Live online classes in Toronto

Indian culture classesfor families in Toronto.

Sanskrit, shlokas, chanting, the Ramayana and the Gita, storytelling, public speaking, Bharatanatyam and yoga, taught live from India, in small batches, at hours that work in Toronto.

Ontario is unusual in already having a name for what a family is asking for. The province runs an International and Heritage Languages programme in its elementary schools, so a parent in Toronto, Brampton or Mississauga has often had the conversation about after-hours language classes before they arrive here, and has usually found that the option on offer is a spoken language rather than the chanting, the shlokas and the texts. That is the gap families in the GTA write to us about: not a language to speak at home, but the tradition the language carries.

Book a free trial class See Toronto class times

Our batches, in Toronto time

America/Toronto

Saturday morning8am ISTFri 9:30pmin Toronto
Saturday evening7pm ISTSat 8:30amin Toronto
Sunday morning9am ISTSat 10:30pmin Toronto
Sunday evening8pm ISTSun 9:30amin Toronto

Times are shown for a term-time weekend and follow Toronto's own daylight-saving calendar, so they may shift by an hour in summer. If none of these suit, tell us the hours that do: batches are built around the families who join them.

What families in Toronto can learn

Every class below is open to every age, and every one is taught live in a small batch.

Samskara Seeding

through Culture & Scriptures

The texts, the stories and the customs, taught so a child grows up inside the tradition rather than visiting it once a year. This is the track most families begin with.

Confidence Building

Voice, argument and presence

Speaking, debating and standing in front of a room. The skills that decide whether what a child knows ever reaches anybody else.

Art & Craft

Dance, drawing and making, in the Indian tradition

Classical dance, drawing, painting and making, taught through the forms and festival crafts this culture produced, including live online Bharatanatyam for beginners. Batches are opening now; timings are arranged with the families who join.

Yoga & Wellness

For kids, adults and seniors, and for the back and neck that ache

Live online yoga in small batches, taught by qualified teachers in the tradition it comes from. Separate batches for children, adults and older learners, and focused batches for what people actually come to yoga with: back pain, a stiff neck and shoulders, weight, sleep and stress.

All yoga & wellness classes →

For Adults

Gita, sutras, chanting and song

Adult batches, taught at adult pace and without any assumption of prior knowledge. Most of these learners are beginners who never had the chance earlier, and evening batches are set with the group.

Taught from India, live

Teachers in Bengaluru, in small batches, with the camera on. Nothing recorded, nothing outsourced to an app.

Built around Toronto hours

Two 45-minute classes a week at a time that works on a school night where you are, not where we are.

English throughout

Instruction is in English. No prior Sanskrit, Hindi or reading of Devanagari is assumed of anybody.

Batches by age

4 to 6years

Learning by ear, through story and repetition

6 to 10years

Sound and meaning together, with reading begun

10 to 15years

Text, grammar and discussion in full

Questions from families in Toronto

How is this different from a heritage-language class?

A heritage-language class teaches a spoken language, usually Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati or Tamil, and teaches it to be used. We teach Sanskrit, and what sits inside it: shlokas, chanting, the Ramayana and the Gita, recitation and pronunciation. The two do not compete, and a child in a heritage-language programme is often the easiest kind of learner for us to place.

Is Toronto on the same clock as Brampton and Mississauga?

Yes, and so is Montreal. Calgary is two hours behind and Vancouver three, so if you are in Alberta or British Columbia use those city pages instead: the converted times there are genuinely different, not just differently worded.

Do you teach adults in Toronto?

Yes, in their own batches rather than alongside the children. Sanskrit for adults, the Bhagavad Gita and the yoga sutras are separate courses with their own pages, and a parent taking one alongside a child is common enough that we schedule the two back to back where we can.

What time are the classes in Toronto?

Our batches run Saturday morning IST (Fri 9:30pm in Toronto), Saturday evening IST (Sat 8:30am in Toronto), Sunday morning IST (Sat 10:30pm in Toronto), Sunday evening IST (Sun 9:30am in Toronto). If none of those suit, tell us the hours that do and we will build a batch around them. We schedule around the learner, not around Indian hours.

Do you have a centre in Toronto?

No, and we would rather say so plainly. Every class is taught live over video by teachers in India, and our office is in HSR Layout, Sector 2, Bengaluru. That is what lets a family in Toronto learn from a teacher who grew up inside this tradition rather than one who is the nearest available.

How do we pay from Canada?

Fees depend on the batch and how often it meets, and we take international payments. Message us on WhatsApp for the current fee list in your currency. The 30-minute trial class is free, with no payment details taken.

Free 30-minute trial class