Inside a Couple’s ‘Ulta Pulta’ School Where 70 Tribal Kids Learn Through Theatre, Farming & Forest Walks

Welcome to the ulta pulta (upside down) school, where mountains form classroom walls and open skies form the roof. Here, no question is too ‘stupid’ and children learn by reasoning, not by rote. At the ulta pulta school, wonder leads the way, and mistakes are celebrated. Education feels less like a routine, and more like an adventure. 

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This one-of-a-kind school lives in Dehradun’s Katapatthar village, and is part of ‘Suraah’, an initiative pioneering a student-centric alternate schooling movement in the hills of Uttarakhand. 

Its unconventionality is reflected in the mindsets of its founders, Shrey (33) and Jyoti (31) Rawat. 

Shrey, like most children, grew up on stories. But these did not come from fairytale books; they came from his family archives. He’d listen with bated breath about his grandmother, Anari Devi, who trudged 300 km through the steep Uttarakhand terrain back in the 1930s, to write her Class 5 examination. “What breaks my heart is that even after a hundred years, the socio-economic conditions of the mountains haven't improved much,” Shrey notes. 

But he acknowledges that, today, just as it did all those years ago, aspiration continues to push through the narrowest cracks, refusing to be stilled.  

His grandmother’s story taught him resilience; his grandfather’s taught him tenacity. “My grandfather, Surendra Singh Rawat, a social reformer, led many regional movements in Uttarakhand. He fought alcoholism, opposed animal sacrifice in temples, and even today, people remember him as ‘Suraah ji’, the man who never gave up on his mountains,” Shrey shares. 

Today, these stories live on, not just in his memory but in those of the wide-eyed children who make a great audience.

Offering the children of the hills an academic lifeline

“What is your favourite subject?” 

“Maths,” says Srishti. 

“What is your favourite topic in Maths?” 

“Symmetry.” 

“Why is it your favourite?” 

“Fold a leaf into two. One side is like a mirror of the other. Isn’t that beautiful?” 

Srishti is 11 years old. She belongs to Uttarakhand’s Jaunsari tribe. Little though she may be, Srishti knows she is lucky for a chance to go to school. The fact that blackboards are substituted with leaves and flowers is a bonus. 

As Shrey and Jyoti listen to her articulate her love for maths, they smile. Jyoti, who has watched these children’s attitudes towards learning transition remarkably in the last few months, credits the nature-based teaching methodologies. 

She spends hours designing curricula that will stretch their understanding of different topics, right from mathematical concepts to poems in English. Every topic is a window into a new world; the goal, Jyoti says, is to teach in a way that ensures their creativity does not fall into a rut. 

But beyond academics, the school is instilling children with a quiet confidence. This holds personal value for Shrey, who is reminded of his own school days. “Growing up, I felt I was almost invisible in school, even though I had so much potential. I never heard encouragement from adults around me: ‘We believe in you’ or ‘You will shine’.” 

It was in theatre that Shrey found his safe space. 

“During the summer, my uncles, who’d graduated from the National School of Drama, would conduct theatre workshops in our town. Eventually, my childhood was split into two contrasting environments: one was school, and the other was summer vacations and theatre. The latter is where I realised the power of expression. It helped me open up and understand my own identity,” Shrey shares, reasoning that this realisation forms the bedrock of Suraah’s curricula. 

In 2023, he decided to put miles between himself and the city hustle and move to the mountains for good. That August, he and Jyoti adopted the MKJSM (Maharaj Kumar Jagut Shamshere Memorial) School. 

Elaborating on the Suraah model, Shrey says the goal is to transform existing schools in Uttarakhand into progressive learning spaces, where tribal children are urged to reimagine the local hill economy and contribute with their indigenous innovations. They want these children to step outside the spirals of daily life and explore the worlds that lie beyond convention. 

When innovative teaching nurtures unique thinking

It’s 7.30 am on a Tuesday morning. Usually, this would be Aman’s least favourite part of the day. But now, it’s one the nine-year-old looks forward to the most. As Aman explains, the mood shift happened after “Shrey sir and Jyoti miss” came to the school. While logistically there was an overhaul of the curriculum, with the couple revamping the ways of teaching and the mode of instruction, to children like Aman, it is as simple as “seekhne mein mazza aane laga (we started having fun learning).”   

