Eyes of Anuj Uniyal aged around seven twinkled when he was asked how he was feeling on coming to live in the newly opened home for the children left orphans by the 2013 Kedarnath disaster. located at village Mulya, some 12 kms uphill from Devprayag in Tehri district, housing the fabled confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers, Patanjali Sewashram is giving shelter close to hundred students, including 40 girls, all left orphans by the 2013 catastrophe.
Spread over 1.5 lakh sq ft area, it is laced with modern facilities of boarding and schooling. It houses separate hostels for boys and girls. Besides, it has a big yoga hall, library, dining mess and classrooms. The children start their day at 4.45 am. After finishing their daily chores, they perform yoga in the yoga hall situated on the picturesque banks of Bhagirathi. Completing their breakfast by 7 am, the children leave for their school Saraswati Shishu Mandir, some 24 kms away, in two buses.
Speaking to The Pioneer about the concept which fired him to start the Sewashram, Swami Ramdev said that it was part of his mission to bring up the wretched children left destitute and orphan by the dreaded natural calamity in accordance with the norms conceived by the Vedic seers and the sages.
“Now, we are sending them to nearby schools to study. But soon they would start studying here once the accreditation formalities are completed. We have started Sankskrit Gurukulum where the students from other schools are also coming to learn the Vedic language and the rituals the glorious Vedic era begot,” he said.
Sonam, a resident student, recounted how the calamity that struck Kedarnath in June 2013 left her shattered. “The calamity took away my near and dear ones. My father who was running a dhaba on Kedarnath road was swept away in the flash flood four years ago. My little brother was taken away to Srinagar by my maternal uncle. I was left with my grandmother. She is a bit peculiar. She did not allow me to go out of the house as she feared that I would be abducted. It was at this time when I was leading an agonised life, bereft of any hope and light, Guruji (referring to Acharya Balkrishna) came and shifted me and some other kids to a building. And now after two years, we have our own rooms here in this school,” she said, eyes moistening in unshed tears, in gratitude of the turnaround that has landed her in a place of hope and security where she can chart out a future of her own under the benign guidance of the affectionate teachers and the mentors.
Amit, another inmate, says he longs to be a teacher. “I have seen abject poverty in my village. I know how helpless they are as they are illiterate. I am sure education would bring about the desired turnaround in the stagnating villages. Education would enable the villagers to eke out a better living for them,” he said, eyes glowing in conviction.
Under the paternal care of the mentors and others, these children are now engaged in living meaningful and constructive life, showing signs of growing into true human beings in sync with the norms conceived during the luminous Vedic age at the nondescript village Mulya.