Jaysingh moved out of the Ashram

Today I want to tell you about something that has been happening at the Ashram lately and that has brought a change with it after several years: Jaysingh moved out yesterday.

All of you who have been here in the past five years know Jaysingh. He is – or rather was – one of the ‘Ashram boys’, a child whom we had taken in to raise because his parents couldn’t afford it. As one of seven children and with his father having financial trouble, he arrived at our Ashram in 2009 and has lived here ever since. He was eleven years old ten and is sixteen years old now.

Jaysingh had already learned in a school in his village but as the level of education is very low in rural areas, he had to start again from the bottom when he joined our school. He is a boy for whom school and learning never was on top of his priorities and also not really his favourite pastime. One year, he had some trouble due to that and repeated a class. After that, he caught up with his studies though and was a medium student, not anymore in danger of having to repeat the class.

At home, which means at the Ashram, as a member of the Ashram family, we had a whole lot of mixed feelings with this boy – I guess just as parents sometimes do! He was quite naughty when he came and caused a few incidents that we today laugh about a lot. Over the course of years however, the boy grew up to be a young man. He took up responsibilities in our big family life and we can proudly say that we have raised this boy in the past five years.

Last week, he told us that he wanted to leave. He had his own reasons, explaining us, excitedly and emotionally, that he was now too old to actually be in 5th class and that he didn’t want to study anymore. He wanted to set out, work, earn money and do something else. The safe and steady life at the Ashram had become boring for this young man of 16 years.

We gave him time to think about it once more but called his father when he insisted. Again, we talked, not trying to convince but just putting the options out in front. You can stay here and go to school, you can go and learn something, a profession, or you can leave on your own and explore the world. He chose the latter.

At the Ashram, Jaysingh will always find an open door and his home. We miss him in our daily life but we know that this is how it works: children get older and they leave home as well. Of course we are in a special situation here, being his second home and family, and we also believe it might have been better for his future to actually take our help to learn a profession but that is his choice and it is the age to take decisions for your own life as well.

So one of our Ashram boys stepped out to live his life – and we will keep our open stand with all others in future as well. Also with Jaysingh's younger brother Mukesh – who is still here with us.