A week at an ashram

Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens

• Carl Jung

Recently I had a chance to experience an ashram like setting at the SPIC MACAY’s annual convention at IIT Bombay. I haven’t been associated with SPIC MACAY for long and was made aware about it by a friend. The idea of the convention is to disconnect from the outside world for a week and connect with your inner self. Since the timing of the convention coincided with the end of my semester, I decided to participate in it.

Despite not being related to any art form, I took away a lot with me from the seven day convention:

• Connecting with your self: In a world where we are connected 24/7 with everyone via the internet, this was a welcome change. During the entire week I didn’t feel the need to get online. The only people I was connected to were in my immediate surroundings. This solitude was a great time for self introspection and connecting with our own thoughts.

• The creative side: In the convention we were required to participate in an intensive which could be any of the crafts, dance or music. I chose painting. It helped me bring out my creative side. It also made me realise how art is necessary to strike a balance between the creative and the cognitive part of the brain.

• The ashram lifestyle: The schedule was very rigorous. We were supposed to get up at 3.30 am for yoga, which meant no late nighters. The three hour yoga session in the morning kickstarted the day on a positive vibe. Also, the holistic food that we had made me realise how healthy and balanced meals can set us up for the whole day.

• The idea of volunteerism: Another core principle of SPIC MACAY is volunteerism or ‘Nishkaam Seva’. This was very much evident as the whole event was organised by volunteers. Infact, anyone who joins SPIC MACAY becomes a volunteer. The idea of volunteerism is so powerful, yet very few people realise it. Only if we all volunteer for the betterment of the society, can we bring “achche din” for ourselves.

• India’s diversity: I’ve known since I was taught in my childhood that India is a diverse country. But only when I participated in the convention, did I realise it. I met people from Orrisa, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Assam, Punjab, and almost every state. What I believe remarkable is that we are all so different, yet we all peacefully live in the same country. Strange thing though is that even though we have 29 languages* of our own, we are connected by a foreign language.

Besides all the above, the overall experience was great, peaceful and provided a unique positive environment that helps one bring out the creativity that lies dormant within them.

*Languages that are spoken by more than a million people. See wikipedia.

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