Ever wonder what the Shanti Bhavan campus is like? Shanti Bhavan is more than just classrooms. It also includes the Baldev medical clinic, a soccer field, basketball court, playground, community farm, music rooms, dorms, a duck pond, and many scenic walking trails.
Foundation Building
Near the gates of Shanti Bhavan, you’ll find a beautiful Foundation Building. This building has a separate kitchen, a formal dining room, and offices for staff. There’s also a celebration room where students and staff can gather to celebrate big moments like their 10th and 12th-grade board exams.
Organic Farm
Just a five-minute walk from campus is the Shanti Bhavan organic farm. A dedicated staff takes care of thefarm during the weekdays when they tend to the potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, carrots, cabbage, squash, onions, and various leafy greens. During the weekends, the high school kids go to the farm to help with planting, harvesting, and weeding.
Every day, fresh vegetables are delivered from the farm to the campus’s canteen. Shanti Bhavan’s campus is also filled with various fruit trees such as mango, coconut, starfruit, papaya, and jackfruit; these trees enhance the natural beauty of the campus and provide tasty snacks for the students. A few cows are used for milk, pasturing, and plowing the field. Another unique aspect of campus is the duck pond! This is where kids raise ducks and foster their connection with nature.
Sports Facilities
Students at Shanti Bhavan love being active; they play everything from regional Indian games, such as Kabbadi, to world pastimes like cricket, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. During gym periods you’ll find the children playing basketball with each other as a way to relax and unwind.
The basketball court is right next to the playground, where the tykes let loose and unleash their imagination. The playground provides a jungle gym, slides, swings, see-saws, and a merry-go-round. Sometimes you might even see the older kids playing with the little ones and immersing themselves in the pre-schoolers’ world of magic.
On the other side of the basketball courts are the soccer fields, where students practice their skills and train for the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce’s (IGCC) soccer tournaments. Soccer is the most popular sport at Shanti Bhavan, and whenever our Operations Director, Ajit, is on campus, you’ll find him spending his afternoons coaching the boys’ team.
Baldev Medical Clinic
Shanti Bhavan formed the Baldev Medical clinic to provide healthcare services to the village where Shanti Bhavan is located. The clinic is a five-minute drive from campus and serves students, faculty, volunteers, staff, and the local villagers. Typically students and volunteers visit the clinic if they are dehydrated or if they have a medical emergency. Visiting doctors with many specialties serve the school and village throughout the year, and nurse Sheila is always present and available to aid those in need. If there isn’t a doctor present and the nurse sees it’s an emergency, the patient is transported to a bigger hospital with one of the onsite ambulances.
Haven of Peace
Shanti Bhavan’s campus is expansive, and while this gives you a peek into what makes it unique, there are many hidden nooks only a dedicated explorer would find. Places like the “Circle of Life” and the “The Rocks”—both of which serve as gathering places for the children—bring a special aura of vibrancy to Shanti Bhavan. Most notably, as soon as you step onto campus beyond the big gates, you feel an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility that can’t be put into words.
