A grand ceremony was held at the holy bank of Ganga at Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Guest House, in Muni-ki-Reti, to honour and felicitate H.H. Swami Vishveshwaranandaji Maharaj, President, Omkarananda Charitable Trust, for his distinguished services in the field of education and Vedic culture. It was a great joy for all of us to learn that Swamiji's services have been recognized and honoured by the most prestigious schools of India, known as "Independent Schools' Federation of India", who invited Swamiji at their National Conference, at Ashok Hall, New Delhi, to receive the prestigious Award, to be given away by Sri Arjun Singh, the Honorable Minister of Human Resources Development, Government of India.

People in general, and educationists, social leaders, teachers and students in particular, were all overwhelmed with joy to learn that Swamiji has been honoured at National and State levels for his meritorious services in the field of education. So the local people of Muni-ki-Reti wished to celebrate this grand occasion in which they could express their gratitude to Swamiji and felicitate him for these honours.

A grand function was organised at Ganga Resort, on the bank of Ganga, in Muni-ki-Reti, under the auspices of Sheetal College of Bio-Medical Sciences, convened by Principal D.K. Varshney.

The function was attended by the principals, teachers and students of local Schools and Colleges, as well as representatives of various organisations of Muni-ki-Reti and Rishikesh. It was a great festival of joy and jubilation for everyone.

At the outset Swamiji was received at the gate and escorted to the pandaal hall amidst the sweet musical notes of the school band of Pushpa Vadera Inter College, Dhalwala, and a glorious guard of honour by the N.C.C. Cadets of Shri Bharat Mandir Inter College, Rishikesh, followed by huge crowd of students, queuing up to welcome their Chief-guest along with their teachers and other local dignitaries.

The Chief-guest, Swami Vishveshwaranandaji, offered prayerful worship with flowers to the Goddess of Learning, Arts and Culture, Saraswati, as a mark of auspicious opening of the ceremony.

And then the grand ceremony of offering bouquets, flowers, garlands began with overwhelming exhilaration and exultation. The colourful heap of flowers, bouquets, surrounding the Chief-guest, Swamiji Maharaj, all around, was the reflection of the joy and jubilations of us all.

Chairman of Sheetal College of Bio-Medical Sciences, Amit Jain, offered bouquets, followed by Managing Director Dr. Ravi Kaushal, who read out a citation in appreciation of Swamiji's glorious services for the cause of the quality education of this region. And then Principal D.K. Varshney garlanded Swamiji, narrating how Swamiji achieved the great honour among the prestigious schools of India, a rare honour, as the Award was to be given away by the honorable Human Resources Development Minister, Sri Arjun Singh, in the august gathering of Principals, educationists and other dignitaries. Varshneyji emphasized that Swamiji deserves more than this, as his contribution for the dissemination of India's Vedic culture is remarkable. He is a true Sannyasi in Vedic tradition.

Kumari Vaishali, a remarkably and excellently trained student of Shri D.K. Varshneyji, gave a fluent and brilliant speech, praising Swami Vishveshwaranandaji and his life with rare and beautiful words and metaphors.

Principal Col. D.L. Sachdeva in his speech expressed his joy and felt proud of Swamiji being given such honour at National level as an educationist.

Sri Kamal Narayan Mishra, President Senior Citizens Welfare Organisation, Rishikesh, offered bouquet and presented a citation in praise of Swamiji's contribution for the cause of education of this area and people of Uttarakhand and expressed his gratitude to Swamiji for his tireless work for the dissemination of India's Vedic culture.

On behalf of Lions Club Rishikesh, Sri Amit Goel, Secretary and Dr. Hemant Sharma, President, an eminent social worker and founder of Parashuram Sabha Rishikesh, presented bouquets to Swamiji and extolled his glorious contribution towards India's Vedic culture and education.

Sri Rajendra Sethi, President Vyapar Sabha, presented bouquet of flowers to Swamiji as a mark of honour and gratitude.

Madan Nagpal, President Hotel Association of Rishikesh, offered respectful honour and Pranam to Swamiji and presented bouquet of flowers.

Sri R.K. Sharma, President Vishwa Hindu Parishad and also President Parashuram Sabha Rishikesh, along with other members, greeted Swamiji with garlands and bouquets. They too were full of words in praise of Swamiji.

