Ms Homi Astavans currently wears two caps—one of Headmistress, Primary Wing, and the other of Head, Department of English in Salwan Public School, Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi, where she has been since 1977 when she joined as TGT.

She hails from Dehradun, the ‘Mecca of school education’, wherein she did her M.A., B.Ed and taught at St Thomas’ School and College. Soon she moved to Oak Grove Girls’ School at Mussorie where she continued until marriage brought her to Delhi in 1976.

Backed by 30 years of experience, Ms Homi Astavans innovates by deliberately encouraging debate and open discussions in her classroom to make English interesting for otherwise unwilling students who concentrate more on mainstream subjects. Teaching for her is “value-based general knowledge which should churn out creative, communicative and confident human beings”. Besides routine teaching, she has organised and judged debate competitions at various schools, having been an avid debator herself. She has edited school newsletters, magazines, souvenirs and brochures, and has authored a set of books on cursive writing for an overseas publishing house. Having attended and organised workshops, seminars and conferences for CIEFL, Hyderabad, CBSE, NCERT, British Council, NIEPA and some of the leading publishing houses, she has been at the hub of educational activities.

Ms Homi Astavans has appeared in several television programmes on Education for Star TV and Doordarshan and has also featured in programmes for AIR. She has studied painting and till date enjoys and appreciates it. On the occasion of The International Women’s Year in 1975, she participated in an exhibition for women artists of Dehradun.