Our Teachers

Jeetin Rangher is a multidisciplinary artist based in Bangalore, India, and Creative’s Arts Teacher for the high schoolers. He also coordinates the primary and middle school Arts curriculum. With an education in painting and design, his interest in the Arts is nurtured by his sensitivity to his surroundings of both the natural and social environment. Jeetin is very sensitive to his environment, both the natural as well as social.

Through his expressions in the visual arts, Rangher’s main concern over the years has been man’s intervention in the natural world. His performances are responses and critical reflections on our social, cultural, as well as political behaviour. 

He has been intensively involved with community art and special needs kids, conducting workshops with them. His recent project, Art Adda was created with the support of a grant from the India Foundation for Arts as a part of Project 560 named after the Bangalore postal code 560. Art Adda was an intervention into found space in the heavily populated and cosmopolitan city of Bangalore. Jeetin runs a residency project, called Soch Studio which he created with artist Katarina Rasic, in Bangalore. 

Through his performances, Rangher takes his art and self into public spaces to interact with the audience. Rangher says, “My works are more about self-healing, they are about transformation and change through sharing and connecting. They are meant to be raw and subtle, intense and beautiful. I believe the body is the most nostalgic element, the most vivid, vital, dynamic, powerful and beautiful, one where the past, present and future coexist, where life and death make synthesis, where I can find my fears and hopes, my memories and most importantly my strength, drive and spirit.” He has been involved in art activism through his performances as well as other types of festivals,and multidisciplinary arts projects in India and South Asia. His most recent performances were at the Serendipity Art Festival, Colombo Biennale, Jaipur Art Summit to name a few. He also enjoys teaching art to children in Kashmir whenever time permits. He initiated the Green World Art Festival in November 2010 which continued in 2011, 2012. He has been working with different communities in conflict zones in Kashmir, India. 

After a rich experience of working in Jasmine, Aster, and Orchid classrooms, Sithara became a facilitator at the Play Healing centre at Creative in the year 2016. Working with children of the primary grades, all the way from the little 3-year-olds to the 10-year-olds, she provides them a space ‘to just be’-honouring the spirit of each child. Such a sacred space offered through the presence of a facilitator like Sithara, in a place like the Play Healing room, carries healing potential along with the pure joy of unstructured play and exploration.

Sithara also takes individual Play Healing sessions for children to help them address any behavioural or emotional issues. She feels at home in nature and feels invigorated facilitating nature activities for the Early Childhood classes. She strongly believes that she is in her element when she is outdoors in nature. In the online scenario, she is with the little Jasmines, bringing in the essence of Life & Living to the tiny tots. 

Apart from being a teacher at Creative, she is also a therapist at Prajna Wisdom Centre and an active member of Prajna Vidya. She also supports the Sacred Children magazine team.

Sithara’s search for a loving space for her little daughter  led her to Creative in the year 2012. As Shruti,her daughter, was settling in the new space, Sithara was going through her own inner transformation. The Prajna retreats and other workshops  opened up a new world for her. The Sacred ClassroomTM workshop on self-development and teacher training; and the myriad other workshops by various masters and teachers that she has been blessed to attend at Creative have shaped her personally and professionally. Her own passion for self-development has inspired her growth.

Even though Sithara did Computer Science Engineering, life had other plans for her. In 2013 she found her heart space in Creative. It just felt like the right place for her. Since then, the journey at Creative has been a truly satisfying one with a lot of enriching experiences. Being a sportsperson during her school days, she jumps at opportunities to play. Arts and interior designing are other areas that give her joy and space for expression of her creativity.  As Sithara pursues her heart’s calling, she is supported by her husband Sujith, an IT professional in Bangalore. She is grateful for the presence and blessings of her parents who are her constant support.

She strongly believes that each day is an opportunity to be a better version of oneself … and that’s what inspires her to be at Creative!!

Nagaveni feels blessed to be part of Creative. She works across Aster, Orchid, Rose, and Lotus classrooms in the primary school in a range of subjects, including crafts.

Three stepping stones have influenced Nagaveni’s journey in education that have brought her to Creative. By divine grace, Nagaveni’s journey began as a student at a very small and beautiful school called Vikasana, meaning “to blossom.” As part of the school, every child planted and took care of their own tree on campus. Because children did not compare themselves with each other, there was no competition, only comradery. Vikasana’s earthy, hands-on, and lively education opened Nagaveni’s eyes to the beauty of alternative education.

After graduating from Vikasana, Nagaveni had the opportunity to partake in a spiritual education training program in Delhi’s Aurobindo Ashram. Through Aurobindo, Nagaveni learned that nature has provided all of us with the gift of self-awareness, the ability to look within to find our own capacities, talents, and unique potentials.

Prior to joining Creative, Nagaveni had the amazing opportunity to co-found a start-up school. Through the trials and tribulations of starting a school, Nagaveni built immense inner strength, learning to let go of fear and to be courageous in the face of adversity.

