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Issue17: Focusonchildren

“One little child can change theentire history of the country. That ishowall the great men of the pastwere – a Shivaji, an Einstein, aTagore, a Mahatma Gandhi.”

Swami Chinmayananda

APRIL 2008CHINMAYA MISSION (UK) NEWSLETTER

This issue has been sponsored by members of the Chinmaya Mission study classes

ChinmayaMission UK Working Committee

Rupin Vadera

(President)

Suresh Wadhwani

(Vice-President & Secretary)

Tushar Karia

(Treasurer)

SandeepPatel

(Assistant Treasurer)

Trishna Gulrajani

(Assistant Secretary)

Members:

Kavita Chanrai, Ramesh Pattni, Zia Rawji, Milan Samani,Smita Samani, Mohini Samtani, Milen Shah, Madhavi Vadera,Kanchan Wadhwani

Editorial Team:

Anjali Patel,Vishva Samani and Mita Patel

Chinmaya Mission UK Board ofTrustees

Swami Tejomayananda

(Chairman)

Swami Swaroopananda

(Vice-Chairman)

Rupin Vadera

(Secretary)

Tushar Karia

(Treasurer)

Members:

Dasi Budhrani, Raju Mahtani, Ramesh Pattni, Suresh Wadhwani

Resident Acharya: Brahmacharini

Sumati Chaitanya

Editorial

Grown-ups never understand anything for them-selves, and it is tiresome for children to be alwaysand forever explaining things to them.Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince", 1943

his issue is dedicated to children, in our Bal Vihars(children's classes), in our teenage classes (Junior Chykclasses) and inside all ofus.We are tremendously lucky, in the Bal Vihar team, to beable to enjoy being with children, playing games, learning tounravel the mysteries ofthe universe and ourselves, baskingin their wide-eyed and rapt attention as we bring to life thestories ofancient heroes. We are children again, carefree,innocent and happy – the grown up world ofstress andstrife firmly left outside. We grow through teaching the chil-dren, by listening to them, by sharing their world and gentlyintroducing them to ours.Pause awhile and come with me to a Bal Vihar class.Meet your friends, swap stories and settle down to somegentle chanting. Let me transport you to Ayodhya, whereyou will see Rama in all his splendour, feel sorry for himwhen he leaves home, worry when Sita lets Ravana in, standup and fight shoulder to shoulder with the monkey army – cheer when Ravana is destroyed. Let us make a bridge to goto Lanka, and see who can jump the farthest ... do you real-ly want to go home?The 5 year old child will thrill at the adventure, gasp atthe dangers and giggle as she ‘falls’into the sea – but she willremember that closing her eyes and saying ‘Rama’gave herthe extra courage to jump. The 10 year old will think aboutparents and duty and choices, but he too will remember toreflect on Rama to find inner strength. The 12 year old willrationalise about Sita’s temporary lapse into wanting the‘golden’deer and compare that with her own lapses intoexcessive TV or chocolate; she will consider the relevance of the ‘lakshman rekha’aka parental rules. And she will start todefine her own boundaries.The teenager will go beyond the stories and symbolism,and generate heated discussions on boundaries: parentalpressures, peer pressure, cultural clash. Can he still tap intothat inner ‘Rama’to achieve his goals, to resolve conflict? Hewill ask about the schools, hospitals, and homes run by theChinmaya Mission; tell all his friends about the ChinmayaOrganisation for Rural Development and burn with theambition to transform lives for the less fortunate. ‘Rama’hasgrown up and is ready for action.But it is not just the children who learn. The sevaks(teachers) read, research and reflect to create thedrama/art/games and bring the values to life. So they too‘learn’with the children. They too are reminded ofthe val-ues they teach. What is more, they know that children learnfrom their words AND their actions. Now they have to livethe values they teach (at least for one day a week!).It does not end there – children learn from us, from ouractions and the way we live our lives. Parents attend studyclasses or the Bal Vihar classes as sevaks and they, too, rein-force at home the values learnt so that children are exposedto a holistic and consistent approach.As I welcome you to this issue , let me sharewith youwhy I love Bal Vihar:Being a teacher is likebeing present at a graduallyunfolding piece ofcreation, when the clay begins to trans-formitself.And as it does, I occasionallyfind myself,quitemagically, transforming a little too.Teaching Bal Vihar is not just what we do – it is what weare.

Madhavi Vadera, Bal Vihar Co-ordinator

Teaching the future generation the art of livingBuilding a strong foundation: Bal Vihar with the Chinmaya Mission

Parenting Pearls

East meets West in value-based education

The world is your clay, mould it as you desire …

Warior School

Chinmaya Kids

Activities, groups, classes and events

Chinmayam Issue 17

April 2008

Britain's 12 million children and teenagers are the unhappiest and unhealthiest of anywealthy European country, a major new study has revealed.

"The tragedy of human historyis decreasinghappiness in the midst of increasingcomforts."

SwamiChinmayananda

Teaching future generations the art of living

Vishva Samani

rowing up in the UK should be a blessing. If you apply yourselfearly on, the opportuni-ties open to you later in lifeare immense. Infact, British children grow up in one ofthe wealthi-est, most technologically advanced nations on earth.Manyfamilies continue to come to the UK from far-away shores to give unrivalled opportunities to theirchildren. The country has enjoyed sixty years of peace and prosperity with free education and med-ical services for all. British homes are crammed withlabour-saving devices and electronic entertainmentthat previous generations could not even dream of.Yet a study conducted by UNICEF earlier thisyear on 'childhood well-being' prompted heavydebate after it revealed that out of21 nations acrossthe developed world, British children are the unhap-piest.In the words on Bob Reitemeier, the Chief Executive ofthe Children’s Society,"Unicef's report is a wake-up call to the fact that,despite being a rich country, the UK is failing chil-dren and young people in a number ofcrucial ways." Journalists, politicians and community leaders allhave various theories on why kids in Britain are theunhappiest, but here are some general observations.Children growing up in the UK are encouraged tomaintain an insatiable appetite to accumulate andcontinually have the best new toys, gadgets, trainersetc. available. Many ofthe role models the mediabombards us with areaccidental celebrities, oftenfamous for all the wrong reasons. They may either beoutwardly beautiful, materially successful, or indeedpart ofa major scandal; but it would be rare to findthe face ofa genuinely admirable figure on the frontpageofahigh-selling magazine.The common factor in all these things is that theemphasis is on the outer. The things that we focus onand believe make us happy from a young age are notlinked to serving others, doing our duties, learningto live up to higher ideals or feeling happy with justenough ofwhat weneed. Instead the spotlight is onlooking good, and possessing more.Many young British Indians lament over identityissues and hold the view that it is difficult to recon-cile two clashing cultures. Living in the modern anddeveloped West is in conflict with the ancient tradi-tions and customs their parents havebrought withthem to the UK. But in actual fact, British born