31st Dec. It were rich 6 days spent at the Annual Children’s Camp that was concluded yesterday. The innocent cries and laughter of the pure, loving souls resonated the ashram-atmosphere, which in turn responded back by sowing some valuable seeds in the hearts of the little ones that would surely germinate sometime in the future to add blissful aroma to these lives (not to forget mentioning the elders too who tried to follow the advice of Maharaj Ji, “बच्चों का मार्गदर्शन करते हुए भी उनका अनुसरण करें i.e. Even while guiding the children you should go on learning from them” as they helped the children along.)
Every afternoon the children and Maharaj Ji would come together and the unfolding sight saw the otherwise restless children
sitting closed eyed and still in meditation. Maharaj Ji taught them special techniques for looking within which harness the natural imaginative power of a child’s mind. Besides, it was Maharaj Ji who sowed in them the valuable seeds of positive samskaars, which is the big thing that children take back with them. The little faces would listen to Maharaj Ji with rapt attention probably because it was not a discourse that they were being offered but an intimate conversation, filled with care and love, about their problems and seeking answers to them.
During their stay children also learnt yogic asanas, in the free flowing nature of Vinyasa; they also learnt Nauli, blowing conch-shells etc. – all from very experienced practitioners and researchers in this field. In the music session they not only trained their voices to the rhythms of exhilarating songs (all with a positive meaning attached to them concerning life and strength) but also learnt to sing the couplets from Ramayana. Music certainly should have entered deep into the children as for six days they woke up to the melodious tunes of Bhairav Raga and dozed off to slumber too amidst the vibrant strings of other ragas. At the evening talks the children were given practical tips for life and healthy living. These all were summarized in a document (‘कुछ छोटी मगर काम की बातें’) which they were given to take along with them at the end. The concluding day was as exciting, hustling-bustling and fun-filled as it always is. Plenty of events were held (captured in the collage below). Overall, the camp was satisfying for all – the children and the elders now return to their homes to flower their lives and work-fields with the seeds gained here.
