HYDERABAD: Sipping their teas and munching on cookies, guests who were present at the talk on Monday at The Park Somajiguda hosted by FICCI FLO, were ready to pay rapt attention to the man of the hour – Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. Before he, along with Kavitha Kalvakuntla who was moderating the talk took the stage, Kamini Saraf, the chairperson of FLO’s Hyderabad Chapter, addressed and welcomed the crowd expressing her pleasure to be hosting the spiritual guru who she admired even personally.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev with his powerful aura glided onto the stage with a peaceful smile on the face as he was welcomed to a thunderous applause. The crowd of over 600 FLO members both women and men, erupted in cheers seeing their beloved guru. ‘In Conversation with a Mystic’ as the talk was called, was moderated and initiated by MP Kavitha Kalvakuntla. Before their conversation began however, Sadhguru picked up a prayer in a booming voice which left the auditorium in deafening silence.
Kavitha went straight to questioning while Sadhguru kept answering in lighthearted yet enlightening statements. Considering the objective of YFLO itself of women empowerment and its correlation with the spiritual and religious, Kavitha asked why it is that our scriptures showcased heroines who were abused and ostracised. She quoted examples of Sita and Draupadi.
However, Sadhguru calmly corrected her stating that mythology wasn’t the same as scriptures. And then humoured, “Say you were a woman born in UP. And someone from Srilanka abducted you. Would you not want to be with a man who walked all the way across the ocean and fought a war for you?” After the crowd had a hearty laugh Kavitha interjected, “But the Agnipariksha also happened.” To which Sadhguru said, “Ram was a king who was being looked upto by thousands of people and he did what needed to be done according to the dharma of that age. It isn’t appropriate to apply the same in 21st century.”
As the gender equality banter went on, Sadhguru, not one to mince words said, “I believe identity shouldn’t be altered due to gender. I don’t care what is in anyone’s pants. That is something that is only relevant in the bedroom or bathroom and that too only to a few. Identification with gender essentially means you are identifying yourself with your sexual body parts alone.”
Despite his lighthearted banter he also asserted that it might be 15-20 years before there is a playing field. The session ended with questions regarding spirituality, empowerment, yoga, leadership etc directed to him from the audience. The guests were then treated to a lavish feast after which they bid adieu to each other.