Soulful स्कूल | Session 3 | Brian H B Jenkins - Sholai School, CLOAAT, Kodaikanal

Sholai School was established in 1989 by the British-born, Brian Jenkins, who so named it because of a "certain beauty and naturalness" inherent in the name. A Social Anthropologist from the University of Sussex, Brian Jenkins ('BJ') taught for 14 years at the J. Krishnamurti Educational Centre at Brockwood Park, UK. Inspired by J Krishnamurti (JK), BJ, believes, "we need to explore a new culture of alertness which is sustainable, emphasises self-awareness, dialogue, and right relationships among all of us, human beings".

While at Brockwood Park, BJ frequently interacted with JK exploring with him how to live a life of intelligence and sensitivity and how to educate young people, such that they grow up to be mature and free of their fears and hurts. It is fact that many of the students who come to Sholai have already been conditioned by their previous schooling and social pressures. It is BJ's endeavour to help the teachers and students, all of us, to learn together in understanding the movement of conditioning along with a serious response to be free of it. In 2006 the Krishnamurti Foundation of India brought out A Flame of Learning: in which "Mr. J", (BJ) raised questions with JK concerning these issues.

However, Mr. Jenkins, cautions against dependence on any ideology and insists there is no "guru worship" at Sholai School. "The cruciality of watching oneself in one's relationship with other human beings and nature, form an important aspect of our work, here", he says. Brian Jenkins's search for an ideal location took him to Sri Lanka and Nepal and 7000 kilometres across India before he converged on the present locale. "Initially there were just two huts. We constructed buildings from local stone and our own consolidated mud bricks, made on campus. At the same time we converted the land into an organic farm that grows coffee, pepper, bananas, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Today the children benefit from the excellent vegetarian food, organically grown at CLOAAT," says BJ.