When Reshma asked Nagaveni to join Creative, she was delighted. She was deeply moved by Creative’s vision inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Nagaveni is happy to be with such wonderful people and beautiful souls in Creative’s Sangha.

Bharathi dreamt of becoming a lady pilot! Instead, she pursued a D.Ed in Science from RV University Bangalore with her father’s encouragement of becoming a teacher. She teaches the Parijatha group at Creative. In her free time she enjoys playing throw ball and going trekking.

All along, she wanted a space for children to experientially learn, rather than the old ways of rote learning. She feels incredibly fortunate for finding such a space in Creative.

Bharathi feels completely aligned with school, and is passionate about teaching children at Creative. She loves listening to their stories and involves herself in their imaginative play. The healing sessions have completely transformed Bharathi’s life and way of thinking, helping her growth.

Originally from Chennai, Maitreyi considers herself Bangalorean for all practical purposes. Teaching children of the 5th and 6th grades at Creative, she enjoys the company of children, the challenges and learnings that come as part of the package. She also aims to engage with as many sports sessions in school when possible.

Joining Creative happened quite suddenly through a series of seemingly random events, but yet so smoothly. Maitreyi is grateful to have  found a joyful space that engages with children, teachers and parents mindfully and holistically, and for the supportive teacher community that exists here.

Maitreyi has always followed her heart and which is why post her graduation in Communication Studies, she has been in constant engagement with the field of education, interacting with children and sports. She taught at an alternative school in Tiruvannamalai for a year, and her interest in different pedagogies has taken her to several spaces that explore learning, teaching, and outdoor education. She also worked at a gym as a trainer for close to a year.

For Maitreyi, the sport of Ultimate Frisbee is a big part of who she is. She views it as a source of happiness and constant learning; physically, mentally and for her overall well-being. Playing since 2012, she has represented India four times as an Ultimate Frisbee athlete, and once as an India assistant Coach for 2018 National U24 Team. As one of the female mentors and leaders of her club team in Bangalore, Maitreyi feels she has grown immensely as a person because of Ultimate, which to her is more than just a sport.

Outside of school and Ultimate, Maitreyi enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, photography, reading and listening to spoken word poetry.

Jayasree is a part of the ECH  team and a class pillar for the Jasmine class.  Along with her teammates, she strives to create a classroom atmosphere that is stimulating, encouraging and adaptive to the varied needs of students.

Jayasree loves to  explore the rich and exciting world of  English with the little ones.  She is passionate about bringing in innovative ways to make learning joyful and encourages creative expression in children in fun-filled ways. She has an aptitude to remain flexible, ensuring that every child’s learning styles and abilities are addressed.

 Jayasree’s  journey into Creative started with her search for a holistic school that addresses the child as a whole. The traditional model of teaching which she had to follow in the beginning of her career made her think about the need for acceptance and celebration of the uniqueness of every child. 

Watching her son blossom naturally at Creative, she was reassured of her choice. The ideology and the environment were appealing enough to influence her entry into Creative, to be a part of the team. 

Joining Creative has been one of Jayasree’s best life moments. The space has helped her to grow beyond her limiting beliefs and rise above challenges. Her inner voyage has been supported by her sadhana of the daily well-being practices at Creative and it has allowed her to look at life positively than ever before.

Jayasree unwinds by immersing herself in music, art and creative work.

A thorough Montessorian by heart, Malavika has been working with young children since her teenage years, her first engagement with them was when her mother started a Creative centre for children at home in Bangalore. Her passion to work with children inspired her to be trained and certified as a Montessori teacher. She has several years of experience in the Montessori method of teaching in India and the USA. 

In her search for a suitable school for her son, she discovered Creative. Having been brought up in a family that was influenced by the philosophies of Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo and the Mother, she instantly felt at home in Creative.

Malavika also manages a Charitable Trust that her Mother founded. The Trust is involved in providing recreation opportunities for Senior Citizens,  offering free lunch to elderly slum dwellers in Bangalore and also organizing  an annual Hindustani Classical music festival for the youth.

Ini has been interested in the field of Education ever since her schooling. This is what led her to study Education for her Masters at Azim Premji University.Ini is passionate about teaching  Social Sciences and instilling an appreciation for these subjects in her students.

Ini grew up in a village near Mangalore situated between the Western Ghats and the Coast. She was exposed to rich forms of storytelling and different languages/cultures in her childhood. This she believes has enriched her life greatly. She hopes to carry forward the same enthusiasm and love for life as a teacher.

An Electronics Engineer by qualification with almost two decades of experience in the corporate sector, Shoba finally found her calling at the Creative School. She teaches Languages and Humanities to grades 7 and 8 and mentors students for Global Perspectives to 9th and 10th . With her love for the written word combined with the fascination with all things ‘human’, she wishes to enable learners to develop critical, creative, and reflective thinking about contemporary issues, people, and places. She loves her students, and she hopes that they learn from her nearly as much as she learns from them.

