bhaktivedanta play school
BHAKTIVEDANTA PLAY SCHOOL
“We want such teaching department to teach and raise children to the standard of Krishna consciousness.”
—from Srila Prabhupada letters to Aniruddha, Los Angeles, 5 December 1968
Started just one and half year ago with a single student, Bhaktivedanta Play School (BPS) at Mehrauli is now teeming with more than 40 kids. Located at the heart of Mehrauli, New Delhi, the school is easily accessible and is only 500 meters away from the landmark Shiva Temple. In the middle of the marketplace, BPS stands tall with a mission to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire to impart value-based education to kids from an early age.
This place is a perfect amalgamation of spiritual atmosphere and healthy learning environment…
The colorful craft works hanging at the entrance of the school goes unnoticed, as soon one enters the school. The school is segregated into three spacious rooms along with a hall. The three rooms marked for play, nursery, and kindergarten classes are equipped with well-designed learning kits to nurture creativity and learning with fun.
…with the help of spiritually-oriented staffs, who are nurturing the kids…
Srila Prabhupada condemns the appointment of teachers solely on the basis of academic qualification. In his purport to Srimad Bhagvatam 1.9.26, Srila Prabhupada writes, “In the modern system of education the teacher’s academic qualification is taken into consideration without evaluation of his moral life. Therefore, the result of education is misuse of high intelligence in so many ways.” Taking shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, BPS recruits teachers with spiritual inclination. Almost all of them do not charge any money for their services. The ten staffs at the school are motivated by a single aim to impart strong knowledge, keeping high standards of moral values. The loving, caring, and motherly nature of staffs are unmatched, the foremost requirement to build resilience and strong character in kids.
...that accelerates learning for kids…
The day for kids at the school starts with greetings of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna mahamantra, followed by national anthem. BPS not only shoulders the responsibility of imparting right education in the form of identifying colors, numbers, alphabets, and shapes, but also infusing spiritual seed at an early stage. Along with heightened moral sense, the kids are benefitting from wholesome development by inheriting various cultural skills, including dance, role plays, and drama. BPS espouses the mission to revive Vedic culture, infused with modern education system. However, this is not another Hindu school. Happy parents of two Christian and five Muslim kids, by religion, are testimony to this fact. Tolerance, love, and care are central pillars of BPS.
…to uplift hope to, somehow, bring balance in a spiritually-devoid society…
The single key to bring balance in morally degrading society lies in the hands of today’s kids with strong ethical values and correct education. Attracted by values offered by BPS, most of the parents are now eager to continue their kids’ primary education from the same school.
Only a committed disciple with strong determination could have started this…
The Vaishnava couple, HG Balesvara Priya Das and HG Anuttara Devi Dasi, upon receiving a single instruction from their shiksha guru worked tirelessly to build the foundation of BPS. The story has just begun after eighteen months and they don’t plan to stop here. And yes, the first student of BPS is their own three and half year-old daughter—Vrinda.
