By Staff Reporter, Express News Service
Madurai, Feb. 7. A life convict pens a poem on 'blissful tranquility of solitude.' A sworn psychopath, known for his inhuman acts of violence, speaks about the 'milk of human kindness' and says his 'once-diseased mind now thinks non-malignantly.'
Can such pleasant surprises possible? Yes, of course. An act, bordering closely on the concept of ahimsa, is unfolding inside the ominous-looking prison walls of the Tamil Nadu Central. Few unsavory incidents of violence in the prisons of the state can be ignored. But there also exists a positive side, said a prison official attached to Madurai Central Prison. Thanks to the introduction of various welfare schemes for the inmates in the prisons, particularly yoga, a distinct positive change in the attitude of prisoners, are being noticed. The schemes and the yoga have entered in a whiff of fresh air into their lives.
"I became soft and started loving others," said Manoharan, a prisoner. Another prisoner said, "The unquenchable fire of regret and anger in my mind has died down." For this inmate, the practice of yoga has helped him to 'calm his mind and prevent him from getting perverted.' These prisoners are a part of a fortunate 120 beneficiaries of Madurai Central Prison, which is the past witnessed some of the worst prison riots in the state.
According to Mr. Raman, DIG of Prisons (northern Zone), the Isha Yoga being conducted by Coimbatore's Isha Yoga Centre, for the select inmates of Madurai Central Prison, is a part of statewide welfare package being conducted in all-important prisons. The programme is organized in two groups.
The genesis of the noble gesture lies in Coimbatore Central Prison. The then DIG of prisons and Jail Superintendent requested the centre's yogis to conduct a special camp for 67 life convicts in 1992. As expected, the programme disciplined the wavering minds of the hard cores. But due to inexplicable reasons, the same could not be sustained. Thanks to the efforts of the present Inspector General of Prisons, the Yoga has been revived from 1999. Till date, 400 prisoners in Coimbatore prison alone have been benefited.
At the dawn of the new millennium, the Isha Yoga Centre, in close coordination with the state's prison officials, have also extended their practice of yoga classes to the rejected in the prisons of Salem, Madurai, Tiruchi and Palayamkottai. Two sessions for each prison have been allotted to cover 400 prisoners, most of them hardcore elements.
The results of the preliminary experience are enthralling. The prison officials confided that the prisoners had starting showing tremendous transformation mentally. "Such programmes will encourage us to go for more welfare schemes for the inmates in the future," pointed out Mr. Rajkumar, the Jail Superintendent of Madurai Central Prison. The beneficiaries also have started thinking positively and extending all cooperation to jail officials. "Finding volunteers for various works inside the jails is not a problem now," said an official.
The 'Inner Freedom for the Imprisoned,' as the programme has been named, no doubt, has the soul-stirring effect.
