Ripe Institute

We are located at No 26 on the 1st Main Road in Nanganallur. It’s a fairly quiet street compared to some of the bigger roads nearby. At Ripe Institute, we have a pretty simple setup. It’s mostly just a few rooms for classes and a small front area where we sit to talk to anyone who walks in. The walls are mostly bare, except for a few calendars and some notes about upcoming course dates. We spend our mornings getting the rooms ready and checking the computers. People from the neighborhood and further out come here to learn, and we just try to make sure they have a chair and a clear view of the board. There’s no big reception desk or shiny lobby here. It’s more like a workshop feel where the focus is on the actual teaching. Sometimes we have to move the furniture around to fit more people in for a popular session. We drink a lot of coffee and try to keep the paperwork from getting too messy, though that’s easier said than done. It’s a small operation, and we like it that way because we get to know the people who come through the door. We don't use any fancy language to describe what we do. We just provide the space and the time for people to sit down and study. It’s just a regular part of the local community here.