The First National Chinmaya Yuva Kendra West Camp got off to a terrific start on December 21st, 2005. College students and young professionals from the ages of 18 to 32 from different parts of the United States and Canada gathered in Dallas, Texas, united by their search for spiritual knowledge. The camp was hosted by Chinmaya Mission DFW at Chinmaya Saaket. We were fortunate to have three dynamic and knowledgeable acharyas - H.H. Swami Prakashananda, the Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Trinidad and Tobago, Brahmachari Girish Chaitanya, the Resident Acharya of Southern California and the Resident Acharya of Saaket, Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya.

The theme of the camp was “Arise! Awake! Stop not till the goal is reached!” Besides lectures on Kathopanishad and Hanuman Chalisa, workshops, meditation, yoga, bhajans, cultural programs, the camp also provided an opportunity for young Hindus to meet each other and share their points of view, “a great chance to meet like minded individuals,” as Saheel Sutaria puts it.

The camp started with a welcome address by Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya. Following the inauguration, Brahmachari Girish Chaitanya held the first of his daily discourses on Hanuman Chalisa. Jayabharath Goluguri or JB, as he is known to his friends, felt that Girishji’s devotion made these lectures “extra special”. After a short break everyone gathered in the hall to sing bhajans. The daily bhajan sessions gave everyone a chance to relax and enjoy the wonderful talent at hand. After bhajans and arati, campers reveled in some magnificent dining. In Ganesh Shanmugan’s opinion, “The food was GREAT!” After dinner, followed cultural activities and ice breakers which gave us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

The next morning started bright and early at 7 a.m. (as it did everyday after that) with a thirty minute session of meditation followed by another thirty minute session of yoga, two activities most of us really enjoyed. After breakfast, Swami Prakashananda would hold his daily lectures on Kathopanishad. The discourses on Kathopanishad “helped me to refocus my priorities and reminded me of what we really are striving for in life,” said Mitul Kapatia. After the discoursed ended, Swamiji would give us questions to discuss in our respective groups. These discussions on various topics were another favorite amongst many of the attendees such as Anjal Chande who “loved” them and felt they were “the best part of this camp.” It gave people the opportunity to voice their opinions and hear varying arguments and perspectives on the same topic.

Another favorite amongst campers were the Q&A sessions with the acharyas. These sessions gave us a wonderful opportunity to clear our doubts about the day’s topics and any other aspect of Hinduism we didn’t quite understand.

The camp also included fun activities such as Laser Tag and Whirley Ball, rasa garba, as well as a tour of Fort Worth and its famed stockyards. These R&R sessions gave us a respite and also gave the out-of-towners a flavor of Texas. On December 25th we performed guru paduka puja, followed by a banquet and garba. The highlight of the puja was Swami Prakashanadaji’s melodious rendition of Aao Gurudev darshan deejo, tum ho jagat ke daata. We could feel Pujya Gurudev’s presence with us!

The camp also provided a forum for discussions about upcoming activities and future camps. A very important point that came up in those discussions was what people can do to spread information on Yuva Kendra and how they could make it accessible to more people around the country. Together we hope to spread the word and make the knowledge of Vedanta available to youth around the country.

Overall the First National CHYK West Camp turned out to be a big success with over sixty people attending the camp, “an uplifting experience, mixed with entertaining workshops, good fun and great company” was how Sapna Sutaria put it. I am glad I got to be a part of it and the prospect of bigger, better future camps is very exciting to all of us who are associated with the CHYK organization.

Hari OM

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