A Typical Day at Parivaar

The children in Parivaar barring those who are 4 years or 5 years old get up at 5 A.M. There are first physical exercises drills till 5:30 A.M., followed by Prayanam, Dhyana and ‘Sanskar Siksha Upadesh’ session, which includes imparting teachings on moral and spiritual lines. Kitchen at Parivaar is a busy place where activities starts as early as 5 A.M. Meals are cooked in spirit of feeding the divine and partaken by all inmates (adult Sevaks as well as children) as Prasada. There are 5 meals served in Parivaar. First amongst them, is the early breakfast comprising of milk and biscuits. At 9:30 P.M. a regular heavy breakfast is served. In addition the children take tiffin-boxes to their school with prepared dishes just like any other children would do who come from their families. Lunch is served at 1 P.M and evening snacks at 5:45 P.M. Teaching by our Parivaar teachers is conducted in different slots like 7:00 A.M. to.9:30 A.M., 2:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. and 6:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. Since children go to different schools, scheduling of various groups into these slots is quite complex and is done according to their respective school timings. Playtime is 4:30 to 5:45 PM and an accomplished state-level athlete trains the children in different sports like cricket, football, and volleyball besides athletics and aerobics. At 6 ‘o’ clock daily evening, Prarthana-Arati is conducted at the shrine in Prarthana Bhavan. It is most spiritually nourishing time for everyone. All the Parivaar workers and children unfailingly attend Prarthana-Aarti which is of 45 min duration. Younger children go to sleep at 9:30 P.M. and older children go to sleep at 10:30 P.M. after some self-study.

The most strenuous role at Parivaar is that of House-Brother and House-Sisters. In the boys arena of Parivaar Ashram, each Bal-Sadan is supervised by a House-Brother (simply “dada” for children and others). Their work stretches from anywhere from 15 hours to 18 hours right from 5 ’o’ clock in the morning to 11 ‘o’ clock at night. Early in the morning they have to get the children ready for the day, starting with Pranayama and ‘Sanskar Siksha’. They then prepare the children for school, applying oil to the children, helping them to take bath, combing their hair, polishing their shoes, preparing the bag of each child by seeing that particular day’s school time-table and sending them to school. Similar is the work of House-Sisters in our girls’ arena.

This tremendous effort that they put day-in day-out, week after week, without any break whatsoever, is something extraordinary and has been accomplished only because these Sevaks take pride in the glory of Seva. Serving the children and all others in a reverential, spiritual attitude their energies get redoubled and restrengthened. Everything they do is for the best of the child and even scolding and a beating or two is only an expression of deeply ingrained love.