Sri Sudarshan Sharma, Principal Purnanand Inter College, Muni-ki-Reti, along with his staff and students, presented beautiful flowers, garlands, bouquets to Swamiji and extolled his services for the cause of quality education, highlighting his remarkable contribution by setting up ideal schools at Muni-ki-Reti and Hills of Uttarakhand.

Sri Hira Lal Badola, a senior journalist, too, expressed his joy and appreciation of Swamiji's glorious services as an educationist.

Sri B.D. Uniyal, Sri Deepak Sharma, Sri Arvind Jain and the staff of Omkarananda Saraswati Nilayam and Omkarananada Institute of Management and Technology and many others offered bouquets and garlands.

Students and teachers of Omkarananda Saraswati Nilayam sang a glorious song in praise of Swamiji and they all expressed their joy and happiness and congratulated Swamiji for all these honours.

Col. Dr. Vipin Chaturvedi, Mr. Jayendra Ramola, Youth Congress Leader, too expressed their joy and felicitated Swamiji on this occasion.

Sri I.D. Joshi, Ex-Principal, too, was all joy to express his gratitude to Swamiji for his remarkable contribution for the cause of Vedic culture and education. He further said, "We all are blessed indeed that we have such a great Soul with us to guide us, to show us the noble path of serving humanity."

Born and educated in Switzerland as an Electronics Engineer and a pilot, Swamiji abandoned all these material possessions and became a disciple of His Divinity Swami Omkarananda Saraswati at an early age of 21 and then was deeply engrossed in India's Vedic culture, took up Sannyas, lived a life of an Ascetic, a true Saint and got initiated as Mahant of Omkarananda Ashram by the Sadhu community of Hardwar and Rishikesh and thus joined India's Vedic Sannyasi Sadhu Order. Being a true disciple of his Guru, his mission has been to work for the education of the masses. So he set up various prestigious schools like Omkarananda Saraswati Nilayam, Omkarananda Institute of Management and Technology in the Rishikesh area and many Primary and Junior High Schools in the Hills of Uttarakhand. It was all due to his noble selfless service of humanity that he was honoured with prestigious 'Pride of Uttarakhand' Award by Doon Citizens Council, Dehradun, and he was also awarded by the Independent School's Federation of India for his outstanding services in the field of quality education. So today we are proud to felicitate him for his glorious services.

Kumari Somashekhari, Secretary, Omkarananda Charitable Trust, being overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, thanked the organizers and the audience for all this. In her poetic speech in Hindi, she expressed her heartfelt delight in words surcharged with emotional outburst of gratitude, love and joy, that they have honoured a true Saint and noble Soul in this function. Her speech, so poetic and aesthetic, touched every heart and seemed to make everyone dance in the ecstasy of joy to the tune of her melodious speech.

At last Swamiji rose from his seat with eyes full of love and affection and thanked the organisers and audience for such a grand celebration. His genius and talent lie in his simplicity, purity and truthfulness. In all humility, he said, it was all due to the grace of His Divinity Swami Omkaranandaji Maharaj that he could achieve this. Indeed all credit goes to his Guru. Indeed he considers himself simply an obedient disciple and is carrying out his mission for the cause of the service of humanity. In the end Swamiji once again expressed his special thanks to Shri D.K. Varshneyji, who by his selfless and untiring efforts, was the main-person to organise this unforgettable event, along with the generous help and assistance of the wonderful Jain-family of Sheetal College of Bio-Medical Sciences and all others, who participated.

Then everybody was heartily invited to a most delicious Bhandara.

Thus the function came to a close, opening new vistas, new expectations, new vision for a brighter radiant future.
 

To maintain physical, mental and spiritual fitness, today Yoga is considered to be the best. Since it is the Soul of Indian Culture, it has found a part in our regular curriculum and so was presented by the students of primary classes.

The programme began with Swami Vishveshwaranandaji lighting the lamp to invoke the blessings of God Almighty. Thereafter an array of colourful programmes like dances and songs of different States of India were presented by the students of the Primary Section. The students of class I and II presented a dance depicting the beauty and the diverse culture of our country. The lively and vibrant dances and music of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand could be seen live on the stage when the students of class IV, V and VI performed them in a synchronized manner. A song which infused the feeling of patriotism and made the blood stir was presented by the students of class IV.