Special Lecture - Gurudev Jayanthi

Special talk from Shri.Arunachalam, who was a Balavihar child himself and a  Chinmaya Yuva Kendra member (CHYK) addressed the children on the “Life of Pujya Gurudev, Pujya Swami Chinmayandaji”. He has seen and interacted with Gurudev during his Balavihar days.

Shri.Arunachalam as a renowned speaker, very well took the children from know to unknown by discussing the key take aways from the movies 'Life of Pi' and 'Sachin'.
Life Lessons from 'Life of Pi':
  Key take aways that children spell out were 'Be Bold', 'Pet Dangerous Animals', 'Don't give up', 'Learn to Survive alone', 'work hard', 'proper planning is required',  'God never gives-up'.
  How did he survive?
     All alone in the boat with a tiger, surrounded by sea, a book, the survival kit, thought how to plan with limited resources when surrounded by endangered animals.
     So, in the game of life, the survival kit - Bhagawad Gita, will groom us to survive and is being taught in such camps.

Lessons from 'Sachin' movie:
  Key take away from children on 'Sachin' movie were 'Don't loose hope', 'you can win' etc.

Shri. Arunachalam & Shravan

He also encouraged the children to talk about Gurudev from theirs learnings through the movie ‘On a Quest’. Shravan, one of the senior Balavihar child, narrated the life of Gurudev, as seen in the movie 'On a Quest' which interested many folks to watch the movie by themselves to understand more about Gurudev's life.

Shri. Arunachalam added that Gurudev had a vision on how the nation have to be built from the grassroots level - like brick by brick house it built. He also added that at the time of Independence, Gurudev mentioned that `India got freedom but not Indians` and the Indians will receive freedom only when the people are free from poverty, diversity etc.

He emphasized that the study does not stop with Balavihar and spoke about different groups / activities in Chinmaya mission. The key point here is if one loose the continuity, then will loose the path to the destination, hence continue with Yuva Kendra.

Groups in Chinmaya Mission:

• Balavihar - At Chinmaya Mission, children are introduced to spiritual culture through Bala Vihar. 
• Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK) - is dedicated to harnessing the vibrant and dynamic potential of youthful energy where young people are made aware of their potential through the study of scriptures. A Yuva Kendra member is typically 16 to 28 years of age.  
• Study Groups - Study groups and regular programs at local Mission centres serve as a ready platform where the Setukaris (25-45 years) will be at work. Setukari has been a recent addition to Chinmaya Mission’s grass-root activities with the role of ‘building bonds’ between the young and the old in these fast-changing times. The group studies and discusses scriptural texts according to a prescribed syllabus that offers the seeker a systematic exposure to Vedanta.
• Devi Groups - are exclusively for women. These groups meet for scriptural study, devotional singing and a variety of cultural and social activities.

To take care of mind & intellect, we need knowledge, to gain knowledge we have gurudev or sevaks & sevikas in the form of gurudev. Hence go with an open mind to listen & learn the scriptural knowledge written by gurudev in the most simplified form & taught by sevikas.