Center for creativity and problem solving
We do not teach, we inspire
Puthir offers an integrated, personalized environment and meticulously curated activities and programs to maximize the creative potential of its members. Our activities are designed to bring diverse disciplines together to foster creativity. Puthir is designed to supplement the traditional education system with skills needed for the future workforce.
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Creative writing and expression
- Stories
- Comics
- Theater
- Acting
- Improvisation
- Poetry
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Engineering
- Construction
- Paper crafting
- Computation
- Reverse engineering
- Functional programming
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Mathematical thinking
- Number sense
- Spatial recognition
- Symmetry
- Geometry
- Patterns
- Proofs
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Logic
- Questioning
- Reasoning
- Analysis
- Argumentation
- Debate
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Strategy
- Organization
- Planning
- Decision making
- Collaboration
- Resource management
What does it mean to be a Puthir member?
Being a Puthir member means signing up for a creative life. Creative lives are lived in pursuit of producing original works that benefit everyone and everything. It is imperative that foundations for such a pursuit is laid early in childhood as it gets increasingly difficult to cultivate the needed habits as we grow older.
Children of this generation will graduate into a world dominated by machines where the most important skills needed for success are decidedly human.
A typical day at Puthir
Session begins with members sitting on the floor listening to a story narrated by a puthirali (facilitator) that conveys the goals of the day's activity. Teams are divided and members begin discussions as they work on ways to progress in the activity. Puthiralis provide minimal guidance, encouragement and conflict resolution to keep things moving.
At the end of the activity, teams demonstrate their solutions to each other and learn from each other. The activity is brought back to the floor during the next cycle with incremental increase in complexity and difficuty.
Sound familiar?
Yes, Puthir is modeled upon most creative work environments with a generous sprinkling of theatrics, play and held-back-till-needed guidance.
Programs
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Kathai Vidu
Epic storytelling for all ages
Kathai Vidu uses stories to embed powerful role models, enriching experiences and colorful characters in the minds of our members.
Hearing stories narrated by its author is a wonderful experience for our members who are often tasked with becoming authors themselves.
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Knool
Curated and guided book club
Knool thematically introduces new authors, genres and books to our members. Personalized selections & guided readings have successfully cultivated a healthy reading habit in many.
Knool aims to graduate some of its occassional readers into avid readers and avid readers into critical readers.
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Koothu
Improv theater and creative expression
Theater is the most primal art forms of human kind. Every revolution had a trigger point in theater. Theater requires quick thinking, sensitivity and immense perseverance.
Koothu forces members to connect with who they are by (ironically) asking them to be someone else.
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Kani
Computation and programming
There are very few industries where a limited investment empowers you to impact millions of lives. With most of our world run by computers, learning to program is no longer optional.
Programming is not just an end in itself. It is a vehicle for learning. Kani will use programming to explore math, art, music and science.
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The Solvers Club
Senior
Junior
The Solvers Club sessions provide a canvas for Puthir members to unleash their creative potential. Our unique Make, Solve, Play rhythm and thoughtfully crafted activities encourage members to be inspired and infected by each other.
Exposing them to varied fields including art, math, science, engineering & creative writing through games and gamified activites helps members open up to any challenge.
Online workshops
We have always been on the lookout for offering our services to children outside of the Bollineni Hillside community. The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown forced us to translate our activities into online activities. Sometimes a crisis situation forces you to consider other perspectives. We are pleased to open our Door #1 into the solvers club through our Open Up series of workshops for anyone, anywhere between 10 — 14 years of age.
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Door #1: A long long time ago in the future
Problem solving through creative writing
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Age group
10 — 14 years
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Cost
₹ 25,000
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Dates
To be decided
Create, build and narrate your story under the guidance of experienced writers and storytellers.
Solve problems along the way working closely with puthiralis. -
Memberships
Puthir offers annual memberships under two age groups. Potential members go through a trial cycle at Puthir consisting of atleast one repetition of a Make, Solve, Play cycle and one event. Membership is not guaranteed. New members are accepted based on a few critieria:
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Available slots
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Alignment with parents
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Observations from the puthiralis
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Seniors
8 years and above
Annual Membership
₹ 80,000
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Juniors
5 - 8 years
Annual Membership
₹ 32,000
Note: The Solvers Club program and Puthir events are closed during the months of May & December for summer and winter breaks. Continued absence without prior notifiction will result in cancellation of the membership. In the event of cancellation, refunds will be provided after deducting the prorated membership fee.
Batches
The Junior and senior members have separate sessions. They come together during Puthir events during the weekend.
