The world we live in today compels what Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandes describes as 'intensified encounters with difference' constituted by contradictory and paradoxical movements. A decolonial approach to constructing global imaginaries centres on reconfiguring human relations in ways that unmask complicity and denial and further healing, justice and solidarity. In this paper, we reflect on the possibilities and challenges for alternative approaches to global citizenship education (GCE) in India through the experience of a thirty-year old educational programme called Avehi-Abacus (AA). The paper begins with an overview of the historical influence of colonial, nationalist and neoliberal discourses on citizenship and citizenship education. We then reflect on specific pedagogical challenges and possibilities in relation to (a) unlearning socio-cultural diversity as deficit and danger, and (b) reimagining ourselves and our relationships with other living beings. The discussion highlights the intrinsic linkages between knowledge, relation and affect in an educational approach which attempts to inculcate alternative understandings of being and becoming a global citizen.