Summer Magic

From the crack of dawn on 21st of June, the ashram saw scores of young boys and girls from all across India and the world, pouring in to experience, the 'SUMMER MAGIC'. With the blessings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji, this nine day event (21st-29th June)has been designed by the directors of WAYE(World Alliance for Youth Empowerment) Khurshed Batliwala and Dinesh Ghodke, and saw 2500 YES!+(Youth Empowerment and Skills workshop) graduates coming together, sharing experiences, meditating and building a concrete plan for a better society and a better nation.

For most this was their first visit to the Ashram. An entire day was given for them to explore 'home' and start being 'hosts' and take care of the other participants, which they did brilliantly. As Guruji walked into the first satsang, ear shattering screams and claps resounded through the Ashram. He began with,"This is how the face of the nation should be! Full of life and love!"

Most of us are running a race in life, either in our career or in relationships. But when we have a Guru it becomes the 'Amazing (G)race!' And so followed the Summer Magic Upgrade - a four hour game, which was played in teams of 25 people each. The theme was that of a world tour. The entire Ashram was converted into a world map, and teams had to visit different countries and perform different tasks and collect flags of the same. When thousands of Youth are playing, drawing 'kollam' in India, catching centipedes in China, reciting Shakespeare in UK or making pizza's in Italy, it is but natural that chaos would follow, but the Ashram team put up a great show and everything came out to be 'perfect', as always!

The evenings were lit up by a fantastic musical titled 'Anand and Benaifer' a love story between a Tamil Iyer boy and a Parsi girl, with the whole ensemble of pirates, dakus, friends and family! The whole two hour show was put up live by a cast and crew of over 100 YES!+ teachers and volunteers. The play very subtly brought out the problems of youth in relationships, with parents, academics and so on.

We also had fantastic workshops and talks by Dr. Hari, founder of Bharat Gyan on Enigmatic India, Captain Raghu Raman, CEO NATGRID, on leadership at 26000 feet at Siachen, Dr. Giri taught some moves from the ancient martial art-Karatandav, Mr. Rajesh Krishnamurthy, CEO, Sumeru Solutions spoke on 'it's a small world' based on the Six Degrees of Separation-it also implies that when you are happy, your friend's friend also becomes happy! Mr. Amol Yewele, a Yuvacharya, spoke on the revolutionary Kapshi project in Maharashtra, which is now a model village with chemical free farming, smokeless chulhas, no alcohol or tobacco, Mr. Shantanu Prakash CEO EDUCOMP on social entrepreneurship, and a Classical dance workshop by Srividya and Priya, who are professional Bharatanatyam exponents. A small insight into interning with the AOL Corporate Team-Apex, micro- finance initiatives was also introduced. There was also an inspirational presentation on journalism, by Sri Sri Centre for Media Studies, and one by Dr. Bokil, noted economist, on 'artha kranti' - a grass root revolution to eradicate poverty, corruption and terrorism which is plaguing the country today. These workshops gave participants a bird's eye view of many industries and a lot of food for thought to develop themselves and those around.

After three days of activity, a lot of talk and even more thinking, it became time dive into silence, dive into yourself. The Advance Meditation course was a great experience for all, as they spent time away from phones, computers, gossip and noise. Through the day, they kept their hands busy with seva in campus cleaning, kitchen, gardening and Goushala. The satsangs in the evening with Guruji were filled with witty and funny Q and A's, interspersed with melodious bhajans.

The last day of this gala event ended on an enthused yet constructive note. Each one sat with their respective city groups and planned for the next events to spread this same bliss to thousand others. These nine days filled with dance, music, joy, smiles, silence and seva truly were in a word, 'magical'!