Our Founders
Mr. Ajit Karkare and Mrs. Gauri Karkare are teachers at heart who are personally in touch with all the children of GDS. They have an extensive exposure and experience of various fields which they incorporate in designing the learning system at GDS.
They are socially active and have their participation in various events and activities of different organisations. They are both enthusiastic travelers, having visited various countries around the world, studying their society and culture. They are both avid readers and have their own exhaustive private library both at home and at the school. They have active participation in events on subjects like fine art, history, literature, international relations, performing arts, economics, environment, sociology, psychology, management, architecture, etc. and provide opportunities for the children of GDS to do the same adding to their exposure.
Gurukul School [est. 2001]
Mrs. Gauri Karkare
Mr. Ajit Karkare
L.E.A.F.
A socio-cultural alumni organisation
GDS and a glimpse of the journey before it...
GURUKUL
The Day School
A non-formal school
LOGOS CLASSES
Academic coaching
KARANDIKAR KALA ACADEMY
A college of Fine Art
SANSKRUTIK UTSAV
Inter-school/college performing arts competitions
OTHER INTERESTS,
PROJECTS AND ROLES
Mr. and Mrs. Karkare established GDS in 2001. The trustees were carefully selected to share the vision, values and philosophy behind the new thought. It was - and after 24 years, it still is - a novel concept of holistic education with a non-conventional approach, making the process of learning a lifelong pursuit of happiness.
With the punchline of "NO STUDY AT HOME", Logos Classes was a tremendous success. "Logos" is Greek word for rational, pragmatic and scientific thought, as opposed to "Mythos" which indicated mythology and non-scientific beliefs. Started in 1990, it was place that was open for students from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with constant monitoring, guidance and counselling from Mr. and Mrs. Karkare.
Students were welcome for regular academic coaching (up to 10th) or for the guided Self-Study hours (instead of studying at home) as well as another novel concept by founders - "The Friday Lectures". Friday Lectures was where students were made aware of global events and society, and about various topics outside of the textbook. Eventually they established an alumni organisation of Logos Classes called "LEAF".
The founders took over the Art College in Dombivli (W) in '90s with a view to explore the field of fine arts. During their tenure at KKA, with the help of expert faculty, they created an atmosphere of learning which eventually gave rise to several national level artists in various fields of fine art. Under their leadership, the institute was ranked among the top fine art colleges in the state. With a new and novel project of education in sight the founders resigned from the leadership of the institute before dedicating themselves for this new project: Gurukul - the Day School.
Growing under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. Karkare, the children of Logos Classes were already exploring the world on their own. With an aim to guide this energy and enthusiasm for a productive cause, they established LEAF. For over 12 years their home was place of get-togethers, every evening, where the alumni members had discussions on various topics, discussed and read the books from the founders' extensive personal library, played music and planned various projects and events.
Over the period of years LEAF has organised, managed and volunteered for many different kinds of events and projects. Few of them are mentioned below:
- LEAF QUIZ, a renowned interschool quiz competition with variety of rounds like audio-visuals, buzzer rounds, pass the question challenge, audience prizes, etc.
- Volunteering for organisation of Indian Classical Music Concerts arranged by Shivanand Swami Sangeet Pratishthan. These events included artists of national and international fame, which the LEAF members had a rare opportunity to interact with during the organisation of events.
- THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA, a grandiose 2500 sq.ft of hand-made exhibition of history of India from Stone Age to Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It displayed information, drawings, paintings and craftwork (made in collaboration with students and teachers of KKA) and was presented at several places across Maharashtra. The LEAF members acted as guides for various sections of exhibition, a role for which they had to study extensively about Indian history.
For 34 years, Mr. and Mrs. Karkare have been a crucial part of "Sanskrutik Utsav". This interschool performing arts competition sees participation of more than 50 schools and about 1200 - 1500 students in various categories of acting, vocal music (solo and group), instrumental music, solo dance (classical) and folk dance.
This annual event is renowned throughout Mumbai as it has given platform to several thousands of students for their first competitive performances on stage. Many of the participants, over the years, have become famous and expert artists in their respective fields.
Throughout these 34 years, Mr. and Mrs. Karkare have always been in charge of organisation and execution of the event with their own LEAF members in the initial years - and now the GDS students as volunteers.
- Organising "Rare book exhibitions"
- Organising "Educational Tours" for students
- Organising "Heritage Tours" for students
- Student Counselling expertise
- Teacher Training & Guidance to various schools
- Volunteering and enabling students to volunteer for social & cultural events
- Conducting special sessions on various themes for awareness
- Plantation and gardening
- Fine arts collections
- Geological specimen collection
- Archaeological specimen collection
- Creating new opportunities of exposure and experience for children
- Author of various well-received articles on education and parenting across news and social media platforms