“We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.”
– Swami Vivekananda
Viveka Vikasa in association with Vidya Chetana organized a 2-Day Trainers Training Workshop on Values and Life Skills from May 16th, 2015 to May 17th, 2015 in Aksharam, Girinar, Bangalore. There was an overwhelming response from 75 participants from over 8 organizations across Karnataka and registered volunteers.
May 16th, 2015(Saturday): 10.00AM – 10.00PM
The workshop began with registration of participants in which Training Kit(jute bag and training materials) was handed over to participants.
The training program started with an “Inauguration”, commenced with the lighting of the lamp by a group of dignified persons. The first session, “Introducing Viveka Vikasa”, was facilitated by the Viveka Vikasa coordinator in which, the need for value education and Viveka Vikasa activities are explained to participants.
A half-day workshop was conducted in the morning to participants similar to how it is done for students. The following sessions were part of the half-day workshop
- Yoga – Practice of Asanas ,Pranayama and Dhyana along with their benefits
- Interactive session on Success – Orientation on Success and linking Success to Character, Culture and Country
- Pride of India – The facts and information that makes us proud of our country and heritage there by instilling patriotism
- Deshi Games – To introduce participants to Deshi games as well as games with useful themes to keep participants physically fit and mentally strong/active
- Values in life through Audio visuals – To instil the values of life to lead a balanced life rooted in firm Ideals and Principle in order to transform individuals who transform nation.
- Feedback from participants.
These sessions were taken by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa.
After post-lunch, participants were introduced to Viveka Vikasa regular ongoing sessions that can be conducted for 40 minutes in schools, tuition centers and NGOs.
First session was an activity “Who am I?”, for knowing briefly about famous Freedom Fighters, Scientists, Mathematicians, Politicians, Social Reformers, Saints, Poets, Sportsmen and Artists of India. The session was intended to inspire participants to achieve success similar to how the famous personalities achieved it by contributing to Society and Country. This session was facilitated by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa.
Second session was taken by H S Raghavendra (Software Engineer and a Sanskrit scholar) on ” Why do we practice rituals?”. Resource person emphasized on having a faith in the rituals that we follow. He also stressed on impact of following rituals on the self and the society.
Next session was on ” Honesty” and “Anger Management” through facilitation process by showing appropriate videos. The session was handled by Viveka Vikasa Coordinators where participants were divided into 3 groups to have a good interaction with everyone on the above mentioned topics.
Informal quiz session was conducted in the night to 30 residential participants on the topic “Karnataka and its Heritage”. Participants showed their enthusiasm and participated in the quiz proactively, in spite of frequent electricity drop outs. This session was handled by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa.
The day ended with a demo practice session by participants on the sessions covered in the whole day. The participants were divided into 3 groups on the basis sessions that they can handle as coordination, inspiring talks and activities. This session was facilitated by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa.
May 17th, 2015(Sunday): 7.30AM – 5.00PM
For residential participants, yoga session was conducted in the morning before breakfast. The participants were given step by step instructions along with demo practice to conduct this session in schools and tuition centers.
First official session of the day was “Stories of Freedom Fighters and Art of Story Telling” which was witnessed by around 50 participants. The speaker and facilitator of the session was Macham Nagaraj (Lecturer in Kumarans College and Sanskrit Scholar). The speaker captivated the entire audience with his mind boggling art of story telling. The audience lost themselves in the stories narrated by the speaker.
Next session was an activities session where 2 activities “Pick and Speak and “Learning lessons from Nature” were held in parallel for ladies and gentlemen respectively in separate two rooms. Then ladies and gentlemen participated in the other activity that they had not participated. This session was handled by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa. Participants showcased bold confidence and presented creative ideas in both activities.
Post lunch, “Puzzle on Ramayana and Outline of Ramayana Story” session was conducted in which, the picture cards of Ramayana need to be arranged in chronological order by the group of participants. This session was facilitated by the coordinators of Viveka Vikasa. After the puzzle was completed, outline of complete Ramayana story was covered along with the learning lessons from the story.
Then “Deshi Games” session handled by the resource person, Kantharaju(Member of Desi Foundation) regaled all participants with his fun filled, long forgotten desi games based on Indian mythology & simple games from rural India that threw everyone into an irresistible competitive spirit! Tossing aside all shyness and inhibitions, everyone plunged into the spirit and the mood of the moment and thoroughly enjoyed the games.
Final session, Valedictory started by feedback from participants where interested participants expressed their views, opinions and feedback. Everyone felt it was a very good, fun filled educative program in most of the aspects except some suggestions on improvisation by few participants. Mahesh Vaidya(Manager in Oracle and is co-ordinator of the Vidya Chetana Program) chaired the validictory and explained about the Vidya Chetana Project followed by future plans of the Viveka Vikasa. Finally the two day training program ended with vote of thanks and general instructions on how to take the Viveka Vikasa training forward.
Participants returned home with a sense of satisfaction of knowing something about values, our country and our culture along with how to transmit these core values to young generation.
