Meet the Army Veteran Turning a Remote Uttarakhand School Into a Hub of Innovation

In the remote hills of Uttarkashi, access to education is shaped by geography, weather and distance. For many children, reaching school means navigating steep mountain roads and travelling several kilometres from their villages. During the monsoon, heavy rains can make these journeys more difficult, while harsh winters add another challenge.

Yet, despite these constraints, children continue to attend Happy By Nature School in Dunda village, where classrooms have become a space for learning that extends beyond conventional textbooks and rote methods.

Here, students are encouraged to understand concepts through experiments, technology, nature-based activities, music and hands-on learning — reflecting an approach that seeks to make quality education accessible even in a remote Himalayan community.

A science lesson can involve an experiment. An electronics session can involve building a circuit and controlling an LED with an Arduino. A walk through the forest can become a lesson in biodiversity and food forests. A keyboard can become a gateway to pahadi music.

At the centre of this transformation is Rohit Chaudhary, a retired Army officer who left behind a corporate career to help give children in a remote Himalayan community access to opportunities he believes should not depend on geography.

From 30 children to a school full of possibilities

When Rohit first visited Happy By Nature School, the picture was starkly different.

There were around 30 students, very few teachers, inadequate furniture and a shortage of books. Children were reusing textbooks and notebooks, while the school appeared to be struggling simply to remain functional.

But Rohit noticed something that the condition of the campus could not hide — the children's enthusiasm.

“They were energetic, curious, excited to learn, eager to talk, and full of questions,” he recalls.

That first encounter happened in 2019, after an elderly man Rohit met during a boat ride in Varanasi told him about a school “up in the Himalayas”.

The visit stayed with him.

After the COVID-19 pandemic gave him an opportunity to reflect on his life and career, he began thinking about those children again. What would happen if their curiosity was matched with better teachers, learning resources and opportunities?

In 2022, Rohit joined the Ganga Valley Educational Trust as Managing Trustee and began working to transform the school.

Today, Happy By Nature School has around 180 students, offering education from nursery to Class 8 under an NCERT-aligned curriculum.

The numbers tell one part of the story. The learning experience tells another.

Where textbooks meet real-world learning

For Rohit, improving education does not simply mean adding more books or increasing classroom hours.

The larger question is how children learn.

The school therefore encourages students to understand concepts through experimentation, observation and practical activities.

Former student Anushka Nautiyal, who moved to another school after Class 8, still remembers the approach.

At Happy By Nature, she says, science was not confined to theory. Students conducted experiments and were encouraged to make their own notes to understand concepts.

That philosophy was particularly visible during the school's summer programme, when volunteers from across India brought new skills and ideas into the classrooms.

Technology was among them.

When volunteer Kunal introduced students to Arduino and showed them how to connect and control an LED, the children were already familiar with concepts related to electrical networks.

For visiting volunteers, their response was a reminder that curiosity is not restricted by location. What children often need is simply access to the right exposure.

The forest is also a classroom

The school's idea of learning extends beyond technology and laboratories.

Students are introduced to afforestation, biodiversity, village development and sustainable living.

A volunteer with a farming background introduced them to the concept of food forests and took them on nature walks, encouraging them to observe the flora and fauna around their homes with fresh eyes.

In a Himalayan village, this approach has a natural advantage: the environment surrounding the school is itself a vast learning resource.

The objective is to help children understand that education is not something that exists only between four classroom walls.

Discovering talent beyond academics

The school is equally interested in identifying abilities that may not appear in examination results.

During the summer programme, students explored music, art, craft and technology.

Volunteer Jiya Goswami, a Gandharva-trained musician from Vadodara, was struck by the children's ability to play pahadi songs on the keyboard.

The experience also revealed an opportunity: with regular guidance, instruments and trained mentors, these interests could develop into meaningful skills.

For Rohit, nurturing such abilities is part of the school's larger ambition to provide holistic education.

Building confidence, not just careers

Perhaps the most significant part of the school's philosophy lies outside traditional academic subjects.

Students are encouraged to think about teamwork, equality, community development and their responsibilities towards society.

During one activity, teacher Pragati Bhatia used animal masks to help children explore the idea that notions of superiority and inferiority are often created by society.

Such discussions can be particularly meaningful in communities where children encounter social divisions in their everyday lives.

Fourteen-year-old Angana Uniyal, who has studied at the school since nursery, says she wants to become an IAS officer and serve the country.

She also speaks about caste discrimination in her village and contrasts it with her experience at school.

“At school, we don’t follow these things. Everyone is the same,” she says.

For a school in a remote part of Uttarakhand, this becomes another dimension of education — teaching children to question inherited assumptions and imagine a more equal society.

When parents become partners in education

Rohit believes a child's education cannot succeed if the lessons taught at school contradict everything the child encounters at home.

That is why the school actively engages parents through parent-teacher meetings, chai pe charcha sessions and parent associations.

The conversations are not limited to marks and attendance.

Parents and teachers discuss children's progress as well as issues such as cleanliness, sanitation and community development.

Where children face difficult circumstances at home, the school also provides separate counselling support.

Many students are first-generation learners, making the partnership between teachers and families particularly important.

Taking the vision to Classes 9 to 12

The next challenge is ensuring that the school's students do not lose access to this learning environment once they complete Class 8.

A new higher secondary school is being constructed in Singuni village for students from Classes 9 to 12.

Spread across approximately 20,000 square feet, the proposed school will have a capacity of around 520 students and is being supported through nonprofit funding.

The expansion could give students an opportunity to continue their education closer to home rather than having to move elsewhere after Class 8.

It is also central to Rohit's larger vision.

He wants Happy By Nature to become a model that demonstrates that high-quality education can be built in remote communities — with sustainable infrastructure, committed teachers and meaningful community participation.

An Army veteran's second mission

Rohit's journey to education was not conventional.

He served in the Indian Army from 1990 to 2004 before moving into the corporate sector, where he worked until 2021.

His transition into education was not part of a long-term career plan.

It emerged from a memory he could not shake — a small school in the mountains, a group of curious children and a lack of opportunities.

Today, his definition of success is closely tied to what those children can become.

“We’re not just focused on creating good students but also good citizens of the country,” he says.

That philosophy runs through the school — from science experiments and technology lessons to forest walks, music sessions and conversations about equality.

A new model for rural education

The story of Happy By Nature School is not simply one of rising enrolment.

It is a story about what happens when rural education is approached as an ecosystem rather than a classroom.

Together, these elements are helping create a learning environment in which children are encouraged not merely to pass examinations, but to ask questions, develop skills and understand the world around them.

For the children who make the difficult journey to school each day, the destination is becoming more than a classroom.

It is a place where the mountains they call home are not seen as a limitation, but as part of their learning — and where their dreams are given room to grow.