(Sri Sri welcoming Yes plus youths to the Ashram)
All of you have come home. There is a lot of fun and knowledge for you here. There are many surprises waiting for you.
Youth means enthusiasm, fun, ready to do anything, to create something new - these are the qualities of a youth. And all of you have these qualities.
It is important for our society that this youthfulness finds place in millions of hearts. We have to multiply rapidly on this front. Even if 10 enthusiastic youth come up in a village, they can bring a lot of change in that village. They will remove any corruption and fanaticism prevailing nowadays.
I will give you two examples.
There was a woman in Mumbai who knew French language. She came to me and said, 'I know French. Please send me somewhere for service.'I said,'Ok. You can go wherever you like, and we will make the arrangements.' She went to the Ivory Coast. There were strong conflicts between Muslim and Christian groups. There was a lot of tension in villages. She organized an ‘Art of Living’ course for all the people in one village. Then she organized a course in another village where people from the opposing group lived. She got both the groups together. Christians went to the Muslim village and built a school there. Muslims built toilets for the Christian homes. Like this they became useful to each other and the whole conflict was resolved. One, two, three..like this problem was resolved in 10-15 villages. In 2008, the government of Ivory Coast rewarded the ‘Art of Living’ for the outstanding work. We will see a film about this in coming few days.
Many of you would have heard of Khakiyavadi village in Nanded district in Maharashtra. There is no board for any casts. There is just one board which says, 'Divya Samaj Nirman' (Divine Society).One-two people took the responsibility, and they organized Nav Chetna Shivirs and meditation camps for 600 families in this village. Earlier, it was a notorious village, but now satsang happens there every day. There are no druggists or alcoholics in the village anymore. There is no liquor shop in the village. Every home has a smokeless chullah (smokeless stove). The whole village is organic. There is a shop where there is no shopkeeper. Prices are printed on commodities. People pick up what they need and put the payment in a box. It has become a model village. It was such a notorious village, and now it has become a model village. The Government has given them the honor of a 'Clean and model village' and also given them monetary reward.
A few enthusiastic youths changed the face of Dharavi slum also. It is the largest slum in Asia. A quality school was also started there. Children, who used to wander on the streets, study there and pass with first class marks.
Delhi youths will also share their experiences of 'Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna' programme. Even government is also surprised with their enthusiastic work. There is still a lot to be done by them.
Each and every youth has this enormous power. Our youth will have enthusiasm and awareness. There are many who are angry and enthusiastic, which is very easy to be. But we want our youth to be enthusiastic and aware at the same time, who joyfully accomplishes the goal. What the goal is – Uplifting the society. Nobody should be suffering from starvation or depression. Nobody should be denied justice.
More in the next post..(Symphony of Snores)
“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
© The Art of Living Foundation
