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What are we learning here?

When stuck in a situation, a question we end up asking is, are we looking at the problem correctly? Are we listening to all the data that is available to us? Not just our head, but also what our heart and body are sensing? Who else is looking at the problem like we are? How do I connect and better my self awareness and that of the system I seek to change?

Agamishaala is a space to enable such learnings.

Completely rooted in one’s own experience, what we learn at Shaala, are new ways to see the challenges we face. We practise ways to sense the field of justice we inhabit together, and listen for where true innovation can emerge. And use these learnings to shift the way we lead and advance ideas that serve justice.

The Agamishaala cohort starting in August (25 – 28) 2022 will be facilitated using a mix of Hindi and English. 

अगामीशाला के सदस्य

अगामीशाला विकसित हुई है, बहुत कुछ वर्षों के दौरान कोहॉर्ट्स की तरह।

Abhay Jain

Co-Founder, Zenith: Society for Socio-Legal Empowerment

“What is my role in the process of change? How does it sustain beyond me?”
Avanti Durani

Assistant Director & Junior Fellow, IDFC Institute/Access to Justice

Rahul Vohra

Creative Producer, Kabir Khan Films Pvt Ltd

“What can those in a position of ‘privilege’ do to shift the balance of power in the hands of the people?”
Santosh Poonia

Head, Legal Aid and Advocacy Cell – Aajeevika Bureau

“What does one do to enable one’s team to realise its full potential? How do you build a solution that is effective and accessible to all classes of citizens?”
Tammanna Aurora

Weaver, Agami

“What is it about certain issues that elevates them to a movement?How do you hold the space for something to emerge and then sustain it to make it happen?”
Anirudh Rastogi

Managing Partner, Ikigai Law

“What are the practises to be built today for an emerging future?”
Meghana Srinivas

Founder and CEO, TrustIn

Vikram Kumar

Chief Technology Officer, Sama

“How do you make the idea of dispute resolution easy for large scale adoption? How do you get buy-in from multiple stakeholders?”
Girish CK

Founder, Landryt

“How do you build value and ownership from the bottom up? How can we discover and push the boundaries of adjacent possibles in the justice ecosystem?”
Deepika Kinhal

Lead (Judicial Reforms) and Senior Resident Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

“How does one evaluate long term work that shapes the ecosystem? How do you keep your energy up for the here and now?”
Akshat Singhal

Founder, Legistify

“What will it take to break down systemic constraints and legacy infrastructures? And to make systems more efficient and transparent?”
Shivani Singh

Operations and Digital Security Manager, Internet Freedom Foundation

“In this ‘black hole of uncertainity’ how do young people continue doing the important work they set out to do? What is wellbeing for those on he frontlines who witness the injustices faced by disenfranchised communities?”
Swapnil Shukla

Co-Founder, Zenith Society for Socio-Legal Empowerment

“How do you involve more young people in the changemaking process? And sustain the process itself?”
Suhaib Salman

Creative Head/ Co-Founder, Lawctopus/ Unpadh Wakeel

“How can art help in de-mystifying laws and increase legal awareness?”
Shabani Hassanwalia

Producer and Chief Editor, Nirantar The Third Eye

“What happens when the power and tools to create are handed over to contexts that traditionally serve as ‘subjects’?”
Jahnavi Jayanth

Co-founder, Bolti Bandh

“What does storytelling as ‘therapy’ look and feel like? Who tells these stories and how?”
Jishnu Veetil

Head of Operations, Sama

“What will it take to overcome the adversarial mindset?”
Aditi Singh

Associate Partner, Dalberg Advisors

“How do we catalyse greater interest and participation from the development sector towards ideas that advance justice?”
Abantee Dutta

Co Founder & Director, Studio Nilima

“How do you build a community of justice leaders who are empathetic, committed, creative and resilient? What is the role of community members?”
Justice Prabha

Former Judge, Madras High Court

“Not just in the field of justice, but how do we overcome difficulties in enabling access to relief for those who have no privilege?”
Pramod Rao

Group General Counsel, ICICI Bank

“What are the intersections when advancing ideas across dispute resolution, the legal industry and possible overlays with the criminal justice system? How do you harness the power of LawTech for both the common person and commercial entities in a way that is disruptive and scalable?”
Ashwani Rawat

