Chiranjeev Gurukul – CS Vittal Memorial Trust – SVGOHE Yagya Project Highlights.

Six doctors had a vision of serving society, while they were studying to become Doctors in early 2000s. They held on to that vision for many years and after several standalone initiatives, formed the YAGNA (Youth Awakening for Glorious Nation) trust in 2007, which today runs a Charitable hospital, Residential schools for orphaned children and a spiritual centre. In April 2026, a visionary foundation – CS Vittal Memorial Trust collaborated with one more like-hearted institution, namely Chiranjeev Gurukul to equip the students passing out of school with life skills, while CSVMT would arm them with vocational skills. *Together, they decided to ignite and grow the spark of brilliance present in these disadvantaged children to craft a glorious future*.

Chiranjeev Gurukul, as part of its purpose of Holistic Leadership for Bhaarat, leveraged its expertise of delivering the eternal wisdom of Bhaarat in an innovatively engaging way through contemporary applications, has started a 12 weekend “Yagya Project” for around 15 of these children along with their teachers. Through its timeless, yet powerful, 7S methodology, it brought alive stories of Chakravarti Raja Bharat (one of the reasons for the nation’s identity), Pandit Vishnu Sharma and creation of Panchatantra, the tree which taught “Samashti” from Jaatak tales and beyond. What’s more, each story’s science/ history/ geography was also brought alive. *The young budding leaders were also enriched with the true understanding of Bhaarat’s Rishis (not sages, scientists), with the example of the discovery of “Anu” (atomic particle) by Kanad Rishi, the Panchatatva (5 elements) and so on.*

Replete with joyful activities, lively presentations and delightful games, augmented with the chants of Bhaarat’s ancient Mantras and some Shlokas from our scriptures, the first weekend ended with these “senior” children playing out their lessons for the kids of the entire school! These boys and girls from troubled backgrounds, regaled the students and us facilitators alike with their confidence bursting through in such a short time, setting the stage for the rest of the Program! *Glory to our Purvacharyas! Uttishth Bhaarat!*

Week 2:

Chiranjeev Gurukul brought alive the eternal Jatak Tales – with the most powerful Mouse Merchant story, as well as the fascinating side-stories of the Mahabhaarat, such as the story of Kaushik and Dharm-vyaadh, illustrating universal principles of relationships and values. The greater joy of the children came in enacting the Mouse merchant story with students playing out the full cast of the story and thus getting the enriching opportunity to learn various skills of communication, teamwork, planning, execution, presentation, along with cultivating self esteem and community development.

The children also got to learn the meaning of priceless Indian concepts such as “Dharm” and “Seva”, in their true essence – with vivid examples from nature. Further, they also identified meaningful inventions/ creations of Bhaarat in last few decades, such as Corona vaccines, indigenously manufactured metro trains, geo-satellites, UPI, and dozens more. Packed with joyful activities and lively presentations, snd augmented with the chants of Bhaarat’s ancient Shloks, the second weekend had the added pleasure of practicing some Laughter Yog induced belly laughter!

These boys and girls from such simple and often needy backgrounds, are growing in confidence with every group activity, meaningful reflection, individual presentation, joyous expressions, impactful practice – all in a spirit of complete inclusion!

Week 3:

This week was undoubtedly the most fun-filled one for them thus far, with the 7S methodology of Chiranjeev Gurukul, creating a exihilarating mix of stories from our Itihaas ( Mahabharat, Puran) as well as from the legendary Tenali Ramakrishna. When acting out the story, students got the enriching opportunity to cultivate their skills and confidence alike. While developing these, they also learnt the value of “Samvedana” and “Sadbhavana”. It was coupled with a “Dharm” activity, where in, they had to select an object from Nature and think aloud, what would the world be like, if that object did not follow its Dharm (eg. if trees refused to provide oxygen, fruits or shade).

Simultaneously, they also got to see the video stories of disparate icons like Annadorai Rickshawwalla and Shrikanth Bolla – through these being able to learn the true difference between service (agenda-based) and seva (agenda-less). From last week’s laughter Yog, they stepped up to an upgraded version of Laughter and Dance this week! Further, they learnt an innovative method of self-validation and self-appreciation (since appreciation from others is not a given). What joy!

This week’s highlight was that these boys and girls had to visualize their “Dream Company’ – the vision (of its Seva), the name, logo, its benefits, slogan and jingle and present the same. Imagine the growing confidence, meaningful reflection, collective presentation, thoughtful collaborations and joyous expressions, during this activity. Their Saadhana of the week was to perform some silent acts of Seva, within the campus and report back the same and how they felt.

More importantly, as facilitators, we too learnt: 1. how to take pleasure in every activity cheerfully, 2. look forward to every moment joyfully, 3. enjoy each other’s company unconditionally, 4. embrace uncertainty curiously and 5. build on past experiences, fluidly!

Glory to our Purvacharyas! Uttishth Bhaarat! 🙏🏽🇮🇳🙏🏽

Written by Ameeta Menon & Rajesh Kamath