Discovering India, Experiencing Oneness through EBSB
BY ADMIN PUBLISHED October 6, 2026
By Dr. Tanushree Sharma, Head of School, DPSG International
Ghaziabad, October 2026. On 6 October 2026, coaches rolled out of eight school campuses carrying students from Grades V to XII on one of the most ambitious experiential learning programmes in the history of the Society. Our students are travelling across Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB). The eight day journey will bring them home on 13 October 2026.
The journey is not a holiday, and it did not begin at the departure gate. Through the year, students gave their Saturdays to studying a chosen state through ten learning lenses: geography, history, society, culture, governance, economy, infrastructure, education and health, environment, and current affairs. Working in mixed grade research teams, they framed their own questions. They also learned greetings and everyday phrases in the languages of the state they would visit, so that they could speak with the people they meet rather than merely observe them.
In Rajasthan, students study fort engineering at Kumbhalgarh and ancient water harvesting at Chittorgarh. In Punjab, they travel from Le Corbusier's Chandigarh to the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and the Wagah border. Himachal Pradesh offers Kath Kuni timber architecture and Himalayan ecology. Uttarakhand brings the Ganga, forestry research and Project Tiger.
"When a child who has studied a fort for weeks stands beneath its walls, learning stops being something to memorise and becomes something to feel,". That is the shift we want for every student we teach.
Every group of about forty to fifty students travels with four to five experienced teacher chaperones who are also their academic mentors along with tour mentors for every group. They lead on-site learning sessions, hands-on workshops, daily journaling and evening reflection circles, turning each site into a lesson and each day into a chapter.
The skills we build
At DPSG, we build skills on purpose, and this journey is designed around them. Over eight days, we build in every student:
1. Observation and curiosity, the habit of asking questions of the real world
2. Research and critical thinking, from framing an enquiry to testing it on the ground
3. Teamwork and leadership, through mixed grade research teams
4. Communication, including conversation in the languages of the states they visit
5. Confidence and independence, from a safe, structured journey away from home
6. Resilience and adaptability, from the willingness to step into the unfamiliar
7. Cultural sensitivity and empathy, from meeting people whose lives differ from their own
8. Environmental responsibility, through river conservation, forestry and responsible tourism
9. Reflective journaling and digital storytelling, through daily reflection and student media projects
Safety is built into the design. The journey runs on a three tier governance framework, and a peer buddy system pairs every student for mutual accountability. Travel and stay are organised on a gender safe basis, all students are covered by travel insurance, and a central emergency support team is available to parents at all times.
Our Chairman Mr. Om Pathak describes the thinking behind the programme in these words: "The truest classroom has no walls, and India herself is the finest teacher our children will ever know." What students bring back, he says, "is not a souvenir but a widened horizon."
Early voices from the journey reflect that spirit. "I read about this fort for weeks, but I only understood it when I put my hand on the wall," said one student participant. A teacher mentor on the journey added, "The best moments are unplanned, a child asking a shopkeeper a question in his own language and getting a story in return."
The learning will not end when the coaches return. In November and December 2026, each participating school will host UDAAN, the showcase of learnings, with the cultural fest forming part of the celebration. Every research team will present its discoveries through documentaries, exhibitions, research reports and performances.
"For me, the measure of learning is not what our children can recall, but what they can create, explain and share,". "UDAAN is where their journey becomes a gift to the whole school community, and because it happens in every school, every family gets to see India through their child's eyes."
By bringing eight schools together across five states, DPSG is showing what a curriculum looks like when it prepares students not only for examinations but for life, and when diversity is understood as a shared inheritance to be cherished.
