach, except that I go running once in a while and that I have been taking Kymaia running and teaching her the proper form to exercise since she was 3. So, with as thin a qualification as that, and with the full knowledge that coming immediately after 'Home Science by Mamma' has in itself its own risks of being labelled a misogynist, I have appointed myself her PT teacher, until such a time that children can get vaccinated and the sports complexes and clubs open, and she can go back to her squash, or maybe take up another athletic sport of her liking (Medium distance running? Wrestling? Tennis? Nobody knows). Oh, and before I forget: One more thing that qualifies me for this is Kymaia's preference to have no one but her Baba wake her up, pick her and gently set her down in front of the washbasin straight into her home slippers, apply toothpaste on her brush, and sing, 'Good morning, good morning. We like to say good morning. Each happy day. Before we play. We like to say...GOOD MORNING!' while she brushes her teeth. Yep. I get to do it. At 0530h IST every day. No one else. I am so proud! And so blessed. Of course, for all those who are going to point out that this won't last, I agree. Soon, she'll want her own privacy and would hate to be woken up so early. She'd want her own room (she has one, but she keeps the door open at night, and sometimes comes and snuggles us by herself) and lock the door. She'll tell me she does not like being picked up (or maybe will become too big to pick up). Whatever, I know this is a very tiny little phase in a delta of time that will pass before I blink an eye. One day, I will look back and smile at the happy memories and sigh. That day is not today. Or tomorrow. And I think I have earned that right to enjoy this while it lasts. 'Nuff said.

That's about all the activities Kym would be doing through a typical week.

Whew! Sounds a lot, doesn't it? Honestly, we do not know. It is one thing to make a schedule and timetable, and another altogether to follow it. As of now, the only thing we have been following rigorously for the past 3+ years is the time we awaken as a family (0530h IST) and the time we switch off the lights at night (2030h IST), except for weekends and with a rare exception once in a fortnight. So, while it does look tough to follow what looks like a gruelling eleven and half hours schedule day in and day out, we think that we'd got the hang of the two ends of it, and the rest should follow. Eventually.

Or not.

This could happen in a variety of forms:

1. We slip up on the schedule and it cascades into this headless-chicken-type running around, not really getting a grip on any one thing, and finally simply letting go. In such a case, we shall cut down on the activity and let go of some teachers and subjects, and make a new schedule and try again. We cannot put a time box on this since we are learning on the job. But I am sure we'll find a way.

2. Kymaia loses interest in some or all subjects and we are in a spot (like more Indian marriages, where no one loves anyone and the whole thing just carries on for the sake of convenience and appearances) where no party has any stake in anything that is happening and it all comes to a grinding halt due to lack of interest. In this case, we will go back to the drawing board and try again.

3. We realise that Kymaia has a disproportionate interest in some subjects and a disproportionate affinity for some teachers, and a disproportionate lack of interest or love for others. We can then trim the timetable, let go of some, add some, and try again.

4. We run out of funds (this is more expensive than we originally thought, and I won't put a figure on it in public, but in case you are interested to follow suit with your own child, I can give you a detailed breakup in private) or time (once again, we are assuming we'll be able to devote enough time to this, which may or may not be slightly optimistic and wishful thinking) or energy or patience and we think this is a mug's game, in which case, we shall approach her former school (from which she has just got a leaving certificate, after a long debate and explanations, and even a visit where the Principal herself tried to dissuade us, and for our and Kymaia's own good, I must add here) with a begging bowl, confess our errors, and ask to be readmitted. If not, we shall try other schools.

Broadly, we shall try and try again for about 3 months first, tinker with the subjects, teachers, timings, and so on and try again for 3 months, and so on till the end of the first year before we decide whether to continue or abandon this ambitious project. Any which way, I shall be documenting all our trials and tribulations here, and you can follow me to know more.

So, friends, family, and well-wishers, everyone with a stake in little Kymaia's happiness, gather around. We shall need all the support, all the applause, all the encouragement, and all the critical thought and advice of a third-party observer, to make this work. And we are sure we have it.

To Kymaia, and her teachers, we say: We are 'Go' for launch.

If I were a believer, I'd have said, 'God bless, Kymaia, and God speed.'

But I am not, so I say: Fly, Kymaia. Fly like the wind.

#LearningWithKymaia