Nearly 700 students and teachers at PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, K-Area, Zirakpur, spent June 21 not on theory but on mats. They practiced asanas and pranayama. The school ran its International Day of Yoga programme with a chief guest who holds postgraduate degrees in yoga, Sanskrit, and philosophy — yogacharya Ram Pratap.
The choice of Pratap signals something. He has spent close to two decades promoting yoga and public welfare.
He works with the Brahmrishi Yoga Training Institute, which ties him to both yoga and Indian philosophy. Schools under the PM SHRI scheme — the central government’s network for holistic education — are under pressure to deliver more than textbooks. This event, coordinated by yoga teacher Ravi Kumar and physical education postgraduate Ashok, shows how that pressure translates into action.
Principal Pushpa Sharma opened with a green welcome. Pratap then gave what the school called an inspiring message on yoga, healthy lifestyle, and mental well-being.
No quote was released. But the message itself is the point: schools are now expected to produce not just literate students but physically and mentally balanced ones. The International Day of Yoga, observed annually on June 21 since 2015, has become a convenient vehicle for that expectation.
Rajendra Kumar, a Hindi postgraduate teacher, delivered the vote of thanks. He thanked the chief guest and wished participants well. That is the formal script.
The real weight is in the numbers. Several hundred students and faculty members participated.
That scale does not happen by accident. It requires coordination, resources, and institutional buy-in. The school clearly has all three.
Look at the forces behind this. The PM SHRI scheme itself pushes for holistic education.
That means physical education and wellness programmes are not optional add-ons but core components. Schools that ignore this risk falling behind in government evaluations. So events like this one are partly organic — students and teachers genuinely practicing yoga — and partly structural, a response to policy signals from above.
Where does this lead? Likely to more such programmes, and more formally. The International Day of Yoga is one day.
But schools that invest in a yoga teacher and a physical education postgraduate — as this one did — are building permanent capacity. Ravi Kumar and Ashok do not disappear after June 21.
They teach throughout the year. That means yoga practice could become routine, not ceremonial. There is also a reputational angle.
Schools that run large, well-organized yoga events attract attention. Parents notice.
Local media notices. The central government notices. For a PM SHRI school, visibility matters.
It helps secure continued funding and support. So the 700 participants are not just a number. They are a statement.
Critics might argue that one day of yoga does not fix systemic problems in physical education — lack of playgrounds, undertrained teachers, crowded curricula. That is fair.
But the Zirakpur event suggests a school trying to work within the system it has. It used available resources: a qualified chief guest, trained staff, a willing student body. That is not nothing.
The programme ended with thanks and best wishes. The mats were rolled up.
But the forces that produced this event — policy directives, institutional incentives, a national yoga day — remain in place. They will produce similar events next year, and the year after. Whether they produce healthier, more balanced students is a slower question.
The school has bet that they will.
