I believe in experimentation — tinkering, trying things, staying curious. And I believe in the butterfly effect.
I work as a full-time educator in a school, spending time daily with children — designing learning experiences, facilitating sessions, doing experiments. Whenever I see a need or feel the urge to try something new, I do. I believe in the power of nature-based and project-based learning, so I design sessions around them. I was looking for good rhymes and songs to sing with children and couldn't find what I needed — so I wrote and composed my own. I noticed most educators rely on oral storytelling and rarely use theatre or puppets as a medium — so I tried that. I collaborated with artists, makers, and other educators to make it possible.
I did all of this in my small bubble — my classroom. Because I had the intent, the skills, and enough financial stability to experiment.
This might become a butterfly effect. The children I work with may grow more curious about nature, develop an interest in art and literature, or discover the joy of making things. Maybe now, maybe years later. There is no guarantee. That is the nature of the butterfly effect — you flap, and you trust.
At some point I started noticing absences. Gaps so obvious but no one is attemptig to work on it. Gaps which are out of my cantrol.
I wonder :
is it because these things are not commercially viable? Is it because people lack the skills? Or do they simply not have the intent to do things that serve a larger good — too busy in their profit-making ventures?
Kailash Nadh — CTO of Zerodha, hobbyist developer, absurdist — asks a similar question in his 2022 essay: why do obvious things not exist?
His answer is the Triangle of Fulfilment. For any idea to become real, three things must come together simultaneously:
| 🔥 Intent | Intrinsic drive. Cannot be bought or practiced into existence. |
| 🛠️ Skills | Knowledge and craft to execute. Can be learned. |
| 🌱 Resources | Time, money, material. Can be gathered. |
"The pool of people globally who can build a certain thing drops down exponentially from millions to often just a handful — or sometimes even one — when selected for the presence of all three factors."
— Kailash Nadh, Triangle of Fulfilment
When all three align in one person, the effect is disproportionate to the cause.
This essay gave me clarity. It answered my questions — and pointed me toward something. How can I enable small, positive ripples that have the potential to generate bigger outcomes in this infinitely chaotic world? After all, it is the butterfly effect — the tiniest of events, the most random of coincidences — that transforms into whirlwinds of change.
What I can offer is my skills and time. I can help people who already have intent and some resources — but need the missing side of their triangle.
list of projects where I see value, potantial and where I can contribute :
I feel the need for critical, creative, and contextual children's literature in Gujarati. I really enjoy writing. I write stories and songs with my class, and I wish other parents, educators, and children would also explore this type of literature.
Last year, I tried to self-publish a poetry and essay book with the help of some friends. Recently, I started working with a friend to publish a children's magazine in Gujarati. It is a difficult but meaningful project we have taken on. My friend and I have the skills to write and edit. I contribute through my stories and by collaborating with artists. I tried writing some proposals and received one small grant. This triangular sense of fulfillment gave us the confidence to take it forward. I don't know how long we will be able to keep it going, but we are taking it one day at a time. Hopefully, it will become a small platform where artists, educators, writers, and children can engage. In the process, writers get the opportunity and support to write good children's literature, educators get exposure to using good children's literature in the classroom, parents get tools to engage with their children, and children get the opportunity to explore good literature instead of — or beyond — screens.
I also have plans to produce original theatre performances for young audiences and interdisciplinary exhibitions. These types of projects have many stakeholders and audiences, both of whom are impacted through the experience.
This is how I try to engineer the butterfly effect in my little corner. Nidhi is my partner and collaborator in all of this — sometimes as an active contributor, sometimes as a quiet supporter.
We are in the process of registering a not-for-profit organisation called Khojbeen Mandali — a legal structure that will allow us to receive resources and funds for the projects we are doing. Our focus is:
The butterfly effect is not a promise. It is a practice. It requires showing up daily, staying close to what is real, and trusting that the wind will carry your wing-flap somewhere worth going — even if you never get to know where.