A Shloka recitation competition for children was successfully organized by Samskrita Bharati on April 30th, in the Greater Boston area.   The occasion was fun for all, as attested to by the children’s eagerness and interest to be a part of this unique competition. The event, which was held at Sadhu Vaswani center in Dracut, was brimming with enthusiasm and excitement and made a stark contrast to the rainy and chilly Saturday.  Over fifty children participated in the competition and there were over one hundred people in the audience.  Children as young as 2 years to their teens had practiced for weeks in order to compete.  

Samskrita Bharati’s goal in organizing this competition was to not only encourage the children to learn and recite Shlokas and understand their meaning, but also to ignite the young minds to delve into the deep and rich knowledge and wisdom hidden in the vast array of Samskritam texts.  

The Chief Guest, Bramhacharini Bhamati Chaitanya, resident acharya of Chinmaya Mission Boston, succinctly summarized the purpose of the competition by elucidating the profound impact of Shlokas for emotional, intellectual and spiritual well-being.  She stated that Shloka recitation helps one to elevate oneself to a higher plane as well as strive for a more ideal purpose in life.  Of great importance, she explained, is to understand the meaning of the Shlokas as a source of inspiration and guidance to us regardless of who we are.

The children who took part were very enthusiastic and happy to compete. Equally happy, if not more so, were the parents of the participants, “Hats off to Samskrita Bharati for an amazing job organizing and conducting the Shloka Competition”, said Sowmya Gopalakrishnan, mother of one of the participants.  Parents also expressed their gratitude for having an avenue for their children to actively immerse themselves in their cultural and spiritual heritage.

Samskrita Bharati is rewriting history by creating Samskritam speaking communities around the globe. A commonly asked question is 'Why Samskritam?'. Well, why not?  Anything and everything one wants to know about performing arts, spirituality, yoga, ayurveda, beautiful literature, music, fine arts, and ancient Hindu contributions to Science and Mathematics, since the dawn of civilization, is captured in this well refined ‘perfect’ language.  

This competition was part of the Vasantotsavam(Spring Festival) that Samskrita Bharati conducted across the US to mark the beginning of the Hindu New Year - Parthiva.  Samskrita Bharati is happy that Spring Festival programs were well attended by Samskritam enthusiasts.  With their help and with volunteers' efforts, Samskrita Bharati will indeed be successful is bringing the language of the Gods to everyone.

For more details on Samskrita Bharati visit www.samskrita-bharati.org.

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