Editorial

As we step into the month of Āsādha, then on "Āsādhasya Prathama Divase", the first day of Āsādha, as we expect dark clouds to gather in the sky, then in a sudden moment of inspiration, these clouds appear to us as the harbinger of rains, as propitious messengers of a sprouting of various bright possibilities.

We often dream of our country endowed not only with the best physical infrastructure and facilities but vibrating with human beings who are greatly self expressed, living in harmony with the surroundings, both natural and man-made, living in the true spirit of fraternity and in full integrity with their inner selves.

If this dream is to be actualised it calls for a great deal of concerted work in various directions. While the task is daunting and frightening at times and requires work at various levels, one key space where the work could be focused is in the area related to children, their complete well being and nurture.

Children endowed with good health and true education will undoubtedly grow into youth and young adults who can be the band of dream weaver who can weave the India of our dreams.

The Children's University is an attempt to work on all aspects of children, ranging from health to education, from toys to creativity. And the age group that is covered ranges from the unborn child in the pre-natal stages to a full grown youth, on the threshold of adulthood, who would again be a part of the cycle of life.

These dreamers and dream weavers would have to be physically fit with great courage, knowledgeable with a great spirit of enquiry and extremely capable with consummate skills. Most importantly, all this would have to be imparted through a medium of harmony which in turn, leads to growth and development soaked in harmony and peace.

To equip our dream weavers with the best, great care needs to be taken to ensure that they have access to the best from Indian and World history to truly appreciate and internalise the concept of upward progress of humankind.

A key to tap the abundant treasures of Indian history and wisdom is the Sanskrit language. Today, on the auspicious first day of the Āsādha month, if we involve the spirit of Kalidasa, we would certainly commence our great journey of creating dreamers and sculpting dream weavers endowed with the best.

Kalidasa understood that man reaches his full stature only as he realises the dignity and worth of that which is not human, as recorded by the American Scholar, Ryder. He further added that 'Poetical fluency is not rare; intellectual grasp is not very uncommon; but the combination of the two has not been found perhaps more than a dozen times since the world began,.......... and Kalidasa ranks in these.

Sri Aurobindo says, "Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa are the essence of the history of Ancient India; if all else were lost, they would still be its sole and sufficient cultural history."

In the work of our Children's University, we could consider offering a primer in Sanskrit to equip all our children and youth to partake of the best in our ancient culture and history to be able to forge ahead and create the India of our dreams.

Smt. Jayanti S. Ravi