But it wasn’t an overnight curriculum revamp, the couple explain. It was backed by extensive pilot projects. The three-week-long pilot in two schools in the Chakrata and Katapatthar villages of Dehradun tapped into the needs of 60 children and 30 parents. The learnings of the pilots taught them a lot. 

For instance, they learnt that if arts-based self-expression is integrated into academics, students demonstrate an improved ability of compassion. They also deduced that art and theatre are great catalysts to get children to care about their community and its problems, and that simulations in the natural world work best when tackling new concepts. 

Through Suraah, the couple have created a space where theory and practical approaches can dialogue with each other. Currently, the school at Katapatthar village sees 70 students studying from nursery to class 5. The fees are a subsidised Rs 300 per month per child. 

At Suraah, the curriculum sidesteps the obvious. As Jyoti shares, there’s a reason behind giving the children exposure to different fields. “When I would speak to the children in these villages and ask them about their dreams, most of them would say they want to join the army. This is because they’d grown up watching their fathers in the armed forces. They didn’t really know about other fields that existed. But then, through our conversations, we tried explaining to them that there are so many more opportunities that exist even here in Uttarakhand,” Jyoti shares.  

Encouraging kids to colour outside the lines

I was intrigued by Shrey calling it an ulta pulta school. Was everything really as unconventional, I wondered.

But the more I spoke to the children and to Shrey and Jyoti, I realised it is. Whether it is them spending weekends taking the kids to a professional recording studio to record the ulta pulta song — by the way, you can create your own cover of it — or the stories the children tell me about their curriculum, it’s all unconventional. 

This avant-garde approach is vital, Shrey believes. “When I was in Class 6, I used to attempt to solve Class 8 math problems, since my sister was two years older. One day, my teacher, who saw me doing questions outside the books, noticed and asked why I was doing things outside my syllabus.” While Shrey was chided for colouring outside the lines, at the ulta pulta school, children are encouraged to do it. 

The curriculum at Suraah is sprinkled with mischief and fun. Poems are learnt by exploring the forests of Uttarakhand, walking through their village, and paying visits to the local tea stalls. The concept of air pressure is understood through balloon and string experiments. Circle time involves encouraging the children to speak about their emotions. There are classes on football, kitchen gardening, and weeding. 

“Last month, their first harvest arrived: a small batch of 100 gram of chana (chickpeas). Through this little harvest, children experienced the full cycle of farming — from sowing a seed to reaping the reward. More than a science lesson, it was a lesson in care, patience, and pride,” Shrey shares.  

Opening doors to more hill classrooms

But even as curiosity is sparked at Suraah, recent findings suggest that, for the academic year 2024–25, nearly 1.17 million children in India have been identified as ‘Out of School Children’ (OoSC), meaning they are not enrolled in primary, secondary, or senior secondary education. 

According to the Centre, an OoSC refers to any child aged six to 14 who has either never been admitted to an elementary school or has been absent for 45 consecutive days without prior notice. This definition covers both children who were never enrolled and those who dropped out.

For no fault of their own, children’s academic futures are caught in the crosshairs. This is underscored by Paridhi’s story. Since this current school under Suraah only has classes until Class 5, her older sisters have to go to a school 15 km away in the main town. Recent flash floods in the state, coupled with rising water levels and landslides, often mean that Paridhi’s parents worry about their daughters’ safety and don’t allow them to go to school. This often means a hampered education. 

Shrey and Jyoti are attempting to solve for this. They are starting another school in the hills that will open its doors to more children who have dreams. And they aren’t going to stop. As Shrey shares, the plan is to keep adopting more schools in the hills. 

He wants them to script their own stories.

Together, we can give more children in the hills the chance to learn. Support the second school here.

Edited by Khushi Arora; all pictures courtesy Shrey Rawat

Sources 

'1.17 million children identified as ‘Out of School’, govt tells LS': by Vrinda Tulsian, Published on 10 December 2024.