Director, Transerve Technologies Pvt Ltd

“How does one break conditioning to motivate someone towards an idea?”
Shreya Rastogi

Founding Member, Project 39A

“Is the best way to disrupt the system to work with it?”
Akshay Roongta

Co-Founder and Partner, Ooloi Labs

“How do you keep-up with the evolving nature of your work and what it requires from you as a leader?”
Badarivishal Kinhal

Co-Founder, CORD

“How do you know if you’re on the right path as a leader?”
Apoorv Anand

Sector Lead, CivicDataLab

“How does one unravel assumptions? What is the role we play in the bigger picture?”
Keerthana M

Curator, Agami

“What is the journey to take from idea to action? How do we get others to join in with energy?”
Swagata Raha

Head, Restorative Practices, Enfold Proactive Health Trust

“In the larger world, how do we build acceptance for a community based restorative approach to justice?”

Meet the 2019 Shaala Cohort

Akshetha Ashok
Co-Founder and Chief Legal Officer, Sama
“How can we change the adversarial mindset of people organically?"
Apar Gupta

Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation

"What part do I play in this journey? How to ensure that I, myself, do not become a roadblock to it in the future?"
Antaraa Vasudev
Co-Founder, Civis
"How can we create a common badge/currency that enables citizens to be recognized across platforms for their effort?"
Anup Surendranath

Executive Director, Project 39A

“If scale is truly possible only by collaborating with the state, what should the imagination of that collaboration be?"
Pranjal Sinha

Co-Founder and CEO, Sama

“How to have a unicorn startup, an iron man title, and happy relationships-all at once?"
Renu Mishra

Executive Director, AALI

“How do we best manage and best use the information and data we have from the field to effectively capture our qualitative experience in an organized manner without reducing it only to numbers?”
Ritvik Lukose

Co-Founder and Director, Vahura

“How to manage multiple priorities and build a learning/collaborative culture?”
Roohi Bhatia

Content Manager, Civic Studios

“Can we re-imagine the relationship between the individual and the social- to make it more dynamic, sustainable, and mindful?”
Tanuj Kalia

Co-Founder, Lawctopus

“What hinders and encourages collaboration?"
Tara Ollapally

Co-Founder and Mediator, CAMP

“How do you influence social behaviour to see the value of a process that might seem counterintuitive but essential for the greater good?"
Ramanauj Mukherjee

CEO, LawSikho

Founder, SuperLawyer

"How to scale my team - how to manage and lead people better?"
Sampath Mandarapu

Superintendent of Prisons, Telangana

"How to sustain change? What role can Prison play in supporting the victims? How to make ‘restorative justice’ an important part of our criminal justice system?"
Late Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer

Founder, SpicyIP and IDIA

"How to ensure that people stay "good" and "moral" in an era of increasing complexity and uncertainty, where it is easier to fall prey to the bigoted ways of black and white?"
Pratik Bakshi

Co-Founder, World Law Forum

“What impact is he bringing to the world through his work?”
Supriya Sankaran

Co-Founder, Agami

"Are we drinking our own koolaid? Who are we listening to?"

Meet the Curators

मनीष श्रीवास्तव

Co Director- Social Presencing Theatre & Core Faculty, Presencing Institute

अर्तिका राज

Senior Curator, Agami

सचिन मल्हान

Co-Founder, Agami

सुप्रिया संकरण

Co-Founder, Agami

कौन भाग ले सकता है?

Application to Agamishaala is by invite only. Agami and  existing Agmishaala members send out ‘Peer Invites’ to people who we think would benefit from and add to the experience. These are:

  • Justice innovators who recognise that the most critical site of change is internal
  • Are at an inflection point i.e at a critical turning point in their own lives and that of the work they are leading
  • Curious about new ways of learning
  • Seeking a community of peers they can connect with on their entrepreneurial journey
  • Can come from a variety of fields such as law, technology, media, social justice, research and advocacy etc. 
  • Are comfortable with a mix of Hindi and English as languages of communication.

How is the learning journey designed?

The way learnings are enabled is by completely grounding them in a member’s own experience. There are no theoretical discussions and all insights come from what you discover about yourself through different activities. What is offered are guidelines, questions and context to the experience that is curated to help you reconnect with your core motivations, surface assumptions that create challenges for you and reveal insights that help to lead better and advance your work. All this within a safe space and with a community of people who share similar vulnerabilities and different strengths. For different groups, we design differently, with a combination of online to in-person sessions or only online or in-person sessions.

