by Father Sunil Pinto for BISMumbai

Around 260 youngsters from different Salesian institutes of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, gathered at Don Bosco Chhotaudepur to participate in the third SYMBIOS event that is being held in the region on January 18-19, 2020. The theme at this event is in keeping with the Strenna of the Rector Major this year: “Good Human Beings & Honest Citizens.”

Father Ashwin Macwan led the gathering into prayer, invoking the blessings of the Divine on all the participants. Mr. Ishwarbhai Dabhi, the Principal of Don Bosco Chhotaudepur was invited to deliver the inaugural conference. He presented ‘7 Jewels’or the 7 DH’s to the youth inorder to concretely live out the proposed theme for. They are as follows: Dhairya, Dhagas (passion), Dheeraj, Dhamaal, Dhan (wealth), Dharm and Davey (goal). He peppered his talk with stories and anecdotes. Later Father Pannasingh Bhuriya was invited to share his inputs on the meaning and concept of SYMBIOS.

For the morning sessions, the youth were divided into 4 teams. The focus was on: “Good Netizens become Good Citizens”: a theme conceptualised by Fr. Justus Mendis who set the tone with a skit presentation with a group of boys from Don Bosco Dakor. Activity based sessions were further conducted in groups by Fathers Dinesh, Pannasingh, Ashwin Mal & Ashwin Macwan and Justus. They used their creative liberty to build up further in the theme.

In the afternoon, the youth were led into a mask-making session cum poster competition to focus on the virtue of ‘Authenticity’ and ‘Honesty’ that vibes with the theme. After a kadak chai break, there were group games organised for the youth to foster friendship and a good team spirit.