After 20 years in global corporate roles and almost a decade at Google, I learned a vital lesson: High IQ is only half the story. The real “superpowers” of the world’s most innovative leaders are emotional intelligence, resilience, and curiosity. This realization is exactly what led me back to early education—and to rethinking what the best daycare in Gurgaon should truly stand for.
How:
A few years back, looking for my daughter’s first school in Gurugram should have been exciting. Instead, I hit a wall. The market was saturated with options, yet I couldn’t find a single one that moved beyond the traditional learning model. Despite the many claims of being the best daycare in Gurgaon, very few focused on nurturing the whole child.
I saw a system focused on performing rather than becoming. I saw early academic pressure where there should have been curiosity. I realized that the “rote instruction” model wasn’t just outdated; it was failing to prepare our children for a world that demands agility and creative problem-solving.
What: The Secret Sauce — What is the ‘Finnish Way’?
The Finnish philosophy is grounded in a simple, radical truth: learning is rooted in trust, play, and exploration. In Finland—one of the world’s most respected education systems—play isn’t a “break” from learning. Play is the mechanism of growth. Neuroscience confirms that spontaneous discovery strengthens the neural connections responsible for:
Problem-solving
Creative thinking
Emotional regulation
Joy of learning
This philosophy reshaped our understanding of what the best daycare in Gurgaon should offer—not pressure, but purpose.
Bringing HEI Schools to India
Bringing this model to India wasn’t about replication; it was about adaptation. We’ve blended research-based Finnish pedagogy with our rich, aspirational local heritage. It is not about immediate outcomes (the next test), but about nurturing skills for a lifetime—setting a new benchmark for the best daycare in Gurgaon.
We are shifting the needle from:
Memorization to meaningful understanding
Academic pressure to socio-emotional resilience
A fixed “performance” mindset to a lifelong growth mindset
Being “owned” by learning to driving intellectual agency
Focus on immediate outcomes to investment in lifelong skills
Short-term performance to long-term human potential
The Corporate Connection
As an HR leader, I see the parallels every day. When we apply “play” principles in the workplace—through gamification and safe-to-fail environments—engagement skyrockets. If it works for the world’s leading tech companies, why aren’t we building that foundation in the best daycare in Gurgaon for our two-year-olds?
India is at a unique pivot. Families now value global competence and emotional intelligence over simple test scores.
At HEI Schools Gurugram, we aren’t just building a school—we are redefining what the best daycare in Gurgaon looks like by weaving a more human, holistic, and future-ready foundation for the next generation.
In journey partners: Puja Puri – Co-founder,
Geeta Singh (Board Member – Ex-Google, HR Leader and Entrepreneur)
