Observer and the observed

  What Dream a Dream Taught Me — and How I See Myself Now Reflection on six years of learning, struggle, growth, and gratitude Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi  ·  Associate Lead, North Hub  ·  April 2026 Yesterday was my last day at Dream a Dream. I did not expect to feel what I felt. Not sadness exactly something fuller. The way you feel at the end of a long journey when you are tired and grateful and a little disoriented at the same time. You have been moving so long that stillness feels strange. I have been with Dream a Dream across two roles, multiple states, hundreds of training days, dozens of government meetings, and more than a few nights of wondering whether I was doing any of this right. I leave today not as the person who joined. I leave carrying things I did not even know I needed to learn. This is my attempt to write those things down. Not as a summary of my work but as an honest account of what this organisation asked of me, and what I found in myself alo...

Over the last few years, working closely with government systems, mentor teachers, psychologists, and classrooms across states, one insight has become very clear to me: The problem in education is not effort. It is direction . Teachers are trying. Systems are trying. But often, we are solving today’s challenges with fragmented approaches missing a deeper foundation that has always existed within our own context. This is where I see the relevance of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS). IKS is often misunderstood as “ancient knowledge” or something that belongs to the past. But in my experience on the ground, it is not about going backward. It is about reconnecting with ways of knowing that are deeply human, contextual, and experiential. When I facilitate life skills sessions or train educators, I notice something interesting: The most powerful moments don’t come from content delivery. They come from reflection, dialogue, storytelling, and shared experience. And that is exactly what IKS ha...