The Various Goals of Bala Vihar- Guruji Speaks
All the activities in a Bala Vihar class or camp are specially designed for children. The primary aim is to teach children to look at life as a game. Further, they must understand that even though life is viewed as a sport, every sport has rules, and discipline is important; just because it’s a game, it does not mean we can skip the rules.
Arts and crafts, music, dance, and dramatics are taught at Bala Vihar camps. Children learn and are slowly inspired through all these activities. Often, many Indian parents living abroad worry, “How will our children learn about our culture and values?”
In fact, Bala Vihar children invariably end up knowing more about the epics, saàskäras, festivals, and customs than their parents! “Shining like the sun” means that children have to achieve brilliant success in their own lives.
But their success – like the moon – must delight others, and elevate the mind. Success that makes everybody miserable is not success. Individual success is great, but it should not overwhelm others.
Bala Vihar helps children to grow. As a gardener helps to grow a plant by tending and nurturing it, we facilitate the growth of children through the various activities of Bala Vihar. One young lady told me, “The greatest gift that our parents gave us in our childhood was taking us to Chinmaya Bala Vihar.”