Last year, at the end of every school day we would receive complaints from teachers about Ram Sagar’s behaviour. He was constantly distracted and violent with other students, never wanted to focus on school work and was struggling to read and write basic sentences despite being in the 4th grade.

We had tried everything from conversations to consequences and nothing seemed to work. This was about the time we had started an organic farming initiative in our school with SowGood.  We were skeptical about his participation and sure enough, we got the same familiar feedback about his constant disturbances in the farming classes.

But slowly, something about working on the field and spending time with plants started to change him. Through the year, he became the first student to always submit his farming homework, plan for the classes and share his reflections on how much plants give us. He is so connected and focused, always ahead in class and even takes the lead to help others, ensuring the others are tending to the soil gently and patiently. This has to be one of our favourite photos of Ramsagar - when he had planted watermelon seeds at home so he could harvest them by the summertime.

He says when he grows up he wants to make inventions that will help the farmers of India thrive.  At Bhim Nagri, we want to continue to nurture Ram Sagar’s dream.