ISKCON Youth Services (IYS) is the youth wing of ISKCON Pune Camp, aimed towards nourishing the hearts of today’s youth with the sublime message of the scriptures, helping them flourish in their lives in a wholesome manner. This is achieved by a number of initiatives like campus outreach, youth festivals, retreats and personal care and guidance by a team of experienced youth mentors.
Upcoming Darshan : 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM IST
Youth Program
ISKCON Services
Welcome to ISKCON Youth Services
History Repeats..
What India is going through with its youth is not something new. This is exactly what America went through in its history in the 1960s. The youth, frustrated with the lives led by their parents, rejected and rebelled against the set standards of the society and formed rules of their own, by discarding and disowning their connections with their families and experimenting with drugs, alcohol and other dangerous addictions. This was also known as the ‘hippie’ movement.The youth, however, never got the answers to their questions and they went deeper and deeper into a blind, dark alley.
It is there that they suddenly saw light in the form of His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a distinguished scholar and a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, who had stepped on to the shores of America. Over the next decade, he went about transforming the lives of these very youngsters, who were on the precipice of sunset to a new world of joy, happiness and devotion. This he did by revealing the ancient and timeless knowledge of a highly civilized society in the Vedic times, thereby also quashing some theories that the Vedas were meant for people of a particular time, place and nationality.
ISKCON Youth Services Activities
- Training the students in the application of philosophy, values and principles in their personal life.
- Rising early, sleeping early, morning mantra meditation, group discussion and interactions.
- Training in etiquette to be followed while living in society.
- Training in dealing with equals, juniors, seniors, elders in the family and society.
- Vibrant health, peaceful mind, and satisfying loving relationships are essential for a life of quality.
- People poison their digestive tract with meat, alcohol, drugs, sleeping pills and junk-food.
- The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength.
- Creating a class of wise people who respect, trust and love each other.
- It provides one inner strength, patience, tolerance, vigor, confidence, power to make decisions for a modern man who is filled with fear, tension, anger, defensive attitude leading to stress.
- The adrenaline hormone secretion leads to disorders like indigestion, back pain.
- Mantra Meditation is a powerful tool to alleviate stress and attain peace of mind.
- Spirituality and Academics are given equal importance for VOICE students.
- During JAN/FEB/MAR and APR/MAY/JUN, the students study 10-13-16 hours per week.
- They fill Study cards and report to their Counselors for perusal and subsequent instruction.
- For a devotee student, his college studies are not material. It is Krishna’s service.
- Students are trained how to deliver lecture presentations.
- They are taught to face challenges from the audience without losing temper.
- They are assessed on the basis of ten criteria and offered room for improvement.
- A seasoned preacher gives clarification on all the lingering misconceptions.
- Group Discussion Camps (GDC) teaches the students to work cooperatively in a team.
- They learn to value other’s opinions, to pool up the talents of many, to be confident etc.
- They prepare their team members to give a presentation, make a display, put up a skit etc.
- They are trained in cooking, cleaning, washing, worshiping, performing arati.
- Singing, playing instruments like mridanga, kartals, harmonium.
- Purchasing things from market, handling accounts, managing different departments like kitchen, etc.
- Every student has a Counselor who acts in his life as a Philosopher, Friend and Guide.
- He answers the student’s questions and shares his experiences.
- He helps him tackle physical, mental, and spiritual problems and trains him to face future challenges.
- The counselees fill up a sadhana card that acts as a report card filled up by the candidate.
Role of IYS
- Pune, formerly known as Poona, is widely regarded as the second major “IT hub of India” and the top “automobile and manufacturing hub of India”.
- It is known as the “Oxford of the East” with the presence of a wide range of educational institutions However, as we now stand on the threshold of a new era, the youth of Pune city appear lost and confused.
- Newspaper reports reveal increasing youth related crimes, a sad consequence of blind, hedonistic pursuits, championed by the modern society.
- Sadly, violence is now spilling out of the T.V screen into the homes and streets of Pune City. Complex lifestyles, failing family bonds, mushrooming of pubs and discotheques has resulted in disintegration of social and moral values.
Objective of IYS
- Equip youth with essential life skills through personality development seminars.
- Assist in their academic pursuits through tested study techniques & concentration methods.
- Enable them to develop ethical discrimination in critical circumstances as well as day to day decision making.
- Counseling and befriending to address the troubled and confused youth.
- Provide residential training to those interested in learning and practicing the art of meditation.
- Visit places of heritage and spiritual interest to deepen one’s connection with glory of Indian culture.