These little ' Chitrapur Saraswats ', get a magnificient opportunity to learn about their origin, their Samskaras, also feel proud to be an " Amchi ", a Hindu and fellow citizens of their own country.
The kids here in Prarthana not only learn the finer nuances of enchancing their own personality but also very subtly get encouraged to give in their best and participate in any group activity.We as teachers feel a sense of great pride to be a part of this Varga and honoured to be a source in some way to mould these little ones into finer human beings!

These kids enjoy their classes immensely and unless the reason is genuine, never miss their classes. Even when they have exams they do attend for at least half an hour.
There were 14 children with us when we had started the formal vargas from 3/07/08 and today we have registered 18 children in Prarthana.

The sessions always begin with Our Sabha Commencing Prayers and the Shri Shri Parijnanashrama Trayodashi and end it with Our Sabha Concluding Prayers.
The older children in our Senior batch are well versed with the 12th and the 15th chapters from the Bhagvad Gita and have learnt to perform the Devi Anushtan as well. They recite Stotras, Shlokas and Bhajans sung by OUR PARAM PUJYA SWAMIJI, of Lord Ganesha, Lord Rama, Shiva, Devi, Lord Krishna, Hanuman and our Guru, with the help of the Swara Petis.They enjoy reciting and singing not only during Prarthana but also during the appropiate festival of that particular God / Goddess.

During one of the classes, we had a KONKANI words and sentences session. The kids were given an imaginary topic, on the spot,whereby they had to enact it for 2 minutes with the use of just Konkani words, thus reinforcing their flair for their own mother tongue.
During each festival, the children are told stories about them,and activities are conducted related to them.
Stories from the UPANISHADS were chosen and worked upon by the teachers from each Sabha, wherein qualities like 'humility, faith, compassion,respect for elders, GURU, GOD and love for nature' are inculculated. for eg. Nachiketa, Shvetaketu, etc.

The parents response to has been overwhelming and their participation with anything to do with Prarthana is also very encouraging.They are proud to see their own child's work of art or the positive feed back the children carry back home. The ANTHOLOGY which was released in Talmaki wadi last year is a classic example of this where the children from all over the globe had participated by expressing through either drawings, poems or essays/articles on topics given to them, which was well appreciated. Nothing of course would have been achieved without the blessings and guidance from OUR PARAMA PUJYA SWAMIJI.

Some of the parents have also shared their joy with us by telling us how their child who has always been shy, and withdrawn has now become more open and doesnt hesitate anymore to participate in any group activity since Prarthana has happened to him/her.

The teachers of Prarthana had a theatre workshop held in Talmakiwadi last year. This has enabled them to tackle certain small and major issuses on stage and also guide them to tap the potential of each child on stage and perform without a stage fright to a large number of people.

The love, respect and affection our children have for Parama Pujya SWAMIJI is touching and are always waiting to perform in any of P.P.SWAMIJIs camp, either in their own Sabhas or together with all the other Sabhas.The activities done by the kids are numerous but some of them are; Diya painting during Diwali, making of greeting cards, torans and drawings and cutouts of various Gods and Goddesses during festvals. Crosswords, puzzles, story and essay writing. Clay modelling, collage work, blow paintings, sketches and making portraits with pencil shading, craft and origami are a part of the activities too.

Through Vimarsha sessions, they are made to think in the right way, and are encouraged to reason out and express themselves freely without being influenced. for eg.topics that were done with them are ' fear, shraddha, bhakti, GURU and GURU-SHISHYA relationship etc.
Essays were also given to the older kids on " What makes SWAMIJI happy ".They developed confidence to learn and recite any stotra or shloka.They have overcome stage fear and felt they were given a fair chance to perform on the stage where sometimes they missed out in their own schools.

And last but not the least 2 of our PRARTHANA kids have won prizes in their own school for singing competition when they have sung OUR PARAMA PUJYA SWAMIJIs Bhajans...!! what more could we ask for?? Wasnt that an icing on the cake or should we say the cherry on the icing..??

Namaha Paravati Pataye Har Har Mahadev..!!!!