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It opens at 6am and closes whenever the Shaktis wish to go home! The sacred temple of the Shaktis as they call it- Sarvam Space, or the Gurgaon centre is a refuge - a sacred space for our girls who come from the urban slum right behind it- Sikanderpur Ghosi. The wooden-sprung floor dance hall at Space & Computer centre The upper area at Space with a Library Upper area The terrace area which is used for outdoor activities Do visit this article to know more about SPACE! https://sarvamshakti.medium.com/sarvam-space-f53689cfa034 Every day, a group of young girls rush into the basement of a well furbished house in Gurgaon. They carry eager smiles on their faces and seem keento start their hustle-bustle for the day. Even in peak winter mornings these girls rush to the location earlier than usual and stay till the sun goes to rest. What is it that draws them to the place?Talking about the centre, all the girls carried a sense of serenity in their description of the place. While for one, it is equivalent to a temple- sacred and revered, for another it is a safe escape from the inequalities of everyday life. For all of them, it is a place of collective holistic growth. The centre is well equipped with everything the girls need to grow spiritually, physically and emotionally. They appreciate the wooden flooring, which helps them in their dance practices as opposed to the drawbacks of practicing on concrete or cement flooring. With large mirrors, they are able to perfect their moves and correct themselves, while also trying to hone coordination with peers. Learning during the pandemic was hard and the installed TVs came handy for the students, which they now use for movie screenings as well. The centre also has a library, where the girls are free to pick-up books and read in their free time and when they need help with homework. Very soon, they will also start computer lessons and are extremely excited for the same. For the girls, it is undoubtedly a home outside of home. They feel safe under the blanket of togetherness as a community and nurture each other as well. Apart from physical activities like yoga, the girls are also provided with nutritious juices and snacks including bananas which help them cleanse and nurture themselves inside out. They admire and look up to their teacher and educators. Several of the students consider Hemangi ma’am to be their role model figure and inspiration, and they aspire to grow into strong, educated, leading women lending a helping hand in society. The girls are also surrounded with Social-Emotional learning tools where they learn about gratitude, empathy, self-awareness and relationship skills. The walls of the centre are adorned with posters as well as cards and write-ups by the girls, where they express gratitude to Sarvam and pen down what the centre means to them; it is the hut of power- Shakti. Majority of the girls confessed that Sarvam, to them, is less like a school and more like a family where they grow together and grow as a whole. What they learn at the centre is not solely via instructors, but also through self-activities and interaction with peers. It is hence a centre, a home, a temple and a school all packed in one beautiful space. Consider supporting our work today!

A welcome message at our Gurgaon centre! She got us ready for our performance too! Shaktis had a showcase in Government School, Harsuru village where over 200 children from a similar demographic had been assembled by Rotary for watching Classical Arts in order to educate them further about it! Nehha Bhatnagar, Shakti Founder and former danseuse helped the 25 Shaktis get ready for their showcase! Enable more such outings for our children which builds immense capacity in them! OVER 100 cards were made for her by our hands! "Ofcourse we had to dance too so we choreographed this!!! We chose songs that we thought describe this moment. Vijay bhaiya and Beena didi helped us with video and edits!"- Anshika, a Shakti

The first member of Sarvam Shakti, Priyanka's story has been nothing short of extraordinary! The daughter of a houseboy and a homemaker, she has now travelled the world and India on her talents through Bharatanatyam. She is highly proficient in this art form and has recently joined the Municipal Corporation of Delhi government school for a part-time job teaching Bharatanatyam to children from a similar background as hers! Rotary Foundation under Rtn Pran Mehta made this possible. Priyanka gets paid Rs. 1250 an hour and along with her Shakti colleague Shweta, they make enough pocket money every month to fund their travel expenses for their college studies. Priyanka has joined a Diploma in Primary Education program by the Delhi Government as she sees herself in the future as a Primary school educator as well as a dance teacher in the evenings!! She claims that she was previously very coy and timid but as her relation with Sarvam grew, she have achieved new heights with her confidence level. She is grateful for the opportunities she gets from the foundation and says that the greatest achievement to her is the strength that she has got from being here. “It’s been a great journey here and it shall continue. IT IS SO GREAT to be able to take this knowledge forward to other children in my community!" She thanks Sarvam for giving her the wings to proper nutrition and life altogether. To enable more Shaktis to follow their passions, consider supporting us today!

CENTRE 1: Located in Mehrauli, the ‘Machhli Park’ is witness to a bunch of super-excited girls gathering multiple times a week, learning a plethora of art forms. CENTRE 2: CDR School in A Block Vasant Kunj The older Shaktis travel to this centre from their Kishangarh basti. Sarvam pays rent to the school for hiring the place which after school hours and the guard bhaiya on duty is a big fan of our work. The Shakti mothers accompany the children for safety. Watch this amazing video by some of the mothers and the purpose they feel from this project! Do consider supporting us today. We really do put our hearts into this unique work!

