|
|
|
YUVARATRI-"Night of the Youth"
|
|
|
|
Why?
|
|
|
|
WAYE mission is to prevent youth marginalization and to
inspire young people to drive social change. This mission was officially inducted
during the Yuvaratri- “Night of the Youth” celebrations. Happy young faces from
across the nation stood together to contribute for a larger cause. Yuvaratri was
not only just the official launch of WAYE , but also the
first every mega youth festival held in India. The objective was to provide a means
that would offer the youth a path to march on, to leverage the nation's past glories,
as well as, invest skilfully in the present, so as to own a powerful future- a future
where it would be glamorous to be good, to do good, fashionable to be friendly,
in vogue to be non-violent, cool to be non-corrupt, and savvy to court success without
stress. The idea was to have fun and to go MAD- Make A Difference.
|
|
|
|
When and Where?
|
|
|
Date: 24th Dec, 2007
Place: K.J Somaiya grounds Mumbai
|
|
|
|
What?
|
|
|
|
A confederation of over 75,000 youth from all over the nation, on the Christmas
eve of 2007, witnessed the official launch of WAYE, under
the guidance of the founder of The Art of Living Foundation,
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The environment
sparkled with energy and enthusiasm. His Holiness Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar emphasized on spirituality for the youth, and how spiritual
values can help channelize the dynamic energy of youth towards uplifting humanity.
|
|
|
|
Through our collective experience with young people globally, we brought down the
list of focus areas to work on to seven prime areas of concern:
|
. Attitude of indifference
. Substance abuse
. Stress and violence
. Depression and suicide
. Unemployment and poverty
. Female foeticide and HIV/AIDS
. Environmental exploitation
. Technology
|
|
|
|
|
Involving youth en masse on these focus areas required an inclusive approach where
they can contribute through avenues that interest and enthuse them to participate.
Keeping this as WAYE's guiding principle, the following
seven avenues were identified, through which the youth could connect:
|
. Entertainment
. Fine arts
. Sports
. Technology
. Entrepreneurship
. Education
. Empowerment
|
|
|
|
|
Putting the seven concerns with the seven avenues for action, a theme was built
for the event- Saath Saath Sangadchadwam or together we move forward.
WAYE's aimed at uplifting the social consciousness of youth today and building
a force of young people who would grow beyond the limited sense of 'me' and the
small world of select people they interact with.
|
|
|
|
In the celebrative yet calming presence of Guruji, the evening started with rocking
bhajans. 8-yr Anjali was painting alongside to the tune of the songs. A Live SMS
quiz was on throughout the celebration. The questions selected were in sync with
the spirit of 'Serious Fun' on the 7 areas of Concern, 7 avenues of Action and 7
things India contributes to the world, namely, Yoga and Meditation, Ayurveda, Food,
Fashion and Jewellery, Music and Dance, Tourism and Information Technology. Laughter
is not a challenge for Navin Prabhakar, who had the youth in splits and inspired
them with his experience of the Art of Living Part 1 and 2 courses. The
YES!+ group sizzled the stage with their dance performances. Guruji appreciated
the Yuvacharyas for the work that they have been doing in rural India. Amidst the
celebration, WAYE's alliances enlightened us about important
causes.
|
|
|
|
Sri Sri message for the youth was, "Each one present
here should feel like a lamp spreading light all around." The assembled crowd lit
their candles from that of Sri Sri. With a solemn
promise to work towards spring cleaning the society with infinite patience and dynamic
enthusiasm, the night of youth stars ended with stars shining brighter!
|
|
|
|
Alliances
|
|
|
|
The idea of Yuvaratri was to have fun and to go MAD – Make A Difference. WAYE partnered
with WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNAIDS, USAIDS, SIDA, UNFPA, UNESCO, World Bank & UN Millennium
Campaign for the event.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|