A Ball Can Change the World

One of the conspicuous and recurring aspect of any Isha activity is the aspect of games. Be it the social projects like Action for Rural rejuvenation and Project for green Hands or the more spiritual encounters like the Isha yoga classes, teachers training or even a quiet volunteers’ meet at Besant Nagar beach, you are never far from a game of ball. It is something that I always wonder: how can growth be such a joyful and effortless process? In fact I am so spoiled by Isha in this respect. I feel that I am getting a free ride all the time. In my experience the way we play games at Isha is so unique. Whatever we see in the class comes alive. For the time we are in the playground, just everything else melts and you mellow down to a plain piece of life. You don’t go to the playing ground mulling over this year’s performance bonus. You don’t go there with a pounding heart pepping yourself with Eminem’s “Lose yourself”. You don’t even go there to win. You go there just to partake in this wondrous river called life. One thing that I experientially see is that during those moments of such intense involvement with the game, life just happens. Body and mind sink to the background. The ball is all that you see. And a smile is all that is there is in everyone’s face. :)
It is just awesome how an aspect as simple as games can transform the humanity. This is perfectly captured in the following video: http://gramotsavam.ishafoundation.org/about-gramotsavam/a-ball-can-change-the-world/. You can directly open it using Media player by clicking here. My take is that this is one of the best videos that has been put together.
Looks like I have become an unofficial trumpet for Isha. But guess what, I can’t help it anymore. Posting in my blog was the last thing I wanted to do on today’s morning. Have lots of work to do before I leave my office early today. But when one see the kind of transformation that is being instantiated by such a simple and effortless means, I just could not lay back and continue my work like I have seen nothing. :)
If you are in Chennai or near Chennai, you can catch some of this action at the Isha Gramotsavam held at Anna University campus: http://gramotsavam.ishafoundation.org/about-gramotsavam/e-flyer . You can find more details here.