Swadhyay Pariwar and the Power of Youth...

"I have faith in three entities: God, Scriptures, and the Youth.". These are the words of Pujya Dada, the inspirer of Swadhyay, which has now spread widely in India and in numerous other countries. From Dadaji's perspective, a youth is "a living symbol of an indomitable enthusiasm and will to completely change the era, tie up in knots the whole sky, and crush to pieces the mighty Himalayas". It has been His clear belief that if a youngster is drawn closer with a divine, selfless relationship and given a proper understanding of religion, spirituality, and devotion, then his latent creative tendencies and spirit are truly awakened. This can lead to a spiritual & religious revolution.

Years ago, several young men were drawn to Dadaji, who possessed dynamic thoughts and a charismatic personality. These men eventually vowed to undertake the work of rejuvenation of religion and culture. In 1971, under the auspice of Divine Brain Trust - a name given by Dadaji - an ever-expanding set of activities took shape, including "Yuva Kendras", study circles, youth contact & 'reach out' programs ("yuva sampark"), celebrations of traditional festivals in their true original spirit, sports-events, picnics, youth gatherings, and youth conferences.

Ever since Pujya Dada turned over the responsibilities of guiding the mammoth Swadhyay work to Aadarniya Didi (Mrs. Dhanashree Talwalkar), the youth activities have acquired a new dynamism.  Didiji, who is completely dedicated to Dadaji and his work, has given a new shape to His vision of developing Swadhyay work in all its facets and dimensions. She has achieved this by focusing the collective energies of young men and women and by imparting selfless love and warmth to the youth, who are brimming with enthusiasm and sheer energy. Under her able guidance, the last few years have witnessed young men and women of Swadhyay in India and abroad taking on a plethora of divine goals, the results of which are rather heartening. Listed below are some of the key ones:

1. Present number of Yuva Kendras: over 15,000
2. Number of young connected with Yuva Kendras: over 300,000
3. Indian States in which Yuva Kendras are active: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Hariyana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (total 9 states).
   These are conducted in Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil and English (total 7 languages)
4. Foreign countries in which Yuva Kendras are held: U.K., U.S.A., Gulf Countries, Singapore
5. Details of street-plays staged by youngsters of Swadhyay
   during 2002:
   • total number of teams which staged the plays: more than 12,000
   • total number of young men who were members of these teams: 125,000
   • total number of shows staged in different parts of India: 120,000
6. Details of national level elocution competition held during 2002 on occasion of Geeta Jayanti:
   • total number of participants in the competition (1,50,218)
     (the corresponding number was 3286 in 1998)
   
   some highlights of the participants participants included,
   • aadivasis from Gujarat and Maharashtra
   • vanvasis from Gujarat
   • Muslim and Christian participants (some were winners too)
   • illiterate women
   • young Kshatriya women from extremely conservative background
   • Tamil youth learned Hindi to be able to understand thoughts of Dadaji to be able to compete better.

The event was covered by several major news papers and media entities.

7. Details of national level sports competition held in 2002-03
   • Number of participants: 205,310
   • Number of participants in the finals held in Dadoba Konddev Stadium in Thane: 900
   In the tradition of The Olympics, torch rallies were held in thousands of villages in several states

8. In connection with the celebrations on the 12^th of July, 2002, hundreds of thousands of young people participated in "Madhav Vrunda Dashabdi" programs held in Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Thane, Nasik, and Aurangabad. The youth participated with enthusiasm and with a resolve for future action.

July 12^th also happens to be the birthday of Didiji, who has successfully channeled the energies of youth and emotionally integrated them on the basis of a selfless & divine relationship. The day is also associated with the Madhav Vrund and Vruksha Mandir projects. In addition, the Swadhyayee youth celebrate that day as the annual "Yuva Din". Major highlights of that day's celebration include cycle and scooter rallies in villages and cities respectively, launching of new Yuva Kendras, a resolution to selflessly meet new young people, etc..

These young men and women simultaneously manage their academic/professional lives with their expression of gratitude for Dadaji and Didiji in an activist manner, exemplifying the true spirit of an ideal youth.