I n the famous treatise Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda, it is stated that the basic purpose of yoga is to discipline the mind, and the postures and asanas involved are methods to achieve this. It explains in detail breathing techniques and concentration, and explores the importance of non-attachment.
“The goal is to manifest this divine within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy, by one, or more, or all of these—and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details,” writes the revered swami in the foreword. Vivekananda is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inspiring icon. When the United Nations agreed to Modi’s plea to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day after his speech at the UN General Assembly, it was seen as a recognition of India’s cultural and spiritual heritage. It has also become a bitter political controversy, with the Congress party calling it a ‘photo-op’ as 35,000 t0 40,000 people are likely assemble on Rajpath to practice yoga asanas.
The day is being celebrated in 192 countries simultaneously, including 47 of the 56 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Pakistan refused a visa for a yoga teacher who was being sent to Islamabad, but the Indian Embassy staff will be performing yoga inside the embassy compound. On Rajpath, Modi will be part of the gathering while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be present at the UN headquarters to commemorate the event. Modi is a master of the grand scale, and the yoga event is meant to bring the power of ancient Indian sciences to the modern world, nationally and globally.
Though anti-NDA political parties have criticised the move as one promoting Hindutva, many Indian leaders across the poltical spectrum have been practising yoga—followed by over 250 million people worldwide—for decades. They include Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former law minister M Veerappa Moily, Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Pawan Bansal, Anand Sharma, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandez, Kerala Home Minister and former Youth Congress President Ramesh Chennithala and Left leaders like V S Achutanandan and Brinda Karat. When contacted, both Marxist leaders refused to comment. Some Congress heavyweights were wary of being dragged into the controversy. “I’ve been practising yoga for a long time, but since it’s a personal matter, I do not want to discuss it,” said Moily.
The only common bond that unites Kejriwal and Modi is yoga. The Delhi CM is a yoga enthusiast. During the campaign days, watching Kejriwal battling a persistent cough, Modi had suggested that he consult the PM’s yoga therapist, Dr H R Nagendra, who is reputed to have cured over two lakh asthma patients. Every day, Kejriwal combats the stress of being the CM as well the beleagured AAP chieftain by doing yoga exercises. When he went for his naturopathy course to Bengaluru in March, he had performed rigorous yoga asanas to get rid of his asthma and control blood sugar.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been doing yoga for more than three decades. He started the discipline when he realised that he had to keep himself fit to handle the hectic schedules of a senior leader and five-time chief minister. Badal says yoga gives him the energy to work. He says he does Pranayama and other asanas that suit his age and health. “Yoga keeps me physically and mentally fit,” says the 87-year-old doyen of Punjab politics.
Even the Gandhi family has a strong yoga tradition. Indira Gandhi was a strong believer in the ancient Indian science, and her yoga guru Dhirendra Brahmachari became infamous for his clout in political circles. His yoga show on Doordarshan was the first to promote the discipline in a big way. Congress party insiders say Sonia Gandhi has a personal trainer, who also teaches yoga. Rahul Gandhi is a young leader who has mastered the secrets of meditation, but instead of yoga, practices the Japanese martial art, Aikido. Modi’s bete noire and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been practising yoga for decades. However, considering his political stance, he criticised Modi’s efforts to popularise the millennia-old practice of physical and mental wellbeing. “Yoga is not an exercise to show off. I have been practising yoga for many years,” says Nitish, adding, “Yoga calls for a voluntary exercise for self-discipline.”
His opponents Pappu Yadav, the RJD MP who has recently floated his own political party Jan Adhikar Manch (JAM), is also a regular yoga practitioner. “It has helped me to control my weight in the last couple of years,” says Yadav. “It controls stress and blood pressure.” He says he learnt it from his father, who is also a regular yoga practitioner.
To boost government efforts to bring yoga to the people, Modi had appointed Shripad Yesso Naik as minister for yoga. As the minister of state for AYUSH, ayurveda, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy are also part of his portfolio.
Naik has been a yoga pracitioner for over 30 years. “Yoga gives us energy. It keeps people going. I never had a headache, neither an injection or have ever fallen sick. This is all because of yoga. It’s Rambaan. It’s only when one is healthy that he can help the country,” he says.
| "I was introduced to yoga by my parents, as they always emphasised the importance of physical exercise and well being." POONAM MAHAJAN, BJP MP |
The minister points out how BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi’s daughter Nivedita, who was injured in an accident, recovered through yoga and is running an institute.
In the run-up to Sunday, many BJP state governments had practice sessions. A special session was held at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s house as a rehearsal for International Yoga Day.
