Vibhu Vinod
High schooler, BalVihar student, and creator of MyGitaShala
New Jersey, USA
Why I built MyGitaShala
My journey with Sanatana Dharma began as a BalVihar student at Chinmaya Vrindavan NJ. Every Sunday morning, I learned moral lessons drawn from the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata — stories that were meant to shape how we lived the rest of the week.
But across the many temples I have visited in New Jersey and beyond, I noticed the same problem repeating. Students were engaged for one hour a week, and then gradually forgot what they had learned by the next Sunday. The teaching was never the issue. The six days in between were.
That gap is what led me to create MyGitaShala. It is not a replacement for BalVihar — it is a complement to it. Structured, Duolingo-style lessons keep a student returning to the verses on their own time, while temples, teachers, and parents get the tools to organize, teach, and track that learning together, instead of each working in isolation.
Outside of schoolwork I play sports, and I have a growing fascination with rockets. Building this has felt surprisingly similar to that interest: you are trying to give something enough sustained thrust to escape the pull that keeps dragging it back down.
The path here
- Where it started
BalVihar at Chinmaya Vrindavan NJ
Sunday mornings learning moral lessons from the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata.
- What I noticed
The same gap, temple after temple
One engaged hour a week, followed by six days in which most of it quietly faded.
- What I built
MyGitaShala
Structured daily lessons for students, plus organizing and tracking tools for temples, teachers, and parents.
What I care about
Complements BalVihar
Sunday class is where the teaching happens. This exists to carry it through the six days that follow, not to replace the teacher.
Retention over coverage
Racing through chapters means nothing if it is gone by next week. Short, repeated practice is the whole design.
Temples, teachers, and parents together
A student learns best when all three can see the same progress. Everyone gets tools built for their actual role.
Written for students my age
Clear enough for a curious kid in BalVihar, never written to impress scholars.
Come say hello
I read everything that comes in — corrections to a translation, ideas for a lesson, or just how it’s going for your family or your class.