DID YOU KNOW- 98% of Sarvam Shaktis sit in one of the toughest postures in Yoga? The LOTUS POSE! Thats simply just the way they sit- even while watching a film at the centre or while listening to a guest workshop! Padmasana while watching a film! The reason we put music to the Yoga asanas is to keep the children more interested in the practice of intense asanas. When they learn the asanas, they do so without music. But we realized soon enough that many younger Shaktis fidget and attention takes time to build. Adding music to the practice made their interest deepen and then rhythmic yoga performance became a motivating factor for ALL Shaktis, even the highly distracted ones to take to the practice of Asanas! However, we only encourage practicing to music as a performance. Regular Yoga classes are as is supposed to be learnt- sukham sthiram asanam. In stillness and with joy is a posture an asana then! Its really wonderful to see after dance class practices are done, all younger Shaktis especially relax in Supta Padmasana- lying backwards in lotus pose! At one of our Delhi Centres

What often happens at institutions where artistes learn together to perform is, a lot of bitterness or jealousy or rivalry with centre positions or someones talent and so on. Being a former professional danseuse, our Founder, Nehha Bhatnagar laid some very clear ground rules early on at Shakti. Co-operation, Service, Kindness, Compassion, Love and Joy would be our top values and every Shakti has to encourage another on and infact even thank each other for just their presence on any given day! This culture of love has what has kept Shaktis so energized positively with no negativity seeping in and this ENERGY is what reflects in their interactions with anyone who meets them or even watches them dance! Social Emotional Learning is embedded in the ethos of the way Shaktis learn and are taught. From the Core Team to the volunteers, everyone is emotionally intelligent:) To enable more Shaktis to develop holistically, consider supporting us today!

Learnt this from their teacher in two hours and shot a practice video immediately! This choreography is SO COMPLEX. Requires such precise spatial orientation skills! Do check out the wonderful piece that Mridula Nambiar choreographed on Dr Saroja Vaidyanathans music. Senior Shaktis Priyanka, Shweta and Jyoti performing this piece. Consider supporting us today for more artistically educated girls!

Imagine choreographing as a group, a piece a few hours before it needs to be recorded and showcased for a talk! That level of CONFIDENCE, FEARLESSNESS, TEAMWORK, DISCIPLINE, MENTAL ACUITY and FOCUS is now definitely an integral part of the senior Delhi Shaktis! Truly magical and awe inspiring. You do see a mistake or two here and there but since the request came in last minute for the Senior Citizens Club for Inner Wheel for Janmashtami (Lord Krishna's birth celebrations), the Shaktis had no choice but to choreograph this quickly! And yet look at the confidence:) To support arts education for more Shaktis, do consider donating!

The Shaktis were invited to host a workshop demonstration for the DLF Group for the Environment Day celebrations where they chose pieces that reflected the messages of Nature and healing. The performance was a special initiative by the DLF group to sensitize citizens through art on sensitive topics such as global warming. Rhythmic Yoga Contemporary Dance Kathak Bharatanatyam A prayer in Sanskrit on Mother Earth Consider supporting our unique work for the holistic education of the marginalized girl child!

5 sisters in a tiny income by one working member of the family. And get this- In Delhi State CLASSICAL DANCE competition, Karishma, a Shakti stood SECOND in the solo category for presenting the Kuchipudi dance style. Classical- which is often expensive to learn and does not reach the grassroots...let alone winning STATE level competitions in the form. This is the capacity building power of taking transformational learning tools to marginalized girls who have the talent- they just need someone to nurture it. Karishma is studying to become a Nurse:) She has also received accolades for music! Do support many such stories -- unleash Shakti!

The three centres ran in full fervor with Xmas songs and also dancing to it! An enterprising Shakti, Khushi, the daughter of an autorickshaw driver bhaiya has become a local school celebrity. Her Principal requests her to perform for every event now at School and even help choreograph pieces for other children!! She showcases Jingle Bells here - a choreography she picked up in one day! This is the capacity of mental acuity and memory skills the children are getting trained in. The entire piece of the dance can be sent to you on request:)

Lakshmi says - "thank you so much Sarvam Shakti! I just stood FIRST in my Bharatanatyam exams from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, MP!" A prodigy at Sarvam Shakti who has been sent to Poland for six weeks twice by us for cultural exchanges as well as to Mumbai and Vishakapatnam amongst over 150 performances in the country , Lakshmi is truly a gifted child. Lakshmi was thrilled to share her marksheet! Lakshmi seated centre in green and white. Surrounded by her Shakti friends and dance cohort! The second youngest of 5 sisters, she belongs to a very humble but special background. Her father plays Tabla for Satsangs and Jagrans but with so many mouths to feed finds it quite hard to educate his girls as well as he would like to. 4 of the sisters are associated with Shakti! Lakshmi is now training further in Ganesa Natyalaya, a premier institution for Bharatanatyam in India. She used to learn there under the aegis of Sarvam Foundation but now is training there full time independently. To support the higher education of Shaktis, please do consider donating on this page! Thank you for being a Shakti for Shaktis!