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A Daily Round of Rituals For Boys Becoming Priests
Sriram Sharma, 13, front row at left, is one of 27 boys at a school that teaches them the art of chanting Hinduism's oldest texts.
(Rama Lakshmi -- The Washington Post)
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"The boys are not allowed to go out. I keep them away from the world of illusions and desires. They lead pure, austere lives," says G.K. Sitaraman, respectfully called "Guru ji." "This school runs in an orthodox way, like thousands of years ago. The only difference is that we are no longer in the jungles."
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Each class begins with the students prostrate on the floor before the teacher. Sitaraman turns to the boys and says: "The knowledge of the Vedas is the only education that cannot be erased. Everything else is impermanent in this world."
But the mood is not always somber; the boys have fun even while chanting the divine revelations. They give one another sidelong looks, sharing an unspoken joke about a plump student who is washing a black stone idol of a Hindu deity in milk.
"We call him 'Tummy' because he is fat," Sriram explains between chanting sessions. "Every boy has a nickname here -- 'Snake,' 'Mouse,' 'Chili,' 'Bucktooth.' I am 'All-India Radio.' They say I talk nonstop."
Shortly before 11, as the boys gather around a ceremonial wood fire and dot their chests with ash, they speak in conspiratorial whispers. The topic is their daily game of cricket.
"Did you hear that they will not let us play cricket in the park anymore?" says Kedarnath Dave, 12. "It is basement cricket for us from now on. The people living in the apartments do not want us mixing with their children anymore."
The older boys say they are eager to start their work in the real world and earn the social status that comes with knowledge of the Vedas. Hari Ramachandran says his father was a personal driver for a family and did not want his son to end up doing something similar.
"Even doctors and engineers respect priests who know the Vedas," says Hari, 16. "They would speak to us humbly. If I was a driver, they would bark at me and say, 'Go, get the car out of the garage quickly.' "
