As my alarm goes off and my roommate jumps out of bed, I too drag myself from under the covers to go get ready for the day. After we are showered and presentable, we pack our bags with our work and supplies and head out to our first stop of the day—the cafeteria. From breads and bagels to upma and chutney to coffee and chai, the promise of this yummy breakfast enjoyed with your friends is enough to urge even the sleepiest student on summer vacation out of bed. Refueled and energized, we then head to Games for Seva workshop.
Haarika, Rathi Aunty, Tanya, and Saniya (left to right) in their workspace at AVG.
The team presents some of their projects to Swamiji when he surprises us with a visit and chocolate!
As we walk into the familiar workspace, we take our seats at the station designated for our specific project. After touching base, making a plan for the day, and a surprise visit from Swamiji, we are ready to begin our tasks for the day.
Enjoying a tasty lunch outside on a beautiful day!
The tell-tale signs of hard and late night work are evident—computer chords, post-its, game prototypes, and a wide array of snacks are scattered across the room. Once we are in the zone, we remained focused and diligent—with the admitted occasional laugh and distraction—until lunchtime.
A typical lunch break consists of a wide and tasty selection of food, a shopping trip to the flea market or outlet mall, and a much-needed nap.
Rathi Aunty explains the significance of Dayalayam to the campers before we head inside for our daily meditation.
Once we return to our workshop, we re-group and work until our daily evening meditation. During meditation, we take advantage of the many spiritual and scenic locations in the gurukul—whether it is a beautiful field of trees or the sacred Dayalayam, each day we explore a new and unique way to connect with our spiritual and religious selves. After meditation, we attend the evening aarti—headed by Swamiji—and then enjoy a relaxing and social dinner.
We all attend evening aarti before dinner.
Once we finish dinner, we return to the workshop one last time to go over the day’s progress and tie up any loose ends.
The Swach Ganga team enlists everyone’s help for a round of test play!
The Jatayu’s Journey team focusing hard on developing the first running prototype of the digital game.
After this last home stretch of hard work, we are free for the rest of the evening and night. This time usually consists or further eating, late-night gossip in our cabins, exploration of the gurukul grounds, and the occasional prank war. Exhausted from the day’s work and play, we eventually retreat to our rooms for a well-earned night’s sleep.
Mansi and Abhi check out for the day.
Although some of us seem to have preferred napping in the workshop!
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