The detour becomes the destination

At the height of the pandemic, three digital marketers launch an online platform to keep children creatively engaged. The exercise organically evolves into an enterprise, now based in Teynampet

August 13, 2022 06:15 pm | Updated 06:24 pm IST

Founders of Learner Circle. Photo: special arrangement 

Founders of Learner Circle. Photo: special arrangement 

With the pandemic putting their digital marketing jobs in suspended animation and the workload having reduced drastically, this trio — Anuradha, her husband Shankar Gomathinayagan and their friend Arun K — started devoting much of their new-found “free time” to a social cause.

They launched Learner Circle, an online platform that would engage children, cooped up in their homes 24/7, a factor that stretched parents’ patience and energy. Paati Sollum Kathaigal went on steam as a pilot project, with a grandmotherly lady, known as much for her story-telling skills as for her loquacity, presiding over the initiative, narrating children folk tales via video calls.

When it was time for the trio to get back to their full-time jobs, as the pandemic had eased, parents wanted them to persist with the initiative. So, Learner Circle was reborn as an enterprise, one based in Teynampet. It now offers online classes for children in the 6-16 age group to identify their passions and skills and build on them. It also runs an experiential learning programme in the Nilgiris.

“People say passion is overrated, but if someone is able to make money doing the things they love, we are going to end up with a generation that is a lot happier than we are,” says Anuradha. Enrollments are now open for chess, abacus, music, dance, instrumental music and language classes. For details, visit www.learnercircle.in

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