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Reach of the Banjara Academy has grown exponentially over the last 30 years. The Academy currently touches more lives than it ever did before. The fact that the number of people benefiting from our association is ever increasing and we proudly claim that as our major achievement. We have made a difference in people’s lives by drawing attention to many hitherto ignored or misunderstood aspects involving human relationships, parenting, emotions, self-acceptance, mental health, career guidance, emotional counselling and many more critical topics of life.

Team Banjara regularly conducts lectures, workshops and training programs for defence, central government, NGOs, schools, colleges, support groups, parents forums, children, purely on invitation. Our intention is to expand knowledge and practical skills of people to enrich their quality of life and to create a better world around them.  We cover all topics of human interest, a few are listed below:

Life Skills
Communication
Interpersonal Relationships
Time Management
Negotiating Skills & Conflict Management
Team Building, Leadership
Investing in People
Emotional Intelligence
Stress Management
Self development and growth
Beginning a Retired Life
Assertiveness Training & Handling Criticism
Psychological Counselling, Counselling at Workplace

Handling Depression
Self Esteem
Better Parenting
Adolescence Issues
Study Skills
Student-Teacher Relationships
Inter-religious harmony
Career Guidance & Goal setting
Matrimonial Harmony
Sex Education
Facing Exams
Suicide Prevention
Parent-Child Communication Workshop
Growth Lab for Growing Children

There is no commercial angle to our training.  We gracefully accept remuneration given voluntarily from those who can afford, which is used to subsidize our innumerable free activities and to give an honorarium to the Faculty members.  Many of the above programs are done free of cost for deserving institutions or groups.

Programs done Recently by team Banjara for various institutions on invitation:

Indian Montessori Association, National Public School, Mar Thoma Church, Cambridge School, Jubilee Schools, IBM, Dignity Foundation, Delhi Public School, and many others

 

Every baby and small child has an innate desire and curiosity to explore, learn and acquire skills. 

Adults find it so difficult to hold back toddlers who wish to move around all over the place and investigate everything within their reach. They use all their senses to see, listen, touch, taste & smell whatever they come across.

As the child grows older, he is sent to school to get ‘educated’, but all his motivation and desire to learn reduces.  He then has to be forced to listen to the teacher, take notes, do calculations, complete his homework, and ‘mug up’ for exams. Is it the fault of the student, or is it the fault of all of us adults who kill the curiosity and the joy of learning?

Instead of blaming the system or authorities, each one of us can, and should, do our bit to rekindle the spark of learning in any child we interact with, and send him off on a path of growth to become a capable adult.

It’s not difficult.

Careers and Studies:

Find out your most suitable learning style: 

Each one of us is unique, and the best method that suits our study should be determined by trial and error, till we are satisfied.  Check out if any or many of these techniques give you better learning and retention:

  1. Sitting in one place and reading, or standing, walking around, moving place of study every few minutes, or even lying down.
  2. Writing as you read, either in a notebook, small flip-cards, or on a black/white board that you can keep in your room.
  3. Reading mainly from the notes instead of the main text book, and referring to the text book periodically.
  4. Reading aloud to yourself, or even reading out to a friend or parent.
  5. Highlighting or underlining with a pencil the important passages or definitions.
  6. Closing the book once every 5, 10 or 20 minutes and recalling what you have read (or even writing down in point-form)
  7. Playing soft music when you read
  8. Reading one subject continuously for hours vs. shifting periodically from one subject to another.

 

Case Study

Rohini has been a good student and managed 10.0 CGPA in her 10th standard CBSE.  However she did not like science too much (though she enjoyed Math), and took up Commerce at the +2 level.  Her parents were not too happy with it as everyone in their family were engineering, doctors etc and they felt that science students have better careers than commerce students.

As an after-thought Rohini’s parents asked her to enroll for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) which is the first step to becoming a Chartered Account.  Again it was entirely in the belief that CA’s are the most respectable professionals in commerce.  Rohini appeared for CPT but missed clearing it by a few marks.  Her parents again coaxed her to re-appear, and in the second attempt she succeeded!

Rohini is not interested in becoming a CA, but did not know how to convince her parents.  Finally she went in for an Aptitude test.  The result was that she is a people-oriented person and would be much happier in areas of applied finance, not pure accounting.  The report mentioned many careers that have commerce as a base but which involve understanding and dealing with people.  The family started looking up details of the careers highlighted in the report, and were pleasantly surprised to see very interesting and exciting options open for their child.  Rohini is now happily doing her B.Com, getting fairly good marks.  She has also taken up a couple of on-line courses suggested by her counselor to enhance her skills in the fields she is considering as her final career.

A famous writer once said: “We Indians are only focused on weddings, but do not give any significance to marriage”.

I look around and find people doing everything to arrange the grandest weddings, but hardly spending any time or effort on helping the couple understand how they can make their married life harmonious.

When two people of opposite gender, having had different upbringing, education, relationships and attitudes, come together to share such an intimate relationship (and even bring up children together), don’t they require to plan, prepare, look into possible hurdles, and learn how to build a strong and loving relationship – which may last more than half a century ?

There is so much that can be done on working out all issues of the marital relationship in advance, the way we work out careers, homes, finances or health. Wish we start working on this crucial issue. 

Generally we are contented with the way our days are going and can deal with minor issues without much discomfort.

But sometimes life throws up unexpected challenges at you. Circumstances change, fortunes go up and down, luck favors or abandons you, and you face intense happy or sad situations. Sometimes you have no control of what is happening, and you do your best to overcome the hurdles or setbacks.  When faced with very difficult times, one thing becomes clear – you get to know who your true friends are, and who will give you unconditional support. 

Hope Diwali brings brighter days in your life.