Her journey to Creative started almost seven years ago at a time when she believed that her vulnerability made her weak. She then started attending workshops that set her off on the path of self-discovery and healing that continues to this day. The idea that: “Unconditional love is not unaware love”, has brought about a transformational shift in her way of being. She has seen how this idea has helped her set firm boundaries all while respecting the other individual. All things that were mere ideas have now metamorphized into experiences, a way of life and living.

Having spent well over a year at Creative, she wishes to work on her breath, learn to accept abundance with grace, and become a conscious creator.

Sharanya is both a parent and a teacher at Creative. The search for an alternative style of education for her daughter Anvi, brought her to Creative School. She says that Creative is the best thing that has happened to  both Anvi and her. She has found a path which enables her to grow spiritually, and yet allows her to enjoy her passion of being with children.

Sharanya started her career as an HR Administrator. Her true calling turned out to be teaching and soon she was working as an Assistant Teacher at a Special School. Her love for children persevered and helped her sail through, transforming her into a patient, loving and caring facilitator.

Sharanya underwent  training as a special educator at SSK and KPAMRC, Bangalore. Sharanya strives to rewrite the notion that “there are many limitations and very little to what a child can do”. 

As a committed teacher in the Brahmakamal team, she stands by the need to understand different ways of learning and exploration for children. She says, “Every child has a right to learn, and  different children learn things differently. It is important for the teacher to be flexible enough to change his/her style to match the child’s needs.”

She has always believed in the fact that there is no such thing as a “Learning Disability”; if the teacher cannot teach a child, it is a “Teaching Disability.”

Uthara started off her career journey as an Assistant Professor at Dindigul, the very same college where she completed her Master of Philosophy in Psychology. She then continued her work in teaching and counseling in Chennai.

Uthara feels blessed to have learnt in a college which emphasized greatly on Holistic awareness and Self Healing as a major part of Psychology and having learnt its importance and the impact it can make in daily life, She feels a deep urge to give it back to teenage children.

Her heart was looking out for a place with a similar ambiance, and when she found Creative, she felt at peace.

She loves to integrate the neuroscientific and spiritualistic aspects of psychology in her classes. Uthara feels grateful to be with wonderful souls at Creative.

Shilpaja is a teacher for the Aster group of students. Prior to this, she worked in KPMG for almost five years, and found the shift from auditing to teaching little ones at Creative transformative.

Shilpaja has been fascinated by the teaching techniques employed and taught at Creative, where there is both joy in teaching and learning. Being deeply spiritual she felt a strong urge to spend the rest of her life in work that makes her heart light and joyful and gradually her passion for teaching, learning and healing have been ignited. She is also a Classical Dancer and dancing keeps her energized while she believes it is another language to establish the connection between individual and the universe. Apart from dance, she also loves painting, creative writing, singing and chanting shlokas. Being a part of Creative has given her an opportunity to rediscover these additional areas of interest, as well as open up to learning and wisdom.

Shilpaja’s journey of self exploration has just begun and she strongly believes that her transformation from that of a corporate individual to one in a holistic community at Creative has definitely been guided by a universal call.

She feels deep love and gratitude towards her family for being extremely supportive in her journey.

Nikita’s love for nature and children found her wandering through the doors of Creative School. She was delighted to find a dynamic and caring space, with a wide scope of activities and efforts!

Nikita grew up in Chennai, and her fondest memories are of dogs, the ocean, drumstick sambhar and filter coffee. Things changed forever when she got the opportunity to live in a forest for a year. This had her dreaming about a ‘wild’-life, and a world that is caring towards all life. 

She set about visiting, volunteering and living in amazing places alongside amazing people who were doing this in different ways. 

She is inspired and excited to carry forward building on these learnings and experiences, and working on a nature-based curriculum at creative.

Nikita is currently teaching English and also exploring teaching itself with the Orchid group (3rd and 4th graders), and engaging in gardening.

Anand teaches Math at Creative School for high school students in Cosmos. His background is in Engineering, and several years of his work life were spent in Software Programming. Both of which he enjoys to a fair extent. Math and Science fascinate him, and he tries to share some of that love with his students.

The moments when his students go through the rigor of a Math topic, and slowly emerge out of a pile of equations, as the beauty of a new concept dawns, as some deep insight emerges of how something fundamentally works, and they go “oh, ooh, oohoooo, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh”, those “aahaa moments” are some of the most cherished in Anand’s classes. “We do train hard for the exams as well, sometimes it does get a little boring, sometimes a little tiring, but the pleasure of surmounting a hard problem and getting it right has its own sweet fulfilling charm.” 

Anand believes that the challenge he usually faces is figuring out how to take everyone along at their own pace, and yet keep the class together. “It turns out somewhat like a trek. Some want to race ahead, and some want to trot and take in the fresh air at a leisurely pace, some want to rest at a place, and somehow you have to take everyone together along so each one of them has a memorable journey.” This is a constant source of learning for him. Apart from volunteering to teach at Creative, Anand keeps his day job at a company called Strand Life Sciences, where he has once again been fortunate enough to see Science and Technology come together in interesting ways to solve real life problems in the field of genomics.