Something interesting happened in my life after a very long time. I attended Gitamritam camp! It was such an awesome experience, and also free from the online world for over a week.
The 1st thing I was worried about was, “Will I be able to make it to the morning classes? That too be ready by 5:30 AM!”. To my wonder yes I did! And that too attended all the sessions with so much eagerness and not with a sleepy head. So, all these night owl business was just a silly excuse from a lazy head. But to be frank there were few days I carried my toothbrush to brush in between the morning sessions whenever I woke up late(but made sure to take bath before leaving my room 😛 ). Sharing all the experiences of a 7 day long fully tight scheduled camp in just one blog posts is simply impossible. So let me try to keep it simple and sweet.
Squad with Dhyan Ji
Everyday of the camp started off with yoga, meditation and gita classes. What more is required to keep you alive throughout the day. I should seriously admit that it kept me energetic during all sessions no matter what. I used to be a late comer throughout my BTech life and even now, and sit with a sleepy head if the sun is up. But this camp really brought a change in my life. Moreover now my day starts off with yoga.
Save the earth – plant trees 😉
First day we had a session by Sankar ji where he talked a lot about happiness. You can watch it over here. Then I thought , isn’t it true what he said that nowadays we think twice whether to laugh or not. During class if we laugh the teacher will think that we are making fun of him/her or kuch toh ghatbhat hai. I remember once one of my school teacher called me to the staff room just to ask why I am smiling most of the time. He said “You know what smiling is good for your health. Lekin sabh log tujhe pagal samjenge”. I went into a dilemma, was it a compliment or the opposite. But then I decided I will laugh if the people around me knows already that I am crazy else will keep a blank face. But now I realize that was a huge mistake from my side. I should have gone with an attitude – if they think I am loose, I will laugh at them because they are thinking they are mad(myself). Which means I am really crazy 😀 And thanks for Akshay ettan to make me realize it. To understand what it means just go through the short story “The Egg” by Andy Weir.
All set to go!
Let me get back to the camp. We had really interesting Gita classes by Dhyan ji. I felt its something that should be present in everyone’s life. It would have been a different world if we recite a sloka to a baby’s ears and ask them to follow it instead of saying a name after they are born. After all each sloka tells us how to lead a dharmic life.
All the outdoor activities, cooking sessions taught us something which is already said in Gita, but this gave us a chance to experience it by ourselves. I never knew I could learn so many things through these activities. During some of the adventurous activities like rappelling, I was readily waiting for those who were scared to death just to see how they were trying to overcome their fear. It was such a joy to be present where we see a lot of people coming out of their fear and realizing the real self. It’s something which cannot be expressed in mere words. But still I kept my fear to talk openly, but I am happy that I am working on it.
Squad with Akshay ettan
This camp taught me a lot of things which I could have learnt by myself through my experience in life, if and only if I was not ignorant. And that was the 1st lesson I learned – We should choose whether to be ignorant or wise. And this solves all the problems in one’s life. And to get a more clear idea I started reading Gita everyday without fail. To understand who is ignorant and who is wise, start reading Bhagavad Gita 😉 I will leave it to you instead of explaining what I understood from it. Because…
न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम् |
जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान्युक्त: समाचरन् ||3.26
Finally I would love to thank Akshay ettan for pushing me to attend this camp and have a wonderful experience. And also Vipin sir who has been telling a lot about this camp for many years which developed a curiosity in me.
Wait for my next post to hear the inner transformation in me, which took a lot of time for me to understand.
Anu Vazhayil 