Tihar inmates get lessons on water preservation, communal harmony and caste politics

Everyday for nearly a month now, Tihar's Jail number 7, which houses under-trials aged between 18 and 21, comes alive at 3.30pm. This is the time when loud laughter, Hindi songs and classical music reverberates the entire compound, often forcing inmates to take a peek into a large prison barrack where groups of boys take lessons from yoga guru Harshananda. These are lessons on communal harmony, water conservation and, of course, on yoga. "Yoga demands certain degree of concentration and thus it must be done either individually or in small groups. Everything else is a collective exercise," said Swami Harshananda. A native of Kota in Rajasthan, Swami Harshanand in collaboration with the authorities of Tihar, has initiated a programme called 'Crime to Spirituality'. "These boys are young and that is why my sessions with them is a mix of singing, humour and education," said Harshananda following which he broke into a Bollywood hit song

He believes that 10 per cent of the prisoners who are released from Indian jails fail to get assimilated into the society and it is activities such as them which might help these young inmates. "The word jail should be replaced with correctional homes or facilities because that is what their purpose is supposed to be but this is not happening in India. My dream project is to start Crime Villages across India which would cater to those prisoners who are unable to re-enter the society," said the yoga guru. He also doesn't shy away from talking about problems which include ' thousands of unemployed Yoga teachers' or socio-political issues like caste dominance while the inmates latch on to his words.

A deputy superintendent in Tihar said that unlike a majority of people, the struggle of these young prisoners is a 'long and hard one'. "The tag of being a former inmate does not leave them and they are well aware of this fact. What we try to do is equip them to fight the animosity which might arise in them in case they feel rejected," said the deputy superintendent, Sanjay Ambista. Mohit Dev, who was arrested earlier in July and was among the 30 inmates attending the session, said "We are being taught to love our surroundings and not humans. I have come to know about scarcity of water, air pollution and importance of communal harmony."

Harshananda during the session with a group of 30 inmates spoke about the need of being "humans first instead of a Hindu or a Muslim". 

The sessions seem to work on another inmate named Salman Malik, who came to Tihar on July 5. "I was afraid that I will be ruined in prison. I have heard that prisons bring out the worse in humans but these sessions have been a relief. I feel less angry and frankly it is enjoyable. We sing and joke around and for a moment forget that we are are in a prison," said Malik.