On 10th of March , a motley crew of 18 of us made our way to the Divine Mandya campus. Added bonus was Krishna Subhaga joining us with her family, driving down all the way from MDH
Whether it was the Italians, Dutch, Lithuanian, Spanish, Mauritians,Indians. Be it Tai Chi mentor, anthropologists, photographers, architect, .music exponents , when it came to campus visit , all nationalities and identities melt away as we come together enjoying the beauty of the campus, the love and hospitality of staff and the pure , smiling faces of the luminous students .
We left at 630 am , reaching the campus around 11. No journey to Mandya is complete without tender coconut and so a few kms from campus, we treated ourselves to some of the biggest coconuts ever.
On arrival at campus as always, chairman Rajshekhar sir and his team greeted us with smiles and refreshments and we began a tour of the campus.
Many of you who have seen the campus will know thatl the surrounding structure leads into the central prayer hall SAI Hrudayam, reminding us of the center of divinity in all.our hearts
After a prayerful.halt in Swamis interview room, we walked through an exhibition made by students . The beautiful.models and artwork by students brought much joy . There was a model of the new hostel, the Dhyanmantapa, musical.instrumenrs, peacock and many more . The skill and details are to be seen , to be believed .
The group then made our way to the hill top and the stories of the cave ascetic, the Maramma temple, the origins of the campus are always a wonder . At the dhyanamantap with the back drop of Shiva Linga and Nandi, we chanted the Rudram, our souls were filled with the soothing Nirvana shatakam and guided meditation filling our hearts with inexplicable bliss
Then came the sumptuous lunch , a tradition in every campus. Serving students and in turn being served by them is an enjoyable activity for both visitors and the visited
After lunch , we sat through a presentation on the campus , the story of Likhith currently in 7th grade was a testimony to the change that these campuses are bringing about
After this was a session with students where we were taken to every classroom and spent a few minutes with each batch. We shared our thoughts with them and wished Best wishes for upcoming exams
The new hostel building SAI CHAYA construction has commenced which is poised to be another grand edifice providing a safe home to many children in the future .
Rajshekhar sir mentioned that for Sivaratri , they had opened the doors of the campus to the local community to offer prayers and over 1500 people partook in the celebrations and food prasadam was served to all who came., once again a testimony to what these campuses are truly becoming... centres of love, inclusion and compassion !
After some steaming, hot chai, coffee we had to get the delicious bun and jam burgers packed as no one had any place to eat anymore ! We were then shown the medical set up where everyday almost 30 patients from the surrounding villages are treated free of cost . We could only stare at wonder at the facilities provided
After a joyous farewell by staff, we offered prayers at the Maramma temple, the local.goddess whose temple was rebuilt by Swami and made our way back to MDH.
A special note to people we met
ASHIMAO - Our ever smiling tabla expert who drives down from Chennai every month to teach students tabla , sometimes not even spending time with his own lovely family
Shailaja and her husband and son Shanmuga who drive down every Sunday from Mysore and reach carnatic vocal.music to students.
And many more ...
SUNDAYS can never get better than this !
Join us for the next campus visit after the exams !
Continue to extend your support to the each one educate one movement , as we move further in our journey to SHIVOHAM SHIVOHAM
Thanks for reading !
With Love
Team each one educate one
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