THE VEDIC BOYS

 

These are boys who in exchange for board and keep are learning to chant the Vedas. They all sleep, eat, study and chant in one room in a house that is referred to as the mutt. 

 

Many boys in their situation would receive a limited education, however, fortunately, for Bala, Raja, Raju, Shreenut, Vishal Giri, and Kanna they have been taken in by Usha Rama, the headmistress of Sri Jayendra school. Usha is a very progressive thinker so the monks attend full school day in-between their chanting. Their days are long, they rise every morning at five, guided by their guru, to chant, for two hours before breakfast. They also chant for two hours every day after school. All this and they still manage to get their homework in on time.

 

They are a tight unit who are all calm, considerate and kind. They stand with inner confidence and they process a natural curiosity and often exude happiness.

 

If they wish they are on the right track to becoming a priest, however, most go into regular jobs and just use their knowledge of the Vedas to guide them through life.

Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis. Rishis being sages, who after intense meditation realised supreme truth and eternal knowledge.

 

I have been visiting these boys for the past seven years and now consider them as friends. I have watched them grow into seven delightful young men. After spending so much time with them I have experienced a wisdom in them that is beyond their years. To me there is no doubt that the words they chant every day have become embed in their souls, they put words in to action.