What has been the experience of people who have been a part of Agamishaala?

हमने जो खोजा है वह यह है कि प्रत्येक का अनुभव और निष्कर्ष अद्वितीय रहा है। इस तरह से हर कोई खुले तौर पर उस प्रक्रिया में झुक जाता है जो उससे सीखी गई बातों को बदल देती है।

अधिकतर पूछे जाने वाले सवाल

Answered by the Shaala community

Avanti Durani, Artha India Research Advisors

How do the sessions help in sensing the system?

Anup Surendranath, Project 39A

Can you share an example of insights revealed through the work done at Shaala?

Shivani, Internet Freedom Foundation

What should I expect from a Shaala journey?

Pramod Rao, ICICI Bank 

“What did you value most in the Shaala experience?”

Santosh Poonia, Ajeevika Bureau

 “What are the Agamishaala practises like?”

Badarivishal Kinhal, CORD

“What is being part of the Agamishaala community like?”

अगामीशाला कहाँ होती है?

और अन्य अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले प्रश्न

Got a question?
No problem.

यदि हमने अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले प्रश्नों या इस पृष्ठ के अन्य भागों में आपके प्रश्नों का उत्तर नहीं दिया है, तो बेझिझक अपने प्रश्नों के साथ हमसे संपर्क करें।

चयन की प्रक्रिया क्या है?

Every year, Agami extends an exclusive invitation to apply to a curated list of justice innovators in the field. Having done the journey themselves, existing Agamishaala members also send out ‘Peer Invites’ to those who they think will benefit and add to the experience. Those invited to apply are then required to fill a short application form and send it in by the deadline. The team then evaluates the applications and selects a list of people for the next stage of interviews, either with an Agami team member or a past Agamishaala member. Based on the interviews, the members are confirmed. Members who have been part of a past Agamishaala, can’t re-apply.

अगामीशाला सदस्यों को किस प्रकार का सपोर्ट मिलेगा?

We believe we can most effectively support leaders in building their capacity through a combination of personal growth and community support. To that end, each Agamishaala member is eligible to receive: 

  • guidance from facilitators as part of Agamishaala;
  • resources, and help from Team Agami as and when;
  • key introductions to relevant network members based on need;
  • access to ‘Agamishaala United’, the larger network of all Agamishaala members both online and at the annual retreat

अगामीशाला कहाँ होती है?

We design differently for different groups.

For the cohort starting in July 2022:, we are curating Agamishaala as an in-person to online experience running actively for 5 months from end July to early December 2022. The in-person  retreat (venue to be decided) will take place from August 25 – 28th, 2022. This will be followed by 2-3 monthly online sessions from September to November. A grand retreat for all Agamishaala members, across the years, will take place in-person at ‘Agamishaala United’ on 7th and 8th December (Panchgani). Post December, curated spaces and sessions to deepen your learnings and connect with the community will be available to you to continue as you wish. 

क्या कोई भागीदारी शुल्क है?

No, there is no participation fee for Agamishaala. Agami will take care of hosting you at the in-person retreat in July (3n/4d)  2022 and at  ‘Agamishaala United’ (1d/1n night stay) right before the Agami Summit in December 2022. However, travel costs will have to be borne by the participants themselves. Exceptions may be considered. 

आगामीशाला प्रतिभागियों से क्या अपेक्षा की जाती है?

Specific expectations and time commitments include:

  • Full and engaged participation during the 5 months. 
  • Approximately five to six hours each month for sessions, activities, and wellbeing check-ins from end-July to December 2022. We will try and do most sessions on weekends barring major conflicts.
  • Active communication with Team Agami as needed between monthly check-ins.
  • Annual surveys, testimonials and data collection through December 2023- March 2023.

अगर मैं अनिश्चित हूं कि आगामी मेरे लिए है भी या नहीं?

Let’s talk 🙂 Feel free to write and reach out to us for a conversation about the experience before you fill in your application form. We want you to feel comfortable about applying, and also curious and excited about what lies ahead but may not be fully visible just now… 

NOW WE MAKE JUSTICE·

NOW WE MAKE JUSTICE·

NOW WE MAKE JUSTICE·

NOW WE MAKE JUSTICE·

NOW WE MAKE JUSTICE·