A mega youth event Impressions 2022 was organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)- Prayagraj, in collaboration with Umeed Foundation, at the AMA Convention Center of Prayagraj, on Saturday.
On the occasion, four community and youth welfare centres were inaugurated including two at Susuwahi, Varanasi and one each at Jhalwa and Govindpur in Prayagraj. These centres have been built in the traditional Jaipur style architecture but are equipped with modern facilities to help youth.
These centres were established under the social responsibility activities of ISKCON and Umeed. These centres will provide skill development, rural development, women’s empowerment, value education, free food distribution, and various other activities for youth and society.
Meanwhile, the main event began with the lighting of the lamp by ISKCON’s zonal secretary Devakinandan Das, Bhakti Prem Swami, Sankarshan Nitai, Acyuta Mohan and Poonam Ray, secretary, Golden Jubilee School and district secretary of Rotary Club.
A group of students from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) and IIT-BHU performed a drama ‘Me and My Mind’ showing how the mind distracts us and how to control it and increase focus, followed by cultural performances and then fusion music performance by Vishuddha Band.
Dhawal Patel, an alumnus of MNNIT and director, Umeed, shared a report about the activities of Umeed and Acyuta Mohan Das, president, ISKCON-Prayagraj, shared a presentation on the contributions and activities of ISKCON and Umeed in the fields of social service based on spiritual technology. He shared how Umeed has been working for youth welfare and rural development, establishing value education centres, organising anti-stress and anti-addiction workshops, stitching centres, skill development centres, teaching street children, distributing free food, supporting orphanages and deaf and dumb schools, distributing COVID-19 relief kits, etc.
{{/usCountry}}Dhawal Patel, an alumnus of MNNIT and director, Umeed, shared a report about the activities of Umeed and Acyuta Mohan Das, president, ISKCON-Prayagraj, shared a presentation on the contributions and activities of ISKCON and Umeed in the fields of social service based on spiritual technology. He shared how Umeed has been working for youth welfare and rural development, establishing value education centres, organising anti-stress and anti-addiction workshops, stitching centres, skill development centres, teaching street children, distributing free food, supporting orphanages and deaf and dumb schools, distributing COVID-19 relief kits, etc.
{{/usCountry}}Devakinandan Das said, “Everyone is searching for happiness, but that is possible not just in external achievements but by internal transformation through spiritual knowledge and leading a meaningful life.”
It was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Youth, Nation, Education’. The panelists included Sankarshan Nitai Das, regional secretary, ISKCON, Abhishek Verma, leading businessman, educator and district secretary of Rotary Club, Prof Ranvijay Singh of MNNIT and Prof Ranjit Singh of IIIT-Allahabad.
A video on the global contributions of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada was also screened.