On the last Sunday of August, just as we started with our first IEP class for this year, tribute was paid to the IEP experience of 2004-2005 by the children and adult participants of the session that ran from July 2004 to July 2005. It was an important evening for all of us. The whole of our effort and aspiration that materialized in the form of IEP had to be offered one more time and that too, together, by all who played an integral role in it, learning and growing along the way, trying to open up a little more to the Divine force of our Guru and Master. In this 3-part review, we include the text, unaltered as far as possible except for the occasional typographical error, of what children, parents and facilitators shared during the evening programme at our centre on the last Sunday of August: a programme that intensified towards the end into a complete, serene, meditative session.

Part 1: From the Mouth of the Child

Dear parents, teachers and my fellow friends , it is my pleasure to meet you all today. This evening I am going to tell you all about IEP. The abbreviation for IEP stands for integral education program. I like physical education the most because it was full of excitement and we engaged ourselves in a lot of cool activities. It gave peace and happiness to my mind. We played a really fun game which I would like to share with you all. It is called crossing the river. Firstly, we must get into groups of 5. After that we must get 6 chairs for each group. But we must stand on only 5 chairs. Then the last person must pass the remaining chair to the first person of that group. The first person will place the chair in front of him\her then move forward. That is how it goes. One of the most important values I learned about this game is that we can develop more team spirit by co –operating with our group members. The mental, vital and the psychic also motivated us a lot. My friends and myself enjoyed doing this course. I thank all my teachers for their great effort to organize such a wonderful course. May your services continue forever! Thank-you!

- Kalaivani

Good evening respected teachers, parents and my loving friends. I am here to tell you what I feel about this Integral Education Programme.

At the starting of this course, I was told that IEP meant Integral Education Programme. But at the end of the course, I derived at a different answer and it is Interesting Educational Playground. Yes, here everything was taught to us in a simple and relaxing way. Every child’s participation was motivated and this made the class very interesting. We used to sit in a circle and listen carefully to what each one had to say. This way of studying made us feel homely. I was really excited when I realized that I had an inner star. I started looking for the 3 aspects beauty, truth and goodness in everything around me. I have learnt to analyze the good aspects in all our daily activities. I also regularly practice the Suryanamaskar & Pranayam.

We used to look forward for the 2nd Sunday of each fortnight. Whether it was mental, vital, psychic led, it did not bother us because, each one was different in its own way. Hats off to our teachers who made us feel that way. So, I take this opportunity to thank all of them. Thank you Dhanalakshmi aunty, Jaishree aunty, Jayanthy aunty, Nisha aunty, Sudha aunty, kithu akka, Swati akka, Venkat uncle and our mami, Jayanthi. I would also like to thank you for giving this opportunity of coming to this lovely place and conveying my regards to all of you. I am looking forward for more of such opportunities. Thank you!

- M. Divya

In integral education, I had a great chance to widen my knowledge. Of all educations, I liked physical education the most because we could play fun and exciting games. Not only that but because we could also learn the importance of teamwork and many more. We always had a great time in physical education. Always make a tunnel with the speaker and you. This is something that I learnt from mental education. Mental education helped me a lot in school and at home. In vital education, we wrote letters to Mother in one of the lessons. I feel that this helps us to express ourselves better. Also, when we did the Surya Namaskar and yoga, I felt refreshed. Fortnightly, I also had an opportunity to meet my friends. I enjoyed IEP lessons greatly. I would also like to share with you one of Mother’s sayings:

My little ones,
you are the hope,
you are the future.
keep always this youth
which is the faculty to progress,
for you, the phrase
‘it’s impossible’ has no meaning.

After attending the IEP lessons I’ve learnt the meaning of this saying of Mother. Last but not the least, I would like to thank Jayanthy aunty, Venkat uncle, Kirthika akka, Swati akka, Dhanalakshmi aunty and our mami, Jayanthi for encouraging me and making the IEP journey a fruitful one. Thank you.

- Alagu

Dear Uncles, Aunties and my fellow friends, a warm good evening to you, I am here to share about IEP. IEP stands for Integral Education Programme. As vegetables are integral part of diet, values form an integral part of life. I learnt about the good and bad habits and how to improve on them. Surya Namaskaram and breathing exercises which were taught here have become my regular routine, they have made us understand the importance of considering beauty, goodness and truth in our daily activities. The backward counting exercise has enabled us to improve our concentration skill. We have obtained an idea about the 12 values representing mother's symbol. I love this place, because whenever I enter Mother’s room I get peace of mind. I am proud to mention that though my mother found it difficult to bring me to the class, she was determined to continue on it. I thank all my teachers, who have provided a magnetic power to this class. Last, but not the least, I would like to thank Mami Jayanthi for encouraging me to follow the spiritual values, and my mother for fulfilling my wish to continue with this class for a second time this year.

Thank you!
- Meenakshi