Schoolchildren in India are being taught how to be mindful

AT 8am on a Saturday morning there is silence in Class 8A at Kautilya Government Sarvodaya Boys’ Senior Secondary School in Delhi. The pupils sit with their eyes closed; the teacher has told them to concentrate on the noises around them. Outside the sound of heavy monsoon rain muffles the honking traffic.

This is the “mindfulness” section of the new “happiness” curriculum, which was introduced in July by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the reformist outfit that runs the city government. The idea of the classes, which include storytelling, self-expression and work on relationships, is to improve the children’s well-being and ability to concentrate.