The character of a person depends upon the values and mental tendencies existing in his subconscious. If character is a tree then the subconscious is the field, values/ tendencies are like a seed planted in it and the surrounding environment & circumstances are like water/fertilizers for its growth. The values/tendencies are imbibed by a person or built in him mainly during the following four stages :

‘Values/tendencies’ which are in the genes of the child at the time of birth.

‘Values/tendencies’ which he imbibes from his parents and traditions of the families, of his mother and father.

‘Values/tendencies’ which he gets from the surrounding environment (parivesh) and from the persons with whom he constantly interacts i.e. family members, relatives, friends, peer, and neighbors. The conduct and behaviour of these persons has significant impact on the child and this can be seen from the child’s conduct and behaviour. This is the first stage of character building of a child as at this stage he tries to imitate others around him and follow them blindly.

At a later stage of childhood, a child begins to think on his own before he initiates an action. He tries to analyze whatever is spoken, taught or preached and then acts accordingly. By the end of teen age, his character building and formation of personality is almost complete and his future actions depend upon his mental makeup and character.

The values/tendencies existing in a child at the time of birth or imbibed later in his subconscious during the above stages may be positive or negative. Therefore it is necessary to create situations and provide an environment which inspires him to discard his negative mental tendencies and inspires him to imbibe human values/ positive tendencies.

Every work that we do, every movement of the body, every thought that comes to our mind leaves indelible impressions on the mind which stay in the subconscious and are sufficiently strong to monitor our thoughts and actions. What we are every moment is determined by the sum total of all the impressions of our life on our subconscious. This is very close to what is meant by character.
If a man continuously hears bad words, thinks bad thoughts, does bad actions, his mind will be full of bad impressions; and they will influence his thoughts and work without his being conscious of the fact and they will force him to do evil. He will be like a machine in the hands of his impressions. Similarly, when a man does good work, think good, there is an irresistible tendency in him to do good, in spite of himself. Even if he wishes to do evil, his mind will not allow him to do so.

Therefore, we have to make conscious efforts to build an environment & atmosphere and create situations which may leave positive impressions on young minds. Human minds is most susceptible during childhood and human values are most easily imbibed by children during their formative years.

If human values are not imbibed by the children who are the future, not only of a family but also of the society, they may fall victims to the negative mental tendencies like anger, greed, possessiveness, envy, lust, impatience and as a result they may not come up to their own expectations or the expectations of their parents, family and society. The negative tendencies may suppress the positive tendencies/human values and may hamper their overall growth. It may further cause depression, frustration and tension, which may, sometimes, initiate them into evil practices and crimes. The ultimate result is that the society is deprived of dynamic persons, who could contribute to its development.

Need of the time

It is the moral duty of all of us to make children grow up to their optimum potential by enriching them emotionally, spiritually, intellectually & socially. This in turn will enrich and empower the society as such. It can not be possible without institutional mechanism. It becomes an actuality when efforts are put in thoughtfully, consistently and creatively to actualize it. The Sanskaram has therefore thought of launching a programme to facilitate imbibition of human values