Under the Awareness programme Youthreach Spirit is a programme which facilitates processes that create deeper reflection on the self, social reality and change. It creates awareness on values of humanism and social participation through an exploration of mystic, philosophical, literary and creative thought and perspective. It also includes large philosophical dimensions as well as symbolism, mythology, tribal knowledge, traditions of music, prayer, art, sound, silence, ritual, craft, dance, etc. Besides seeking to engage young people in participating with social change it gives young artists an opportunity to express their creativity.
Youthreach Spirit’s journey has been through many interesting events; from films to photo exhibitions, music, meditations, workshops on art and craft that reached out to more than ten thousand people in Delhi. Each event addressed issues of concern in today’s world and created deeper reflection on the self, social reality and change as well as opened doors for individual participation.
Outreach – 10,000 people
Walks a. Ridge Walks
Youthreach organised two Ridge walks in 2008 in order to learn about the threats that the Vasant Vihar Ridge belt is facing. The first walk was lead by environmentalist Vikram Soni and the second walk by environmentalist Diwan Singh. It was an absolutely new experience, for it was the first time many participants actually went into a forest, spotted a hyena, saw various water bodies and naturally dug-up caves.
b. Wilderness Walks
The idea behind these walks is to make people aware of the wilderness spaces in the city. Discovering a sacred forest, learning the name of a shrub or a tree, spotting a Neel Gai in the wild and witnessing the mating ritual of the Black Buck… the wilderness walks helped people appreciate the rich lush heritage of nature.
In December 2007, eminent environmentalist Pradip Krishen took a group of people to Mangarbani, a sacred grove a few kilometres across the Haryana border. A small, steep valley, this is a 300-400 acre wilderness in the midst of the hustling city and untouched, yet, by human meddling. However, it is only a matter if time before Mangarbani, too, faces annihilation. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the virginal beauty of this wilderness.
The other walks were led by Diwan Singh to the South Delhi Ridge and Sajeev TK to The Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. This sanctuary is located in the South Delhi District, on the Northern terminal of Aravalli Hills, one of the oldest mountain systems of the world. This magnificent wilderness area is spread over 6,800 acres near Tughlakabad fort. The sanctuary is home to over 700 species of plants and hundreds of wildlife genus including 193 species of birds.
In March 2008, Youthreach organised a walk led by environmentalist Faiyaz Khudser to the The Yamuna Biodiversity Park. This Bio diversity park is planned as a heritage site and storehouse of approximately 50 threatened ecological communities of the Yamuna river basin. It serves as an ideal alternative habitat for migratory and resident bird species that come mainly from Siberia while some birds also come from China, Europe and the upper regions of Ladakh.
Festival of Consciousness
As part of our Youthreach Spirit programme, we organised the festival of consciousness as a series of events which provide a platform for issues of humanism and creativity by enabling a connection between manifest outer reality and the inner self.
The medium and expression of the festival was through films, art, workshops, mime, music, dance, meditations and drama. The setting for the festival was an intimate one. Individuals hosted these experiences and events in their homes or places of work – in groups no larger than 40 to 50 people; this is an opportunity to explore collectively with friends, family and community not so much the ‘meaning’ of consciousness, but rather experiences of higher states of being.
A glimpse of the events which were a part of this festival from, January to May 2008
Films – like Children of Heaven and the Silence by Majid Majidi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf that take you through the journey of love, sacrifice, compassion and values of the highest kind,
Meditation workshops - Living in Awareness, a workshop by Swami Satya Vedant from Osho World to show how meditative awareness helps in dealing with day-to-day pressures and stresses.
Theatre -Youthreach and First City Theatre foundation presented selected readings from Gerald Durrell’s ‘My family and other animals’ at the Attic and India Habitat Centre.
Music – Suchet Malhotra gave an elating music performance with some of the world’s most intriguing musical instruments – lava flutes from Mexico, the Native flute from North American Ojibway tribe, the fujara from Slovakia and other self created ones.
