Chinmaya Yuva Kendra & Chinmaya Mission Navi Mumbai organized a magical youth camp, ‘Potter For Shaping Mind’ at Chinmaya Prerana, Kharghar from 2nd to 5th November 2016 based on Harry Potter, a young wizard idolized by the past two generations. There were total 86 campers (74 residential & 12 non-residential).
The mesmerizing journey of the campers in the magical world began as they arrived at the venue on 2nd morning along with their parents! The beautiful set-up made by Chyk-volunteers, which resembled the places in Harry Potter series, surprised them all!! After inauguration, the campers were sorted into four houses by the sorting hat.
Since some campers didn’t know anything about Harry Potter, campers watched all the 8 movies of Harry Potter over the first three days. The movie sessions were followed by group discussions where the campers discussed on various aspects of movie, understanding it through various perspectives. They also had a debate session on the topics such as – Are there good people & bad people in the world? Is power good or bad? These discussion & debate sessions helped them in understanding the concepts well. Campers also had a JAM (Just A Minute) session, where they spoke on different topics extempore & reduced their fear of public speaking!
Br. Ved Chaitanyaji took the main sessions in the camp. He showed the connection of Harry Potter with different aspects of our life. He also gave a different meaning to the characters and important facets of the movies. For example:- Harry represents each one of us & the villain Voldemort represents the ignorance, root cause of all our problems! The seven horcruxes that must be destroyed before killing Voldemort are indeed the seven negativities/enemies of our life i.e. desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, jealousy & ego (काम, क्रोध, लोभ, मोह, मद, मात्सर्य & अहङ्कार). The campers were surprised to see how much Harry Potter resembles our life. They surely got a new way of looing at such movies!
The enlightening sessions were just the treat for our intellects and the game sessions were the required refreshments for our body and mind. Campers played different Indian games & enjoyed them thoroughly!!
On 6th November 2016, around 30 campers went for trekking to Karnala fort along with Vedji. All of them completed the trek, which was indeed a new experience for many!
By the God’s grace & Pujya Gurudev’s blessings, it was indeed a life-changing experience for all who were part of this wonderful camp! Everyone left with great inspiration, pondering on the memories & taking a resolve of shaping their mind & their life!!
