Ahalya Chari

2021-12-07T14:40:37Z

117.246.210.0:

{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ahalya Chari
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1921
| birth_place = [[Yangon|Rangoon]], Burma
| death_date = {{d-da|30 March 2013|1921}}
| death_place = [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| restingplace = [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| restingplacecoordinates = {{coord|28.5574|N|77.159|E}}
| othername =
| occupation = Educationist
| yearsactive = 1943–2013
| known for = Education in India
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = Rajalakshmi Chari and Kasturi Rajagopal Chari
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]
}}
'''Ahalya Chari''' (1921-30 March 2013) was an Indian educationist<ref name="The creativity wallahs">{{cite news | url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/gopalkrishnagandhi/the-creativity-wallahs/article1-1038128.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709151738/http://www.hindustantimes.com/gopalkrishnagandhi/the-creativity-wallahs/article1-1038128.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=9 July 2015 | title=The creativity wallahs | newspaper=Hindustan Times | date=6 April 2013 | access-date=5 July 2015 | author=Gopalkrishna Gandhi | author-link=Gopalkrishna Gandhi }}</ref><ref name="Freidrich's Newsletter">{{cite journal | url=http://kinfonet.org/system/newsletters/25/friedrich_newsletter_2013.pdf | title=Freidrich's Newsletter | author=Kinfonet | year=2013 | journal= | access-date=5 July 2015 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071115/http://kinfonet.org/system/newsletters/25/friedrich_newsletter_2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> and the first commissioner of the [[Kendriya Vidyalaya]] chain of schools, a system of education under the [[Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)|Ministry of Human Resource Development]] (MHRD) India.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more">{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/senior-educationist-ahalya-chari-no-more/article4564962.ece | title=Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more | newspaper=The Hindu | date=31 March 2013 | access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> Her efforts are recognised towards the establishment of ''Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan'',<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /> an autonomous body under the MHRD, attending to the educational needs of the children of transferable [[Central government of India|central government]] employees.<ref name="Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan">{{cite web | url=http://kvsangathan.nic.in/Mission.aspx | title=Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan | publisher=Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan | date=2015 | access-date=4 July 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706185750/http://kvsangathan.nic.in/Mission.aspx | archive-date=6 July 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Government of India]] awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 1983.<ref name="Padma Shri">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Shri |publisher=Padma Shri |date=2015 |access-date=18 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Biography==
Ahalya Chari was born in 1921 in [[Yangon|Rangoon]], the capital of [[British Burma]],<ref name="Living Teachings">{{cite web | url=http://travelsandtravailsinindia.blogspot.ae/2010/09/living-teachings.html | title=Living Teachings | publisher=Travels and Travels India | date=15 September 2010 | access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> to Rajalakshmi Chari and Kasturi Rajagopal Chari as the eldest of their seven children.<ref name="Ahalya Chari Geni profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.geni.com/people/Ahalya-Chari/6000000000323257814 | title=Ahalya Chari Geni profile | publisher=Geni | date=2015 | access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> She did her schooling at a girl's convent school run under the British curriculum and graduated from the [[University of Rangoon]] in English Literature in 1941. The [[World War II|Second World War]] forced her family to leave Burma and the family fled to [[Varanasi|Benares]], stopping over at a refugee camp at [[Shwebo]] and [[Calcutta]] on the way. Settling in Benares, she did her master's degree at [[Banaras Hindu University|Benaras Hindu University]] and started her career in 1943<ref name="Educator, Jiddu associate Ahalya Chari dead">{{cite news | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Educator-Jiddu-associate-Ahalya-Chari-dead/articleshow/19313607.cms | title=Educator, Jiddu associate Ahalya Chari dead | newspaper=Times of India | date=1 April 2013 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> as a lecturer at the [[Vasanta College for Women]],<ref name="Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India">{{cite interview | title=Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India | date=2008 | access-date=5 July 2015 | last=Chari | first=Ahalya | subject-link=Interview | interviewer=Meera Srinivasan (The Hindu) | work=India Seminar | location=Chennai | url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/592/592_interview.htm}}</ref> where she worked for 10 years.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /><ref name="Living Teachings" />

In 1951, Chari resigned from the Vasanta College and moved to Delhi to join the [[Department of Education - University of Delhi]], formerly known as the Central Institute of Education (CIE),<ref name="Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India" /><ref name="Central Institute of Education">{{cite web | url=http://cie.du.ac.in/ | title=Central Institute of Education | publisher=Central Institute of Education | date=2015 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> as a student for advanced training in education.<ref name="Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India" /> At this time, she received a Fulbright Scholarship for further studies in the United States where she spent two years and returned to CIE in 1953 <ref name="Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India" /> as a member of the faculty.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /> When the government decided to set up an apex institution for education with assistance from [[USAID]] by hiring consultants from [[Columbia University]], Chari was delegated to the project and was involved with the establishment of the National Institute of Education (NIE) in 1961.<ref name="Ahalya Chari, Trustee, Krishnamurti Foundation of India" /> After the establishment of the institution, she trained for one year in Applied Linguistics (1961–62) at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. On her return to India in 1962, she was appointed as the head of the textbooks department at NCERT, a job she held till 1969.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /><ref name="Living Teachings" /> During her time at NCERT, she launched a 'Reading Project' and prepared read-ready materials for inculcating reading habits in children and was instrumental in redesigning the school syllabi.<ref name="Educator, Jiddu associate Ahalya Chari dead" /> When NCERT started four regional centres of education at [[Ajmer]], [[Bhopal]], [[Bhubaneswar]] and [[Mysore]],<ref name="Regional Institutes of Education (RIE)">{{cite web | url=http://www.riemysore.ac.in/index.php/about-us/rie-mysore | title=Regional Institutes of Education (RIE) | publisher=Regional Institutes of Education (RIE) | work=Regional Institutes of Education< Mysore | access-date=15 November 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113090917/http://www.riemysore.ac.in/index.php/about-us/rie-mysore | archive-date=13 November 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> she was appointed as the principal of the [[Regional Institute of Education]] in [[Mysore]].<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /><ref name="Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her">{{cite journal | url=http://www.journal.kfionline.org/issue-18/ahalya-chari-as-i-knew-her | title=Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her | author=C. Seshadri | journal=Journal of the Krishnamurty Foundation Schools |date=January 2014 | volume=18}}</ref>