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Tide #1
Seniors
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
5:00 PM — 7:30 PM
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Wave #1
Juniors
Monday, Wednesday
5:00 PM — 6:30 PM
Note: Batch end times vary based on the activity. Since Puthir involves creation, sometimes members are caught up in their work and aren't quite done. We request parents to make members independent enough to head back home when they are done or wait until they are ready to leave.
Pedagogy
Our pedagogy is based on helping learners move towards creative outcomes. We do that using our Inspiration -> Experimentation -> Creation (IEC) cycle modeled loosely on "The Scientific Method".
We believe that the best way to develop a creative cohort of learners is by having creators be educators and facilitators. As creators and curators, we demonstrate work products (ours and the world's) in ways that inspire our members.
With that inspiration as fuel, they open up to experimenting on activities presented to them. Eventually their experiments lead to work products they are satisified with.
About
People associated with Puthir are in pursuit of a creative life. They epitomize love for learning, sharing and collaborating. They strive to be the best version of themselves, enjoy play and get a kick out of making new things. They define the world around them instead of letting the world decide who they are.
They are also carefully chosen to uphold high ethical values and a desire for an equal and inclusive world.
Puthiralis
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navilan
Founder, CEO, Puthirali
Navilan is an author, educator, technologist, poet and storyteller. He has over two decades of experience in building software products and engineering teams.
His varied fields of expertise, experience and interests help him create streams of activities that engage, enthrall and joyfully frustrate Puthir’s members.
The bed time stories that he told his son since he was a toddler have become epics that he narrates at Kathai Vidu. Children from Sikkim to Himachal to Tamil Nadu have heard his stories.
Kayal, the Formidable, his first story at Kathai Vidu will soon be published for international audience.
His essays and poetry in English and Tamil can be found on his personal website.
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sowmya
Founder, COO, Puthirali
Sowmya is an artist, writer, book lover, zumba instructor, kalaripayattu enthusiast, budding psychologist and most of all, a lifelong learner.
She has cultivated avid readers in Puthir members by sharing her quintessential love for books.
She runs the junior batch with love, affection and truck loads of creativity. She is the reason behind our junior members considering Puthir as their second home.
Sowmya wields the brush, mouse, pen and a voice of reason to make Puthir fantastic. Puthir's walls are decorated with her curations and creations.
Her sketchwork, cartoons and essays are available on her personal website.
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kavita
Puthirali
Kavita is a rebel and maker at heart. Coming from a rural upbringing she brings child-like curiosity, impeccable work ethic to Puthir.
Having been with Puthir since its inception Kavita has grown leaps and bounds. Kavita uncannily finds imbalances in games and uses it to her advantage. Her affection, hard work and dedication make her an indispensable part of Puthir.
Many of Puthir's custom designed activities and games have been meticulously worked on by Kavita. She also designed the toys that are created by Mangamma in Made by Mangamma story. She is taking her first steps into the world of storytelling right now.
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you?
Puthirali
Are you interested in being the fire-starter for a new creative generation? Are you ready to unlearn the cruft from being a part of a rusty educational system?
Do you enjoy play? Do you enjoy a puzzle? Do you have multiple interests and love creating things? Do you enjoy learning new things? Do you enjoy working with children?
If you answered yes to most of the questions, please apply to work with us. While we do not promise a great salary in the short term, we can promise fulfilling work and unparalleled growth.
Honorary advisors
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muhilan
Muralist, Illustrator, Art director
Muhilan's wonderful art decorates the walls of Puthir. Puthir members identify its rooms by associating with his evergreen murals.
He is the illustrator for Kayal, the Formidable, Puthir's first children's book and the forthcoming creations. His cover art has helped etch Kathai Vidu characters in the minds of our audience.
His love for his craft and desire to make his pictures light the life of people around it is infectious. Puthir members were lucky to learn from him during the 20 Vannam sessions.
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scott kim
Puzzle master, educator, inventor
Scott has been Puthir’s friend and advisor. He is a multi-talented inventor with the wonderful title of puzzle master. He is also the author of several best selling books on math and problem solving.
He is one of the co-creators of ambigrams. His ideas are a part of Gödel, Escher, Bach - one of the most influential books in making math accessible.
Scott also runs an after-school program in the US that has overlapping goals with Puthir. We are lucky to have his listening ear, learning mind and infinite wisdom to guide us in our pursuit.
To sum it all up…
Run by creators for creators,
Puthir is an incubator for leaders.
Functional programs and artful geometry,
Stories and plays, comics and poetry,
Are just a few things in their creative repository.
Innovation happens where disciplines meet,
Subjects fade when our members think on their feet.
We lock instructions in an eternal box, throw away the key,
We have twisted rules, always wrapped in a fantastic story,
Turn their gears, trigger their curiosity.
Leaders are not created by teachers that instill fear,
But by worthy mentors that inspire.