Harrow and East London Temples Shibir 2004 - Keele University

After the success of the 2003 shibir the organisers of East London Mandir and Harrow Mandir decided to hold something similar to cater for those who missed out and offer more to those who went last time.

Many of you must be wondering what a shibir is. It is the same as a camp which other temples go on and it’s dedicated to our religion, gaining deeper knowledge and learning about our sampraday. The shibir is for everyone but it’s mainly targeted towards the youth. The shibir allows you to get away from the daily stresses and strains of life and allows you to take in the calm peaceful environment which is the perfect way to enjoy and learn about the Swaminarayan Sampraday.

Just as last year it was held in Staffordshire at Keele University but for 4 days. The accommodation was quite good with eachroom fully equipped with an en-suite bathroom and food by Saya caterers.

We left the temple premises at approximately 4 O’clock and with one short stop over we reached the university at about 8 and were given our room keys. After a nice meal provided by Saya, we attended a short opening ceremony which was attended by all. We were given the schedule for the following day and were also greeted by the Santos from Rajkot Gurukul.

The Shibir was packed full of activities for people to learn and enjoy, so no one had a reason to be bored. Typically in the morning everyone had to go to the pooja hall to perform their poojas with the help and guidance by the Santos and volunteers.

Immediately after the pooja was a meditation session which was held by Madhavpriyadasji Swami on basic meditation skills such as keeping a good posture and breathing skills, however some did use this session to get a few minutes of sleep as they were so relaxed. Then after breakfast we were given presentations every morning across the 4 days.

First was on Is Swaminarayan God? This was presented by Niteshbhai Mayani and Ashishbhai Kerai it was a perfect way to start the shibir to get all those questions in your head answered and for the reason why we were there. It showed a lot of research had gone into the presentation with the amount of proofs were shown and it was presented brilliantly by the teachers of the Bal Yuvak Mandal in Harrow Mandir. The second presentation was on The History of our Sampradaay and Nand Santos it was presented by Hardikbhai Korat from East London Mandir and again presented well and a showed a lot of hard work and research went into finding the information it also got the youth involved in answering questions and wining prizes. The Third presentation was on Hinduism in the modern day and life it was presented by Valjibhai Hirani and Dharmendra Jeshani.

It was presented in front of a packed lecture room as many devotees turned up for the weekend and what a presentation they witnessed. It was one of the best we had seen as it gave a lot of people inspiration about Hinduism and the comparison with other religions why we should try and promote it. I’m sure everyone in the lecture theatre had a smile on their face and were thinking…I’m proud to be a Hindu! because of what they had seen. The presenters were given a huge reception and were acknowledged by the Santos. A memorable presentation by Harrow Mandirs Hinduism teacher Valjibhai and Bal Mandals head Dharmendra Jeshani. The final presentation was on Tirth Yatra given to a tired looking bunch of people by Jayant Raghwani and Rimal Rabadiya from Harrow Mandir. Again it was great presentation but couldn’t match the previous one. But we hope we inspired them as much as possible.

After the presentations the kids enjoyed fun and games with the Santos whilst the elders took part in the discourses of the Bhaktachintamni with the other Santos. The afternoons were packed with sports activities for the boys where they played football, cricket and other traditional games which Santos had bought along with them.

The ladies took part in antakhshree and also had there own sabha where they presented a topic on Rajaswala Dharma. Towards the late afternoon the elders also had a chance to view a VCD prepared by Rajkot Gurukul on a pravachaan given by Krishnaswarupdasji Swami who was unable to turn up this year but he got the audience falling from there seats with laughter as they enjoyed his humour and jokes for an hour everyday. Whilst this was going on the youth were also learning about our religion through fun and games and preparing for a question and answer session which was held in the evenings.

There was more entertainment in the evening after dinner as there was a raas garbha on the first day and 2 nataks on the second day. The nataks were performed by devotees from East London who put on a great performance providing us with a typical scenario of ways in which some families behave at home. It showed a lot of time and effort went into putting on a show like this and they also received a great reception from the audience. The last evening was a reflection on what the youth had learned over the past few days as a quiz was organised and lots of prizes were awarded to the kids, some even came on to the stage to speak about what they had learnt like how to do the mala properly and how to perform the mansi pooja.

The children’s faces said it all, the amount they enjoyed themselves and the new friends they had made, the weather was fine till the last day when it rained. The food was excellent and when the food is good your body feels good, your mind feels good and therefore you’re able to perform much better and concentrate.

Overall everyone really enjoyed themselves and gained a lot of knowledge which showed from the excessive weight carried on the coach on the way back, whether that’s due the gain in knowledge or excessive eating who knows. One of the memorable moments must be when one of the devotees who I shouldn’t mention…Hareshbhai was practising the art of Samaadhi early in the morning and didn’t realise the time even after many attempt by us to awaken him, he still continued. He ended up missing the pooja session and breakfast but was finally woken up by Madhavjivan Swami.

Written by Rimal Rabadiya.