Midpoint Reflection: Kurukshetra + Gita Values Masterclass (Sessions 1–2)

Games For Seva
2 days ago
3 min read

If you ask a teen what they expect from an “ancient epic,” you’ll get an honest range of answers: interesting… confusing… maybe too religious… maybe relevant.And that’s exactly why we began this masterclass the way we did, by framing these stories not as “old tales,” but as decision-making labs.

Over two sessions, students have been practicing a practical life skill that shows up everywhere from friendships to school stress to impulse control:

Pause → See clearly → Choose wisely → Repeat.

And we’ve been using three powerful tools to train that habit:

the Mahabharata’s character choices (how consequences build over time),
the Bhagavad Gita’s inner clarity under pressure,
and the Kurukshetra deck-building game, where choices compound turn after turn.

Session 1: Pause Before You Play

Our first session focused on something students instantly recognized: how often we act without clarity.

In the activity, students named real moments where they acted impulsively:

procrastinating and then feeling the stress flood in later
skimming questions, missing details, reacting too fast
choosing comfort (sleep/phone/TV/games) over preparation
jumping to conclusions in social situations

They also explored the other side of the same problem: decision avoidance.Many admitted they delay choices not because they’re “thinking deeply,” but because they want certainty or they fear the outcome.

Then we introduced the “Life Deck” idea:Just like a game deck improves one card at a time, life improves one habit at a time.

Students most often choose to add:time management, patience, focus, organization, consistency, empathy not as vague virtues, but as skills they want to actively build.

Session 2: Choices Compound

Session 2 shifted from “pause” to “patterns.”

We explored how the Kurukshetra war didn’t begin on the battlefield...it began much earlier… with repeated choices, avoided truths, and commitments made without fully seeing the trade-offs.

Students reflected through three character lenses:

Vidura: Seeing the whole systemStudents easily recognized modern Vidura moments:someone flags a problem early (in a group project, in society, in friendships)… and people ignore it until it becomes a crisis.The skill here is not just “being right” but it’s the courage to speak truth without needing peer approval.

Bhishma: Commitment and trade-offs Students completed the line: “Every strong YES contains a hidden NO…”They listed what commitments cost: time, freedom, other opportunities, comfort, and even identity.They also named what they may need to say “no” to in order to protect what matters: distractions, unhealthy habits, peer pressure, toxic drama, overcommitment.

Bhima: Resilience without bitterness This section landed deeply. Students understood that resilience isn’t “winning.”It’s staying in the game, especially when life feels unfair, when you get a setback, when you get a “bad draw”. Their most repeated strategies were: stay calm, adapt, learn, focus on what I can control, try again without spiraling.

The Deck Audit: What Weakens vs Strengthens

One of the clearest takeaways from the activities was how consistently students could identify patterns.

Weakening habits they named: procrastination, phone/social distractions, impatience/anger, overthinking/avoidance, shortcuts that reduce learning.

Strengthening habits they named: Planning ahead, consistency, time management, calm under pressure, asking for help, adapting after setbacks.

In other words: students aren’t just listening but they’re are also self-diagnosing, and beginning to build a “strategy” for life.