Summer Camp 2019 - Day 3 - Camp Report
Day 3 of the camp was also as lively as the previous days with the children ready in the “Annapoorneshwari” hall, after their morning ablutions, for their morning milk. After having their milk, they were ready for Swamiji’s chanting, by 7.00 am, in the temple. There was a half an hour soulful rendering of “Medha sooktam”, by Swamiji and the children, with a lot of divine fervour. The children were then, immersed in their yoga session, guided by Shruti didi for the next half an hour and then, went for a healthy and nutritious breakfast, at 8.00am.
The children were in the temple, by 9.30am, for the next session, led by Shrijit Bhaiya, Rajeev Bhaiya and Monisha Didi. The children continued to chant the stotras they learnt yesterday – the ‘Nama Ramayana’ and the ‘Sankatamochana Hanuman Stotram’- and also learnt the further verses in both of these stotras.
Shruti didi took up the next half hour session, enlightening the children with the story of Goswami Tulsidasji and they were enraptured by the story of this great saint of our India.
10.30 was the time when the workshop for the children commenced, today’s by Shalini didi and Aishwarya didi and the topic being “Health and Mind”. They spoke about the 5 koshas/sheaths of every human being – the annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha – and how all these sheaths/layers need to be healthy, for a human being to be free from disease. There was a tomato juice break, after which the children were asked to present something like a skit/poem/mime, based on the topic that was introduced in the workshop. The creativity in the children, was indeed endearing and it was evident that the children were able to absorb the essence of this concept of happy living, which is connected to the well-being of these 5 koshas/layers.
Its needless to mention that there was a delicious lunch, which the children relished to their utmost and there was a rest time, until 4.00pm.
Swamiji’s session on Sundarakanda continued from 4.00 pm and Swamiji mentioned about the three types of devotion : the tamasic type where the person only prays for the destruction of the enemy, the rajasic type, where the person prays for selfish gains like money, fame, power and the satvik type, where the person asks only for love, happiness, kindness for everyone in the world, not just himself. He also mentioned about how a person who is bestowed with the grace of God finds the adversities turn into blessings, enemy becoming a friend, fire becoming a coolant and a mountain becoming a dust particle. Swamiji enlisted how this had happened in the case of Hanuman.
A break for milk and snacks was followed by an hour of outdoor games, thoroughly enjoyed by the children. They assembled in the temple for their evening bhajan and arati by 6.30pm. The evening bhajans, led by Srijit bhaiya had an absolutely electrifying effect on everyone present there and the enthusiasm of the children was unbelievable.
There was a story telling session by Shalini didi, followed by a round of ‘Antakshari with a difference’ by the children, the difference being that they were asked to sing bhajans/chant shlokas from the first letter of the word, rather than the usual movie songs.
8.00pm was the time when the dinner was served, after which, when the children were left free, many of them played, while many of them did the parikrama, around the 45-feet Chinmaya Ganapati idol, in the premises, chanting stotrams and singing bhajans. The night had an ethereal feel to it. The children turned in, by 10.00pm.
The children were in the temple, by 9.30am, for the next session, led by Shrijit Bhaiya, Rajeev Bhaiya and Monisha Didi. The children continued to chant the stotras they learnt yesterday – the ‘Nama Ramayana’ and the ‘Sankatamochana Hanuman Stotram’- and also learnt the further verses in both of these stotras.
Shruti didi took up the next half hour session, enlightening the children with the story of Goswami Tulsidasji and they were enraptured by the story of this great saint of our India.
10.30 was the time when the workshop for the children commenced, today’s by Shalini didi and Aishwarya didi and the topic being “Health and Mind”. They spoke about the 5 koshas/sheaths of every human being – the annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha – and how all these sheaths/layers need to be healthy, for a human being to be free from disease. There was a tomato juice break, after which the children were asked to present something like a skit/poem/mime, based on the topic that was introduced in the workshop. The creativity in the children, was indeed endearing and it was evident that the children were able to absorb the essence of this concept of happy living, which is connected to the well-being of these 5 koshas/layers.
Its needless to mention that there was a delicious lunch, which the children relished to their utmost and there was a rest time, until 4.00pm.
Swamiji’s session on Sundarakanda continued from 4.00 pm and Swamiji mentioned about the three types of devotion : the tamasic type where the person only prays for the destruction of the enemy, the rajasic type, where the person prays for selfish gains like money, fame, power and the satvik type, where the person asks only for love, happiness, kindness for everyone in the world, not just himself. He also mentioned about how a person who is bestowed with the grace of God finds the adversities turn into blessings, enemy becoming a friend, fire becoming a coolant and a mountain becoming a dust particle. Swamiji enlisted how this had happened in the case of Hanuman.
A break for milk and snacks was followed by an hour of outdoor games, thoroughly enjoyed by the children. They assembled in the temple for their evening bhajan and arati by 6.30pm. The evening bhajans, led by Srijit bhaiya had an absolutely electrifying effect on everyone present there and the enthusiasm of the children was unbelievable.
There was a story telling session by Shalini didi, followed by a round of ‘Antakshari with a difference’ by the children, the difference being that they were asked to sing bhajans/chant shlokas from the first letter of the word, rather than the usual movie songs.
8.00pm was the time when the dinner was served, after which, when the children were left free, many of them played, while many of them did the parikrama, around the 45-feet Chinmaya Ganapati idol, in the premises, chanting stotrams and singing bhajans. The night had an ethereal feel to it. The children turned in, by 10.00pm.
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