Date: December 27, 2024
Venue: Om Shanti Dham Gurukulam, Sangama, Mekedatu, Karnataka
The BhāratShakti team was invited to curate and conduct a day-long workshop for about 70 students (ages 12-16) on the theme – “Our Culture, Our Pride” on 27th December, 2024 at Om Shanti Dhama Gurukulam, Karnataka. Om Shanti Dhama is a Registered Charitable Trust, and works on several spiritual, educational, Ayurvedic & service projects.
The workshop was organised and facilitated by Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti, Mr. Narendra Murty, Research Associate, Ms. Biswajita Mohapatra, Research Assistant and Dr. Runalika Roy, Volunteer, with admirable support from the teachers and the administrators of the Gurukulam. Shri Satybrata ji, Trustee and Secretary, Om Shanti Dhama and Ms. Saujanya, the headmistress were especially supportive and helpful with the organisational works.
The workshop began with a welcome address by Yajurveda Acharya Sri Lambhodar Bhat and Headmistress Ms. Soujanya. This was followed by Guru Vandana chanted by some of the students. Dr. Mehra then thanked the Gurukulam team for inviting BhāratShakti team for conducting the workshop and for making such comfortable arrangements. She expressed that the Pondicherry team is also keen to learn more about the Gurukulam’s way of discipline and life. A token of gratitude consisting of some books and other souvenirs for the Gurukulam library was presented.
The workshop’s primary focus was to introduce the teenagers to reflect on their understanding of Indian culture, and their connection with India from the perspective of Sri Aurobindo’s vision of India’s destined role for the future of humanity and the world. A few specific questions were explored through a variety of sessions.
- What is culture? And why should I care about it?
- Is India One Culture or Many?
- Is culture static or dynamic?
- What is India’s role in the world?
- What is my responsibility as an Indian?
Such deep questions were addressed through a variety of activities including exploratory interactions, experiential activities, storytelling, games, exhibition, and dance. The students were divided into two groups – ages 12-14 and 15-17, and parallel sessions were conducted.
The topic of ‘India and I’ explored how we can understand culture using Sri Aurobindo’s definition of culture as an expression of consciousness of life in three aspects – soul, mind and body. Rich visuals and specific examples were used to discuss these abstract concepts. The interactive nature of the presentation kept the students engaged.
In order to explore the diverse culture of Bharat, the cultures of three states – the Sikh panth and its connection with Sanatana Dharma, the cultural richness of Bengal, and the history and fascinating legends about the Jagannath temple in Puri (along with a few other aspects of Odia culture) were presented with attractive visuals.
Additionally, a 20-poster exhibition ‘The Richness of Indian Culture’ showcasing various aspects of our culture containing relevant quotes of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo was also displayed. Students were asked to go through the exhibition and in a follow-up sessions were asked to share one key insight and one key question they had based on what they learnt through the posters. It was a fun way of learning which the students enjoyed very much.
The day ended with an insightful interactive question-answer session where several students shared some key learnings they gained during the workshop. Some interesting questions were asked regarding our responsibility towards our nation, the preservation of culture, the distinction between spirit of a culture and its various forms of expression and a few more.
The programme concluded with a note of gratitude all around, and the felicitation of the workshop facilitators by the Gurukulam team.
Some sample feedback shared by the students:
- These classes were wonderful. I enjoyed listening to stories, learned about Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and also information about temple as the body of God. I find this information is helpful for our generation’s work for India.
- Today I learned about west Bengal and Odisha, about their dances, festivals, culture, food. I learned about Rathayatra.
- We should unite India inwardly first, the interpretation was excellent
- I found the sentence “control our mind is the first step to gain knowledge,” very helpful in my personal life.
- I learnt about Puri temple, and the great freedom fighter Sri Aurobindo, I liked stories about different temples.
- I learnt about meanings of some ancient stories, Samudra Manthana etc.
