Ayudh India & Youth Empowerment Group of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham organized three day programs on Integrated Amrita Meditation and Holistic Wellbeing in Model Jail ,Chandigarh for the jail inmates.

More than 150+ inmates actively attended the sessions.

The third day of the program was the highlight of the occasion. It was Baisakhi, a festival celebrated to mark the onset of spring in India. The time of Baisakhi usually signifies the end of the harvest season, and is an occasion of tremendous joy and festivity for farmers.

We had just started our program and it started drizzling. The initial set of exercises was going on. As the rain kept on increasing we asked them if we should stop the program here itself. But many inmates and police staff with one single voice said “No,No.. please continue.” and the program continued in the rain. As the rain increased, so did their enthusiasm. The program ended on a very joyful note with all the inmates dancing together in remembrance of Baisakhi and forgetting their pasts.

After the sessions were over, many inmates came forward to share their experiences.

One of the inmates said “These two hours in the morning made us feel very happy. This is not just yoga, but Divine Meditation as Amma Herself is connected to the Divine Source. We are feeling a lot of hope that whatever wrong we have done and are in the jail today, we can leave these bad habits and become a better person. Requesting you not to stop these sessions after three days, but continue.”

Another inmate very innocently said “I am from Barrack number 2. On behalf of our barrack we Welcome you and Thank you for the program. We are normally in our barracks for most of the day. This program in the morning brought so much joy and hope. We request you to come and do the program every day.”

Another inmate started saying “I was wrong in my life and ended up here. But today I got a glimpse of goodness in the session.” He could not talk further and started crying. We went forward and hugged that inmate. It was a very touching moment for everyone present there.

To make the trip more memorable, the jail authorities presented us with lot of flowers from their own garden. It was very beautifully maintained by the jail inmates themselves and laden with many different kind of flowers.