In the early 1960s, the [[Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)|Ministry of Human Resource Development]] established the [[Kendriya Vidyalaya|Central School]] system and placed the chain of schools under the administration of a central office, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), with Chari as the first commissioner of the central administrative office.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /> She worked with KVS till 1976 when she came under the influence of [[Jiddu Krishnamurthy|Jiddu Krishnamurti]]<ref name="Educationist Ahalya Chari passes away at ‘Vasant Vihar’">{{cite web | url=http://www.mylaporetimes.com/2013/04/educationist-ahalya-chari-passes-away-at-vasant-vihar/ | title=Educationist Ahalya Chari passes away at ‘Vasant Vihar’ | publisher=Mylapore Times | date=1 April 2013 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> and joined the Indian philosopher to work at the Rajghat Education Centre in Varanasi.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /> Her next move was to Madras (now Chennai) in 1982 as the principal of The School,<ref name="Educator, Jiddu associate Ahalya Chari dead" /> one of the schools of the Krishnamurti Foundation of India (KFI).<ref name="Educationist Ahalya Chari passes away at ‘Vasant Vihar’" /> At The School, KFI, she worked against commercialisation of education and initiated projects such as implementation of the government's [[Right to Education Act]], introduction of integrated educational programmes<ref name="Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her" /> and initiation of the open school system.<ref name="Educationist Ahalya Chari passes away at ‘Vasant Vihar’" />

==Later years==
Chari continued her association with the KFI institutions<ref name="Educator, Jiddu associate Ahalya Chari dead" /> and established an Alumni Forum of The School for exchange of information.<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /><ref name="Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her" /> She stayed a few years at he campus of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, Chennai, invited by [[Radha Burnier]]. After that she stayed in Vasant Vihar in [[Chennai]], where the headquarters of the [[Krishnamurti Foundation]] of India is located,<ref name="Krishnamurti Foundation India">{{cite web | url=http://www.kfionline.org/ | title=Krishnamurthi Foundation India | publisher=Krishnamurtii Foundation India | date=2015 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> and served as a trustee of the foundation.<ref name="Living Teachings" /> She started the ''Journal of the Krishnamurti Schools''<ref name="Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her" /> and edited them for a number of years.<ref name="JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS - N. 12, January 2008">{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J1P4GQ4 | title=JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS - N. 12, January 2008 | publisher=KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS | date=2015 | access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS - No 13, January 2009">{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J1P4JC0 | title=JOURNAL OF THE KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS - No 13, January 2009 | publisher=KRISHNAMURTI SCHOOLS | date=2015 | access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> She also published two books, ''Thinking Together'',<ref name="Thinking Together - full text">{{cite web | url=http://www.ramanujanramanujan.com/folder/THINKING%20TOGETHER%20-%20AHILYA%20CHARI.pdf | title=Thinking Together - full text | publisher=National Council of Educational Research and Training | date=1997 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> published by the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training]] in 1997 (in Hindi and English),<ref name="Thinking Together">{{cite book | url=http://library.amizone.net/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=49373 | title=Thinking Together | publisher=National Council of Educational Research and Training | author=Ahalya Chari | year=1997 | location=New Delhi}}</ref> and ''Selections from the Decades: On Self-Knowledge'', published by KFI in 2001.<ref name="Selections from the Decades: On Self-Knowledge">{{cite book | url=http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=10657475826&searchurl=an%3Deditor+ahalya+chari | title=Selections from the Decades: On Self-Knowledge | publisher=Krishnamurti Foundation India | author=Ahalya Chari | year=2001 | isbn=9788187326038}}</ref> She also delivered lectures<ref name="Freidrich's Newsletter" /> including one on 'Knowledge and the Disciplines'.<ref name="Ahalya Chari As I Knew Her" /> The [[Government of India]] awarded her the civilian honour of [[Padma Shri]] in 1983.<ref name="Padma Shri" />

Chari died on 30 March 2013 at the age of 91 in [[Chennai|Vasant Vihar, Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Senior educationist Ahalya Chari no more" /><ref name="A Tribute to a Mentor Par Excellence">{{cite web | url=https://churumuri.wordpress.com/tag/ahalya-chari/ | title=A Tribute to a Mentor Par Excellence | publisher=Deccan Herald | work=News report | date=26 April 2013 | access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref>

{{portal|India|Education}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | title=Thinking Together | publisher=[[National Council of Educational Research and Training]] | author=Ahalya Chari | year=1997 | location=New Delhi}}
* {{cite book | title=Selections from the Decades: On Self-Knowledge | publisher=Krishnamurti Foundation India | author=Ahalya Chari | year=2001 | isbn=9788187326038}}

==External links==
* {{cite interview | title=Reminiscences | date=2008 | access-date=5 July 2015 | last=Chari | first=Ahalya | subject-link=Interview | interviewer=Meera Srinivasan (The Hindu) | work=India Seminar | location=Chennai | url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/592/592_interview.htm}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chari, Ahalya}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education]]
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Yangon]]
[[Category:University of Yangon alumni]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University faculty]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Burmese emigrants to India]]

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Ahalya Chari