Even before her Krsna conscious club was approved, Anjali had introduced
many of her teachers and schoolmates to the glories of Lord Krsna.
A 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Board of Education v. Mergens) allows student-sponsored religious clubs to meet after classes in public school buildings. In March 1991 my sister, Anjali Sankhla, a straight-A student, started the first high school Krsna club in the U.S., at Paint Branch High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Anjali's teachers and friends knew she was a Hare Krsna devotee. Every year in high school she'd give a talk about Srila Prabhupada. Throughout her school years, whenever possible she would write her English papers on Krsna conscious teachings and bring in prasadam for her teachers and classmates.
In the ninth grade, Anjali dressed in saffron sannyasi clothes and carried a sannyasi's staff to give a class presentation about Srila Prabhupada's life. After Anjali's talk, her English teacher, Mrs. Ellen Rosier, went with her husband to Anjali's home to see her altar. The next day Mrs. Rosier excitedly told all the English teachers to go to Anjali's house and see her Deities. So Anjali's teachers and friends never misunderstood Krsna consciousness to be a cult; rather, they understood it to be a genuine spiritual practice. They appreciated Krsna conscious philosophy and would sometimes visit her home temple and enjoy vegetarian food offered to Lord Krsna.
Last year, ISKCON leader Gunagrahi Goswami, impressed with Anjali's efforts to share Krsna consciousness with others at her school, suggested she start a Krsna conscious club. He gave her some documents on the Supreme Court rulings.
Anjali then talked to her Comparative Religions teacher, Mrs. Bartley, who had visited ISKCON's temple in Potomac, Maryland. Anjali told Mrs. Bartley that since Anali's friends were enthusiastic about learning vegetarian cooking and Vedic philosophy, she would like to start a club that would meet once a week after school like other clubs, such as the Math Club or the Art Club. Mrs. Bartley agreed to be the advisor for the Bhakti Yoga Club and have the meetings and cooking demonstrations in her classroom.
After Anjali had everything settled with Mrs. Bartley, she went to the school principal, Dr. Ed Shirley, to get his approval. She greeted him with a garland of flowers from her Deities and some pakoras vegetables dipped in spicy batter and deep-fried. He loved them. Then she told him what the club would be doing. She had already sent him an outline explaining the purpose of the club, the main students involved, how often and in which room the club would meet, and so on. So Dr. Shirley already had a good idea about the Bhakti Yoga Club. He happily agreed and told Anjali she could start the club as soon as possible.
The next day in school, Anjali put up posters advertising the opening of the Bhakti Yoga Club, and she had the first meeting announced in the morning announcements. At the first meeting, Anjali and I and our mother (Kiran L. Sankhla) held a cooking demonstration for the students, teaching them how to make pakoras. Anjali and the other students had intense philosophical discussions about vegetarianism, karma, reincarnation, and other Krsna conscious topics. They also chanted Hare Krsna and discussed Vedic readings. Anjali passed out several Bhagavad-gitas, Back to Godhead magazines, and Higher Taste cookbooks.
Anjali comments, "I feel that it's my duty to teach my friends about Lord Krsna, because Prahlada Maharaja taught his class friends to chant Hare Krsna. At this point in their lives, my classmates are inquisitive about life after death, karma, and God. They want to find all the answers. I want to help them understand the spiritual reasons why certain things happen, before they become frustrated with their lives and resort to drugs, alcohol, and illicit sex. I don't want that to happen to them. Being their age, I can explain Krsna consciousness to them in a down-to-earth way they can understand. It's a lot easier and more effective learning from someone your own age. The kids are fascinated by Krsna conscious philosophy and really relish it."
Two sincere students from Paint Branch High School who helped Anjali with the club, Bhakta Zack Eller and Bhakta Glenn Brown, are vegetarians and chant sixteen rounds on japa beads every day. Bhakta Glenn has moved into the Potomac temple, and Bhakta Zack will move into the temple when he's eighteen. Other students from the Bhakti Yoga Club visit the Potomac temple and are becoming vegetarians.
Now Bhakti Yoga Clubs are opening in other high schools across the U.S. Because of reading an article about Anjali's club, Jeff Jones, a student at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia, has discussed with his teachers, principal, and interested friends about starting a Bhakti Yoga Club. As soon as he gets a faculty advisor, the club will be approved. Jamie Guy, a high school student in Baltimore, Maryland, is starting a Bhakti Yoga Club in his school. Anjali hopes these examples will encourage other devotee high school and junior high school students to start Bhakti Yoga Clubs in their schools.
In June 1991 Anjali graduated from high school with a 4.0 grade point average for all four years. She is now a pre-law student at the University of Maryland and has taken over the Vedic Cultural Society (a Krsna conscious club), which I started at the university four years ago. She recently received spiritual initiation. Her new name is Jahnavi Devi Dasi. For further information on starting a Bhakti Yoga Club, please contact Anjali Sankhla at 6 Fairdale Court, Silver Spring, MD 20905 USA. Phone: (301) 236-0564.
Vrnda Devi Dasi has a B.S. in microbiology from the University of Maryland, where she was president of the Vedic Cultural Society for four years. She is working on her Masters Degree and plans to become a medical doctor.