Around 120 enthusiastic participants celebrated Guru Poornima at Saraswati Vidyalaya Chembur on 21st July through a program aptly titled as #Gratitude. The half-a-day program also gave a wonderful platform for all the Chyk and Pre-Chyk classes in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to come together to participate in the event.
The program started by welcoming Swami Swatmanandaji with a Purna Kumbh. After the welcome address and invocation,the grace of Guru was invoked with a Paduka Pooja conducted by Chyk Mumbai Secretary Aravind Raghavan,the Chyk class sevaks and sevikas performing the Pooja on behalf of the gathering. This was followed by a rocking BhaJam session by Chyks where devotional bhajans were rendered in a fusion style which kept the entire audience rapt in attention. The Bhajans were sung dedicated to all the Gurus in our Guru Parampara starting with Lord Shiva till Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. Swamiji also joined the Chyks for the BhaJam session.
The next highlight of the program were performances by different Chyk classes on the verses of Guru Stotram. Every Chyk class was allocated one or two verses which they presented in their own unique styles. Right from slam poetry, to dances, to raps, mime and skits, the creativity of the Chyk class members in presenting very subtle ideas in an engaging manner were very pleasing to watch. It was wonderful to see the elders encouraging the young performers.
This was followed by a wonderful talk by Swami Swatmanandaji who explained the role of Gurus in our lives. He also explained what one must do in order to make the sacrifices of the Guru worth it:
- Increasing our spiritual sadhana
- Preserving our culture and
- working towards nation building were the only ways to honour the Guru Parampara.
People of all ages were inspired by Swamiji’s message.
The entire program was very ably hosted by Sanjit and Nityamukta who are also Chyk class sevaks of Narayan zone. Sanjit then rendered the vote of thanks acknowledging the roles of many senior sevaks and sevikas of Narayan zone as well as Shri Rajshekharji who provided the venue for the celebrations and Shri Prasad Deole ji who is the zonal president of Narayan zone. All the participants went back with the satisfaction of having expressed their #Gratitude to the Gurus in an appropriate manner and wished for more such events in the future.
