Meditation gaining popularity among students

The scarcity of jobs across India is well-known now with even many students passing out from prominent academic institutions like IIM and IITs failing to get meaningful employment.

The lack of concentration is one of the reasons for rising joblessness and thus, a large number of students are taking help of professional meditation, motivational and management 'gurus' to enhance concentration level these days.

Such a trend is getting popular in smaller cities like Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gaya and Bhagalpur in Bihar, where students, apart from preparing for the competitive examinations, are also taking online courses to control their mind and body.

"A large number of students have only one ambition i.e. to secure a job. It has created big competition among them. Moreover, for a student like me whose financial status is not good, if I fail to get a job, my parents are not financially sound enough to go for a second option of business," said Siwani Sinha, an aspirant preparing for Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) joint entrance test

"I have been associated with a meditation Guru of Mumbai to take online classes for the last 6 months. Apart from regular classes of one hour, she also conducts theme based classes for students. Now, I am more focused on my study as my mind does not divert much," Sinha said.

Another student Ritesh Singh, who is residing in a boy's hostel of Khajanchi road and preparing for the BPSC examination said: "The theme based meditation courses are even more interesting for us. I have taken a nine-day course on 'Navratri' where we have learnt about the worshiping nine different avatars of 'Maa Durga', followed by correct pronunciation of 'mantra' to develop positive energy in ourselves and our surroundings."

"We are living in the era of competition where students like me always believe that any examination should be cracked in the first or maybe second attempt as the concentration level is high initially. The repeated failures may divert the attention of a student or any common person as they start searching for the reasons for failures," said Abhinav Gupta, an IIT Patna (Bihta) second year student.

"Utilising the time during study is key to success. We need to focus on cracking the examinations in the first or second go. Hence, I have taken meditation classes during the preparation of the IIT examination and I am continuing the practice to keep my concentration level high," Gupta said.

Dr Nutan Khare, a prominent healer and therapist said, "Meditation is not all about sitting in a silent place and closing eyes. Controlling our senses, mind and body is key to achieving a goal. In our traditional culture, we have festivals like Navratri where we worship Maa Durga. It allows us to develop positive energy among us and our surroundings. It can be achieved if we work in the right manner."

"Apart from regular courses, I have conducted a nine days online workshop to worship Maa Durga with appropriate pronunciation of Mantra. The idea is to enhance the concentration level of a person so that they could easily control mind and body," Khare said.