Jai Hari Vitthal : Our experiences during the Warkari event 2013

The wikipedia explains “Wari”as a religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism. It is geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. Pilgrimage to Pandharpur is called as Wari. The people who undertake a Vari are called Warkaris .Warkaris worship Vithoba (also known as Vitthal Krishna, an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu), the presiding deity of Pandharpur. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Warkaris walk hundreds of miles to the holy town of Pandharpur, gathering there on Ekadashi (the 11th day) of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Aashaadha (which falls sometime in July). 

Jai Hari Vitthal

Continuing the same ancient tradition  and dedications lakhs of Warkaris entered Pune on

First of July 2013  spreading the waves of devotion and contentment. 

Glimpse of the Crowd

In consonance with the tradition of the wari , SIHS has built a tradition of serving Warkaris  every year. We the ‘Budding Managers’ of SIHS got the unique opportunity of exercising our managerial skills during the Warkari Event this yearAlong with the MBA students, students of Emergency medical services, Staff from Healthcare centre  also participated. We being the management students our task was to manage the crowd, whilst our EMS friends would tend to the ailments and medical issues of the Warkaris.

 

Team Symbiosis 

By 8.30 am students   took their respective ambulances along with the EMS staff. Finally after weaving through the crazy Pune traffic and the narrow City roads the ambulance came to a halt.

We quickly decided on a ‘Game plan’. We divided the people according to Gender and identified that the men would be tended to by the Gentlemen in our group while the Ladies, would handle the Ladies! 

Waiting..patient(ly) 

After the initial chaos things eventually settled and progressed smoothly. Everybody got acquainted and comfortable in their roles- The EMS students with their task of tending to the patients and us managing.

The learning experience gained from this event will be embedded in our minds all throughout our lives and the basic managerial skills were learnt here. From learning basic Marathi terms like ‘Kaku, Aushadh Payije?’(Aunty, do you need medicines?”  to major Life lessons asserting how lucky we are to be where we are, from basic bonding with our classmates to actually serve the public at a ground level; the experiences we shared is going to last us a lifetime.

Nothing gets done (in Pune) without the Vada Pav !

 The event of Warkari was successfully completed,with the earning of immense appreciation for Symbians everywhere, and lot of goodwill and good wishes of all the pilgrims, who were helped by our little humanitarian effort. The day left us feeling wonderful about having helped people in whatever way we could, gave us an opportunity to exercise our skills and make new friends while on the job. 

We are very fortunate to have been a part of such a mammoth event, which allowed exploring and discovering our capabilities, stretching ourselves while getting a break from classroom academics as well.