Why does The Art of Living not teach hygiene and other basic considerations through its courses, such as, not to spit, not to throw garbage outside the house and things that would have a more impactful effect in our country?
Yes, we are doing that. We are conducting programmes like Bal Chetna,(a dynamic program for the less privileged children of society), and YLTP (Youth Leadership Training Program). You should take up any of these courses and go into the details of it. We also conduct the 5H program (Homes for the homeless, Healthcare, Hygiene, Human Values and Harmony in diversity).
You know, there is no point telling people who already know about it. There is no point in my telling you that you have to brush your teeth. You already know that. But I need to tell the people who live in remote villages and in tribal regions where they may not be paying much attention to these things. So we have courses designed for different areas, and The Art of Living has taken up the cleanliness program in a very big way. In fact, we started it in 2001. The Prime minister only gave a voice to it recently but The Art of Living has been doing it even before that.
