Among India’s oldest and most venerated texts are the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, repositories of timeless and secular wisdoms that continue to hugely impact and influence the world view of Indians today, even those that have no familiarity with the texts themselves. How come? How have these texts, which weren’t even written down for over a thousand years after they were composed, stood the test of time? What makes them so popular not just with Indians or Hindus but with people of other cultures, religions and geographies? Why – and more importantly, how – are the ideas and lessons they contain still so relevant to our 21st century world? And, last but not the least, why is it important that children be introduced to them?

These and many other such questions will be explored in this course, which aims to also offer to bright young minds an entry-level introduction to the luminous lessons on equality, success, happiness, competition, mindfulness and more contained in these texts, while providing a background and context to the time and social situation in which they were first conceived. 

The tone of the course will be anything but pedantic – in fact, the focus will be on keeping it fresh, engaging and fun. The aim is not so much to provide answers as to encourage questioning, seeking, and self-reflection, and equip children with some of the tools and thoughts they need to kickstart their personal and individual journeys to richer, more content, and more rewarding lives.