It’s 1 pm. Young lads aged between 15-19 move to their rooms for sleep. They are sweating profusely. On being asked, they say that they woke up at 4 am and performed ‘Yagna’. The scene creates a picture of medieval times. But it is in the present. A Punjab school is making children live such a life, without their modern gadgets and in tranquility.
A unique residential summer camp ‘Arya Veer Dal’ is being held by Guru Virjanand Gurukul Mahavidyalaya Kartarpur, the only Sanskrit school in Punjab that charges no fee from the students.
Unique because unlike normal summer camps with dance, music, art and craft, this one teaches discipline to the students. The children have no access to mobile phones. They wash their own clothes and are inspired against drugs and suicides.
Around 400 children are a part of the camp which started on June 4 and is on till June 11.
The children are given ‘Saada Bhojan’ in which Daliya, khichdi, pulses are in abundance.
Stressing on the important things in life, resource persons take lectures on how to keep inner thoughts clean.
Udyan Arya, principal of the school said this camp is not for entertainment and many affluent families have sent their kids for the camp. “They are used to sleeping in ACs but we want them to become internally strong so that they survive tough or unfavourable conditions,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Udyan Arya, principal of the school said this camp is not for entertainment and many affluent families have sent their kids for the camp. “They are used to sleeping in ACs but we want them to become internally strong so that they survive tough or unfavourable conditions,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“My parents wanted me to learn good things, so they asked me to join this camp,” said Pranav Kumar, 15, a student of a private school in Amritsar at the camp.
Sandesh Chhabra, 18, a BTech student from DAVIET said the camp’s routine is a part of his life now. “I never woke up at 4 am in the morning in my life, and couldn’t stay away from my mobile at all. It has been four days here and I am enjoying this time to the fullest,” he said.