# Kerala teacher, 85, teaches children with sand and stick 2026-10-25T09:56:30+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets An 85-year-old teacher from Kerala, known as Ashaatti Ammumma or Indira Amma, has gone viral on social media for teaching children using only sand and a stick. A video shared on Instagram by the handle @mom_of_safaachiiii shows her spreading sand on the floor of a veranda in Alappuzha district and using a small wooden stick to write letters, which children then trace with their fingers. The method is part of the traditional 'Aashan Kalari' system. Indiatvnews.com reports she teaches English, Malayalam and Hindi, including cursive writing, and has been teaching for around 10 years. The Economic Times highlights the zero-waste aspect, noting the sand can be smoothed out and reused. Social media users have praised the simplicity of the approach, with some calling it the 'world's cutest classroom'. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both sources provide neutral reporting on the same viral video, with identical facts: the teacher’s name, the sand-and-stick method, and the Instagram handle. Indiatvnews.com adds detail on the Aashan Kalari tradition and the languages taught, while The Economic Times emphasises the reusable, zero-waste aspect of the sand surface. Neither outlet critiques or politicises the story. The coverage is uniform and descriptive, differing only in which practical angle each leads with. The video has prompted online appreciation for simple, hands-on learning methods. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - indiatvnews.com (neutral report) Straightforward description of the viral video and method - economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Focuses on zero-waste and practical benefits of sand This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Alappuzha, Ashaatti Ammumma, Kerala Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-teacher-85-teaches-children-with-sand-and-stick/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-teacher-85-teaches-children-with-sand-and-stick/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/