Yuvaratri

'Yuvaratri' was celebrated as the 'Night of the Youth' by over 75,000 youth coming together from entire nation on the Christmas Eve of 2006 in Mumbai on K. J. Somaiya Grounds. It was also official launch of WAYE, under the guidance of the founder of Art of Living, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the WAYE Directors - Mr. Khurshed Batliwala and Mr. Dinesh Ghodke.

When & Where?

Date: 24th Dec, 2007
Place: K. J. Somaiya Grounds, Mumbai

Nevertheless, Yuvaratri was not only the official launch of WAYE, but also the first ever mega youth festival to be held in India. The objective of the event was to bring together thousands of young minds and ignite them with the passion of making a difference to the society first by empowering and strengthening themselves and then later by empowering and strengthening the people around them.

During the event WAYE put forth the Seven Prime Areas of Concern, which it had identified as issues that needed immediate attention to ensure global progress and the Seven Avenues which the youth could identify these concerns with.

This was packaged as a Live SMS quiz where the youngsters contributed answers to various questions put forth in sync with the spirit of 'Serious Fun' on the 7 Areas of Concern, 7 Avenues of Action and 7 Things India contributes to the world, namely, Yoga and Meditation, Ayurveda, Food, Fashion and Jewellery, Music and Dance, Tourism and Information Technology.

The concerns identified by WAYE were Attitude of Indifference, Substance Abuse, Stress and Violence, Depression and Suicide, Unemployment and Poverty, Female Feticide and HIV/AIDS, Environmental Exploitation and Technology. The avenues through which these concerns could be tackled were suggested as Entertainment, Fine Arts, Sports, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Education and Empowerment. The Live SMS quiz was an immense success, for it provoked the young minds to think in terms of what they could use and do to bring a social change.

The whole idea was to go MAD - to Make A Difference and the crowd did go mad! The environment sparkled with energy and enthusiasm. The evening started with a rock concert by Mr. Vikram Hazra that set the spirit for the evening. 8-yr Anjali was painting alongside to the tune of the songs and presented the painting to Sri Sri. Young boys and girls sizzled the stage with their dance performances.

WAYE partnered with WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNAIDS, USAIDS, SIDA, UNFPA, UNESCO, World Bank & UN Millennium Campaign for the event. Amidst the celebration, WAYE's alliances enlightened the audience with important issues and what their role and contribution could be. Brand ambassadors and youth icons of different fields came forward to inspire the youth and support WAYE's mission.

Sri Sri's message for the youth was, "Each one present here should feel like a lamp spreading light all around." The assembled crowd lit their candles from that of Sri Sri. With a solemn promise to work towards spring-cleaning the society with infinite patience and dynamic enthusiasm, the night of youth stars ended with stars shining brighter!

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