Gandhi Shivir

A Remarkable and Unique Tradition

Since its very beginning, a week-long Gandhi Camp has been organized by the Bal Mandir School (and in later years, the B.Ed. College also joined in) every year around Gandhi Jayanti, usually concluding on 2nd October, the actual birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. All the teachers and children stayed in the school campus for the entire week.

From 4:30 am wake-up until lights out at 9:30 pm, the atmosphere remained inspired by Gandhian philosophy of life and Bapu’s ideals. After the morning routine, a Sarva Dharma prayer and devotional singing was held, followed by a Prabhat Pheri to various religious places in the neighbourhood. These included temples, mosques, gurdwaras, Jain temples, and others. At each place, brief talks on the fundamental teachings and characteristics of that particular religion were given. During the Prabhat Pheri, inspirational songs were sung and slogans promoting de-addiction, Swadeshi, Gandhism, and social awareness echoed through the streets. These slogans and songs inspired passers-by and often caused nearby residents to peek out from their windows and to even come out of their homes. On returning to thecampus, one hour was devoted to Shramdaan (manual labour), which included cleaning the campus, whitewashing, gardening, and similar tasks. After breakfast every morning, an officer, scholar, or social worker from the Gandhi Darshan Institute delivered a lecture, followed by handicraft activities.

From 11 AM to 1 PM, time was reserved for socially useful productive work and related activities.

A community lunch was served in the early afternoon, followed by a half-hour rest. Then from 2 to 4 pm, various inter-school competitions took place and from 4 to 6 pm, sports competitions were held. The day concluded with evening prayers, bhajans, and again a lecture on some other aspect of Gandhian philosophy, around 7 pm.

This, therefore, was the daily routine of the camp. In later years, keeping with the changing times and circumstances, this program was modified, the tradition of sleeping in the campus was discontinued and the camp time was limited to 9 AM to 7 PM each day.