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“I never imagined that I would ever be able to understand Kathakali, let alone enjoy it!” A very excited Indraja was commenting to us, after watching a live performance of the traditional Kerala art form for 2 ½ hours straight!

The children of ATMA Gurukulam had an exciting and energising retreat at the ATMA Youth Camp, ‘Turning Point’, for 4 days during the December holidays. The camp was organised from 26^th – 30^th December 2018 at the Saraswathi Vidya Nikethan School at Chengamanadu, a flood-affected village, and was primarily aimed at supporting young students in flood-hit areas to overcome their trauma and build resilience. A 3-day dance festival was also organised during these days at the venue, to help the local people to relax and ease back into normal life.

The children of ATMA Gurukulam were given the opportunity to participate in the camp and the dance festival. There were sessions by expert trainers in areas like leadership, self-empowerment, goal setting and relationship building. The children also had Yoga training, games and group discussions.

The best part of the camp were the art workshops and performances. The children had the opportunity to interact with Dr Rajashree Warrier, eminent Bharatanatyam artiste, singer and writer. After watching her performance the previous day, with the accompaniment of live orchestra, the children were very excited to learn from her about the various nuances of the art form, and also about her personal journey as an artiste.

The same day, the children were also given an elaborate lecture- demonstration on Kathakali by a group of eminent artistes. For most of them, it was their first experience of this traditional art form of Kerala. That evening, the artistes gave a live full-fledged performance of Kathakali. The children were enthralled with the grace and beauty of the art, the exquisite music and the elaborate expressions. Being able to understand and enjoy something that they always thought was beyond their grasp – this gave the children a sense of great achievement and euphoria. They also greatly enjoyed the last day’s performance by Bharatnatyam artiste Ms Uma Govind.

The camp was a source of great joy and relaxation for the children – especially as many of them would go back to school in January right into the fray of board exam preparations.

On the one hand, the camp offered them great insights into self-development and achievement. On the other hand, it gave them a first-hand experience of Classical Art – its beauty, its elegance, and its ability to lift one’s soul into a realm of peace. It was their first experience of mature appreciation – a quality that will definitely help them evolve into sensitive and creative individuals.

It was time to introduce our children to the challenges and intricacies of event management.

As part of the Leadership Development Programme for the children of ATMA Gurukulam, it was decided to conduct ‘ATMA Gurukulam Day’ on 7^th October 2018. The children’s committee had a special meeting in late August, to discuss the nature of the event. Through a series of discussions and brainstorming sessions, and with occasional inputs from ATMA Volunteers, the children developed a programme – where each of them got an opportunity to express their talents or talk about themselves – their achievements, dreams and aspirations. They took the initiative in inviting their friends, teachers, relatives and neighbours. They formed themselves into task groups, with each group taking up responsibility for one particular aspect of the event – programme, reception, food, etc.

On the previous evening, a beautiful Pandal (marquee) went up in front of ATMA Gurukulam, with a small stage. The children, with bubbling enthusiasm and magnificent creativity, decorated the premises with the help of ATMA Volunteers. The ‘stage rehearsal’ of the programme went on late into the evening. C K Suresh, ATMA Foundation Director, patiently guided the young performers, giving suggestions for improvements, helping them to relax, boosting their confidence, enabling them to bring out their best on stage. By the time the rehearsals were over, all the nervousness and performance anxiety was gone, to be replaced by a cheerful excitement.

The ‘ATMA Gurukulam Day’ dawned bright and sunny, in spite of an ‘orange alert’ for severe rainfall that had given some anxiety to the people of our recently flood-hit state. The Gurukulam was abuzz with activity, the children going about their assigned ‘duties’, dressing up, helping others dress, redoing decorations, taking last minute rehearsals... As the fear of rain was dispelled by the bright morning sun, the guests started arriving, and the first ATMA Gurukulam Day was inaugurated by lighting the traditional lamp.

Over 200 people attended the programme. The children donned the organiser role with great joy. The reception team welcomed the guests, gave them a welcome drink, talked to them and showed them around the Gurukulam. The programme management team arranged the venue and coordinated the stage programmes according to the previously prepared schedule. One of the senior girls was the MC. The food committee coordinated the lunch arrangements – they managed the queues in the serving and washing areas and ensured that everyone was properly seated and served well. The children also gave their stage presentations with sincerity and confidence. 3 children gave performances – in Music, Mono-act and Yoga. The others each talked about a particular aspect of ATMA Gurukulam which had created maximum impact in them, what they had learnt, and how they were changing.

Friends, teachers and relatives, when invited to offer felicitations, expressed their immense appreciation for the children of ATMA Gurukulam – their health, their elegance, their friendliness, their readiness to help, their initiative, their confidence, their diligence, their intelligence – the list was indeed long!

For the children, it was a day of joy, and a golden opportunity to showcase their abilities, challenge their limits, and learn some new lessons in management. As for the ATMA team, we revelled in the glory of their achievement – another ‘proud parent’ moment that our children so often surprise us with! It was also a moment of reflection – even as we felt proud of our work with the children, we were humbled by the speed and quality of their transformation!

Every volunteer who was part of the ‘ATMA Gurukulam Day’ went home with renewed commitment to this beautiful work.