When the World celebrates the 6th edition of International Yoga Day on June 21st 2020, the Mukul Madhav Foundation, the CSR arm of Finolex Industries, is proud of their contribution to popularising yoga not only amongst children from Mukul Madhav Vidyalaya but also children with Cerebral Palsy. It is even more pertinent at a time when this lockdown has made children nervous on coping with online education.
The Foundation runs the Mukul Madhav Vidyalaya at Golap in Ratnagiri district which caters to primarily children of local fishermen and farmers. Set up in 2010 and right from inception, it has given importance to yoga as a subject and Karate for the physical and mental well-being of the children. It has a total of 653 students.
The Foundation is also popularizing Yoga for children with Cerebral Palsy as a part of their Mission Cerebral Palsy since 2015 and during this lockdown, they have collaborated with a local television channel in Ratnagiri which broadcasts the basic physiotherapy session along with a 10-minute yoga session. This has received an encouraging response as children will not have to miss their sessions and it helps improve their quality of life.
Speaking on the significance of International Yoga Day, Ritu Chhabria, Managing Trustee at Mukul Madhav Foundation stated, “We realised that teaching yoga to children helps in their overall development, be it physical or mental. It improves concentration and they are free of ailments. Our work with children suffering from Cerebral Palsy assists them with their physiotherapy sessions which is a great boon for them during this lockdown.”
The COVID -19 induced lockdown has also led to a suspension of classes and teaching has migrated to a virtual environment. However, this had an impact on the children for whom this was also a novel experience. Lessons in Yoga and the art of performing different asanas was taught by Adv Ruchi from the foundation.
This lockdown has brought into sharp focus on the role of mental health for the general wellbeing of young and old and the Mukul Madhav Foundation has worked tirelessly to cater to every section of society.
