Heard of Yoga being helpful in checking school dropout rate and changing the views of people towards age-old social norms? Yoga proponent Nabaghan Rout has been to a large extent successful in bringing about a wave of change in the tribal hinterlands of Odisha through the asanas of this ancient practice.
A believer in the ‘catch them young’ phrase, the 44-year-old is a Yoga Guru to over 500 school kids in the remote Laxmipur block of Koraput district. Barely a few years back, tribal kids found studies a challenging task and used to drop out of school in hordes.
This apart, one could find many adult and married students, some even had kids, attending classes. However, after Yoga was made an integral part of physical education, there has been a visible improvement in the situation, says Rout who is posted as Physical Education Teacher (PET) at Netaji High School, Toyaput in Laxmipur.
A native of Hatadihi in Keonjhar district, Rout has been teaching Yoga in the tribal land since 2010. Yoga helps students to relieve themselves of stress, tension and anxiety during examinations. It improves concentration and memory, thereby leading to better performances.
“Through Yoga, the young ones here are learning to set aside distracting thoughts and channelise their energies in the right direction. The number of married students has come down drastically and Yoga has played a vital role in curbing this trend,” he says.
“Yoga is much more beneficial for students than mass drills and other activities that are part of physical education in schools. The benefits of learning Yoga at a very tender age are manifold. Apart from staying fit, both physically and mentally, a child can control his/her senses through Yoga. This subsequently will have a bearing on the kid’s personality when he/she grows up,” says Rout. Rout feels the popularity of Yoga in Koraput has surged in the last two years.
“When I started taking classes in 2010- 11, the response of students was poor. Now since the last couple of years, more students are showing interest and even their parents are encouraging them to attend my classes,” he says. Rout takes classes of around 200 students enrolled in Netaji High School.
This apart, he spares his time for nearly 350 students of two nearby Government schools. He takes classes once a week, mostly during weekends and a single session can last up to three hours.
As per the physical education curriculum, asanas have been divided into five groups, three mandatory and two optional. Apart from the students, Rout also gives lessons to teachers of nearby schools.
“Now schoolchildren have become promoters of Yoga in the tribal district. More tribals are recognising the benefits and are taking to it earnestly,” he says.
However, the PET feels Odisha Government should do more to promote Yoga among schoolchildren. “It is high time the State Government included theory and practical classes of Yoga in the school curriculum like the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). This will have far-reaching benefits on the health and well-being of students,” he adds.