Workshop helps youth celebrate life
Chitra Nair | TNN
Pune: Having rediscovered their mind, body and soul at the four-day workshop ‘Utsav’, the youth are all praise for it. Calling it something that improved their level of confidence, concentration and stress-management skills, the youth say they are glad this opportunity came their way. The workshop was a blend of knowledge, ‘pranayam’, ‘sudarshan kriya’, games, interactive group sessions, ‘seva’ and ‘satsang’. Organised by the World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) under the aegis of the Art of Living Foundation, ‘Utsav’ is a workshop for youth in the age group of 18 to 30 years. It was held from April 2 to April 5 at the New English School, Ramanbaug and saw almost 1,500 youth participate in the ‘celebration’. The WAYE, under the aegis of the Art of Living, has been working towards empowering the youth physically, spiritually, economically and socially, so as to nurture the leader in them and inspire a sense of responsibility towards contemporary issues being faced by them and the society at large. Speaking to the TOI, Dinesh Ghodke, one of the directors of WAYE, said the workshop, conceptualised last year, started in Mumbai. “We not only teach today’s youth about ways to keep their body healthy but we also focus on emotional stability and help them achieve clarity of the mind,” he explains. Having travelled across the country, this was the first time ‘Utsav’ came to Pune. Motivated by the overwhelming response, WAYE has decided to hold a second workshop from May 21. Though it was also a sense of curiosity that drew design students Preethi Bayya and Rukmini Iyengar to the workshop, they say it helped the two rediscover themselves. “The large number of youth attending the workshop made us curious and that apart, few of our friends who had attended the workshop earlier in other places always looked happy. We are thankful we came here,” they say. While engineering students Kratik Malhotra and Vivek Rathi owe their improved concentration and time management skills to the workshop, for Mohit Talwar and Saurabh Ratnakar, the workshop was a lesson in stress management and being more equinamous at work. “One of WAYE’s courses the YES+ (Youth empowerment and skills) is even taught as a credit in US universities like Cornell and Georgia Tech,” says Ghodke. The aim remains the same, teaching youth to take charge of their lives and make a change, within and without. “Now with elections around the corner we are also talking to them about their democratic rights and are encouraging them to vote. It is about dreaming big and making it come true not just for yourself, but for your country and your planet,” Ghodke adds.
Some of the participants at a special meeting with Dinesh Ghodke
Side Story:
Two more Yes!+ Seva warriors (formerly from IIT & YES!+, Chennai) in the newspaper - TOI Pune addition. Mohit (Momo) and Saurabh (Toto) by themselves got 150+ people registered in just 10 days for the Pune Utsav just concluded by B n D. They were called on the stage specially, invited specially to Bau's room after every day of the course and also to train others on their special way of intro talks.
Some info on Mo n To: Graduated from IIT Chennai Mo is from Kota, To from Lucknow, Both did Yes+ and volunteered with Rajesh bhaiya. Momo loves singing and sharing his funny experiences and Toto enjoys playing guitar and just keep smiling. Momo is funny, jovial and crazy toto is calm, sweet and soft spoken.
Have a Sweet Day
-YES!+ Web Team
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