The Sunset fell past the horizon, as a black haze fixed itself over the sky, perilous lightning strikes filled the sky, and the moon glowed over the sky, creating a gloomy look over the waxing sky. But the Sringeri Mutt Hall at Mandavelli was beaming with radiant lights and over pouring with students from all important schools of Chennai and gearing itself to announce the winners of the Inter-school essay competition (TOPIC - The Efficacy of Chanting mantras). Sri Vidyatheertha Foundation has been conducting Inter-School essay competition from the year 1995 as per the directions of His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamigal in the city of Chennai.This time as many as 2100 students took part in this event and this is the highest turnout in the last 18 years. I happened to be a part of this function that inculcates moral, ethical, traditional and patriotic values in students. What mesmerized me (particularly in this function) were the words of Smt C.P. Vijayalakshmi, Asst Director, Doordarshan Kendra who emphasized on the utterance of namah' s of lord. She preached that even an illiterate who is not exposed to the Vedic mantras can attain moksha if he just utters the name of his God. Her lectures on the divine path and mantras were so encouraging and inspiring to kids who attended the function that day. As rightly said that we are in the Kaliyuga, I personally feel that such kind of exposure is required for children of these ages.It was indeed a memorable day in my life!
