"Yoga teaches us to cure what needs to be endured and endure what cannot be cured." - B.K.S. Iyengar
I found yoga at the age of 21 and it has been the bedrock that has centered me through every personal storm I've encountered. I believe in the power of yoga to uplift, empower and heal.
‘Stretching Towards Peace’ was a project designed to address the growing concern of violence and other related issues prevalent globally amongst the youth of today.
The project was conceived as a ten-day workshop with youth ranging from thirteen to eighteen years of age. Serbia, once part of the former Yugoslavia was chosen due its history and background as a conflict area. Sombor, a unique town on the border of Croatia, Serbia and Hungary was identified as a location in Serbia that would provide a fertile ground for the project to develop. Stretching Towards Peace gave a new generation of youth in Serbia invaluable insight into their problems as well as tools that would help reconcile them. The workshop aimed to impart a methodology and perspective for both physical and mental well-being. Some of the key issues we dealt with were conflict resolution, depression, drug abuse, self-esteem and relationships.
Stretching Towards Peace will always be an invaluable life long experience for me because as an Indian I took some of my traditions to a country riddled with conflict and created a culture of peace for a small group of youth. I believe that giving youth the capacity to feel peaceful and good about themselves lays a foundation for creating a society of mature, intelligent and wise adults who make decisions that are beneficial for humanity.
In 2008 I was doing an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College, CUNY and was residing in International House ,New York. Kathryn W. Davis and her husband Shelby Cullom Davis were residents of International House at Columbia University during their graduate school years and were longstanding supporters of I. House. Kathryn increased her support of the Projects for Peace program with a special grant to International House to allow students at various I.Houses to apply to the Projects for Peace initiative.
My proposal titled 'Stretching Towards Peace' was awarded the Davis Peace Project. And in the summer of 2008 I traveled to Sombor a small town on the border of Serbia, Croatia and Hungary. The aim of ‘Stretching Towards Peace’ was to give an experiential and interdisciplinary method of engaging with youth and providing them with tools for self-empowerment. The teaching and meditation correlated with concepts of self-awareness, compassion, body consciousness, self-esteem and management of emotions like fear and hostility.
I partnered with the Yoga Center Sombor to make my proposal a reality. Yoga Centar Sombor was founded by Slavica Periskic, an English teacher and Fabijan Periskic, a former lawyer turned yoga teacher. Together they started one of the only existing yoga centers in North Eastern Serbia. This unique husband wife team had all the skills and knowledge required to make this project a success. Even before I arrived in Sombor, they had recruited students through the teachers and counselors they knew. Furthermore they helped with all the logistics, and equipment needed and provided not just the venue but their support and knowledge of the region and its people.
What I experienced and learned in my time in Serbia cannot be put into the words. The support I received from the people of Sombor in particular Slavica and Fabijan Periskic was endearing. The bond that formed between my students and I was one of friendship and lifelong ties. Three years later in 2011 Slavica traveled to New Delhi, India to attend my wedding. The effects of those 10 days of yoga, meditation and movement still create ripples of peace till today.
Here are a few snapshots of the Project. There were children of two age groups. The workshop ended with a public lecture and demonstration which was attended by friends, family and the towns folk of Sombor. The Indian ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro was the special guest and delivered the opening speech. That last night ended with a presentation about India and a special yoga class with the kids.
