On 24th February, some of us YSDK Pune devotees visited Dnyanesh Balsadan, a home for destitute children at Phulgaon. This home is run by Investment In Man Trust (http://www.iimtrust.org). The visit was made as a part of YSS Centenary celebrations.
The place takes care of 30 girls from the age of 6 to 18. There are house mothers who look after the girls as their own children.
We were 10 of us from the Kendra. We left Law College Road Kendra at 9.30am and reached Phulgaon almost by 11.30am. After serving us sumptuous breakfast Shri Marathe and Shri Nandgaonkar showed us the beautiful surroundings and the various projects run by the trust including their agricultural activities and Anganwadi Training Center. We then proceeded to see a typical ‘home’ housing 5-6 girls of mixed age-group and were introduced to the ‘mother’ looking after them.
After this we spent time with the girls when we introduced them to Paramhansa Yogananda ji by telling them stories of His childhood. We played games with the girls, showed them some interesting, fun scientific experiments, taught them a YSS chant and introduced them to prayers and meditation. The girls participated with a lot of enthusiasm! We donated Autobiography Of A Yogi copies to the library there as also some Amar Chitra Katha comics on Guruji’s life, some stationary material such as colour crayons and ball-pens and also a small cash donation from the Kendra. By the time we left, a beautiful bond had been formed between the girls and us….innocent faces of the sweet little girls will forever be remembered by each one of us! We departed, not before promising to visit them again.
