Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore and Art of living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Monday addressed about 100 school children during Bal Chetna Shivir — a programme envisioned for the children aimed at helping them rise to their potential through various stress elimination techniques organised by the Art of living Chandigarh Chapter.
Young students in the age group of 12 to 15 years attended the Shivir, organised at the precincts of Punjab Raj Bhavan, and had an interactive session with Sri Sri.
Sri Sri, addressing the children, said the children should be inquisitive as this inquisitiveness takes out the best from within a child.
He also motivated them to become responsible citizens of the country by putting in their best in the nation building task.
He also urged them to adopt healthy lifestyle and shun evils such as drug abuse, drug addiction and other social aberrations. Children can be instrumental in evolving a healthy and determined society if their energies are channelised in the right direction, he said.
Sri Sri also said “the goal of education is to increase awareness not information.” ‘Hosh’ (awareness) and ‘josh’ (excitement) were essential for any creation, while josh without hosh is a destructive force, he added.
He also told the children not to be disturbed by the failures and similarly not to be euphoric on victory as these are a part of our life and these phases should pass naturally.
Badnore, in his address, recalled how during his school days he attended similar shivirs that made him determined, strong and confident as a child. All those meditation techniques and physical exercises learnt at that time were relevant even today, said he.
He added that more such interactive sessions for the children should be organized in the city.
Appreciating the agile and alert students of the Government schools participating in the Shivir, the Governor observed that there was a remarkable improvement in the academic and social standards of the children studying in these schools.
He emphasized upon the need to further strengthen the educational and spiritual values in the children so that they could be ahead of the private educational institutions.