Starting to make a difference – AYUDH meets in Amritapuri
August in Amritapuri provides a time for new friends and old friends reuniting. This gathering together of people undoubtedly created a sense of unity within the youth and some projects arose. The first of which was the Amrita Vidyalam Garden Project.
The plants are flourishing so much that we have been asked to come back to the school and help the tenth, eleventh and twelfth year students learn how to make raised beds and then to transplant the plants from the rice sacks to the beds.
A number of youth participated through sore throats and runny noses in recording the AYUDH “anthem” Wings of a Dove in six different languages. Late night recording sessions in a tiny studio brought everyone closer. People sat on the floor huddled over song sheets rehearsing before the turn; the actual recording studio fits four comfortably cramped and sweating. Amidst the excitement of recordings, we met on Wednesday afternoons and whenever else we could to practice songs all together. We then sang for Amma upon her request on weekend Darshan evenings: old songs and freshly written songs.
A small group of us went to help with Tulasi harvesting. The plant grows upwards, we were told, but you want to help it to grow like a bush. The terms harvesting and pruning are interchangeable it seems regarding the Tulasi. We were told that Tulasi is good for depression and cleaning toxins out of the air and that Amma has even said it is good to eat Tulasi leaves daily.
The environment being a common concern amongst the youth led to an interest in wanting to clean up the environment around us. This led to Friday morning trash pickup in the village outside of the Ashram. After cleaning the area around one mans snack stall, he was provided with a trash can. Another trash pick up day we quickly filled five trash cans on a walk to the beach. The sight of so much garbage harming our earth was so overwhelming some had tears in their eyes. Talk of how to help this problem and the conclusion was that education is key. This topic is also being brought to Amma soon by a few of us.
These times were special, full of smiles, and charged with energy; it feels like we can make a difference.
-Krishna