After completing the first school, we drove for another half hour, down into the valley across farmlands and deeper into the middle of nowhere to another school. Arriving a bit early, as the students were still finishing their lunch, we had a moment to relax. With many of the boys already gathered in the yard, a large open dirt space, I decided to pull out my frisbe and see how they responded. We made a large circle and had fun throwing the round plastic disk to and fro. This was a nice warm up to connect with the students and I think it may have led to a deepening of trust and familiarity for the upcoming workshop.
After throwing for about 10 minutes, we wrapped it up and moved onto the school patio to decide where we wanted to position the students. This school was build in a “L” shape and proved a bit more difficult to position them all on one side, and so we grouped them in two bunches and I stood in the middle to lead.
This group was warm and attentive, active and alive. Something prompted me to have the students stand up at some point, prior to art making, to stretch and lift the energy from the stone floor. We held hands and created a tight group moment of unity before taking our seats for a moment of meditation. It is apparent that students in these schools are being taught meditation and prayer, as they quickly took posture and held mudra (hand position) in a uniformed and organized way. A truly heart warming and beautiful sight to see every time I witness a group of young people poised in a posture of meditation and peace.
After a beautiful meditation, culminated with a sweet simple ‘om’ we separated the large group into smaller groups for peace card making.
It seems that Blue Shirts, blouses, over brown pants and skirts is the theme for Indian Government schools. Stay tuned for some added variety in the weeks to come. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
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