The controversy that Muslims and Christians should not be forced to pay obeisance doing ‘Surya Namaskar’ to the sun has been stirred up to discredit International Yoga Day by the Congress and some minority leaders. That even atheists can practice yoga has been proven by Karunanidhi. When the DMK chief started learning yoga, his guru TKV Desikar advised him to chant Narayana namaha (salutations to Lord Narayana) before any session. Karunanidhi refused. He asked his guru, “There are so many persons to chant this name in Sanskrit. Why can’t I chant something in Tamil?” Since Desikar had said uttering ‘Narayana’ would be addressing the Sun God, Karunanidhi suggested chanting Gnayiru Potruthum (Salutations to the Sun God in Tamil). Desikar accepted that and Karunanidhi started this salutation while doing yoga. He wrote, “I wish everyone learns yoga. Yoga exercises keep the mind calm by practising meditation... these are indeed inevitable for one’s life.”
Many NDA ministers swear by yoga’s impact on mental and physical wellbeing. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, ace shooter and Olympic gold medallist who is currently the MoS for Information and Broadcasting, says he grew up watching his father do yoga. Inititially, the poses used to amuse him as a child. But at the Military Academy, he was introduced to yoga. He says, “If you want a full body workout, then Surya Namaksar is absolutely one of the best exercises. There is a sense of unison between body, mind and soul when you do these exercises. The exercises are done to create a balance of mind.”
Rathore says most days that Indians celebrate come from the Western world and Yoga Day is a signal of nationalism that goes beyond religion. He says, “If a person has a belief, then it works better. The more the quantum of belief, the more it will help you. When you close your eyes and sit in dhyaan, yoga teaches you to concentrate on your breathing. That is beyond any religion.”
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah couldn’t agree more. Yoga has helped him ovecome sleep apnea. He has decided to participate in the yoga programme initiated by the AYUSH ministry. “It is part of Indian culture, which all of us should encourage. It is good for health,” endorses the veteral politician. He has been practising for the last three years.
Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa says, “When I was in the RSS office in Bengaluru, I was doing yoga. I have not stopped practising it. Yoga should be a part of the education system. Our children should be educated about it.”
Another Karnataka politician who is a yoga aficiando is AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandez, who has been practising it for over a quarter century. “I had been advised by doctors to replace the knee cap. The pain was so serious that I couldn’t even climb the aircraft stairs. Then I started yoga, which I practiced by reading books. Today, my knee is completely recovered and I have no health problems,” he says delightedly. Fernandez considers Vajrasana the best asana. He says, “Yoga is our contribution to the world and everyone has accepted it.” The Congress leader believes all schools should teach students the benefits of yoga. “It has a zero health budget. If people practise it properly, they will have no health worries,” he says.
Yet another Congress leader who swears by yoga is Kerala’s Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. “I’ve been practising it for over 10 years. Every day I spend between 30 to 45 minutes for asanas. Besides fitness, it gives me positive energy,” he says. His favourite asanas are Surya Namaskar, Padmasana and Vajrasana.
Chennithala says the current controversy over yoga is unwanted. “Never mix yoga with politics or religion. Consider it a time-tested exercise for the mind and body.”
He seems perturbed over the conflict between Muslim organisations over International Yoga Day. “Yoga or similar practices are popular in different parts of the world. The namaaz has a close resemblance to yoga postures. Hence it is inappropriate for anyone to claim that it is part of a particular faith or culture,” he says.
MoS for Railways, Manoj Sinha is on board with Chennithala on this issue. “It will help in bridging the gap between Hindu and Muslims and will create a secular environment in the world,” says the white-haired BJP politician.
If the south and the north have yoga fans in the political world, so does western India. Poonam Mahajan, BJP MP from Mumbai North Central and late BJP satrap Pramod Mahajan’s daughter, says she has been practising yoga for the past three years. “I was introduced to it by my parents, as they always emphasised the importance of physical exercise and wellbeing. I have been doing a combination of yoga and jogging,” she says, confessing her mother is fitter than her and she follows her.
Poonam had also done a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living course. She says the Sudrashan kriya is the best and the now-controversial Suryanamaskar the best cardio exercise.
“I am proud that Indian culture is now an international phenomenon. It is available all over the world,” she says. The young MP says International Yoga Day will spread awareness about the benefits of the ancient system. “Whenever I go abroad and meet my relatives, I find their interest in yoga is more than ours. My foreign friends used to come here and spend time in ashrams to learn yoga. The interest in yoga has grown a lot lately in our country,” she says.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar says that he has been practising yoga since 1980 from his RSS days. He says that interest in yoga should not be confined to International Yoga Day. He says 1,000 ‘vyayam shalas’ would be opened in rural Haryana to take it to the common man.
The zeal among Modi’s ministers to promote yoga, however, has had its lighter moments. When the affable Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar posted on Twitter pictures of him in a striped tee and blue track pants doing complex yogasanas in his garden, they were greeted with much mirth. But Javdekar is unfazed. He has been at it for 40 years and feels yoga is a derivative of Indian culture, which has become a global phenomenon. He says “170 countries have approved it as people the world over are practising it and it is the fastest growing physical activity”.
But Javdekar’s yoga passion began with a different story, during a dark period of Indian politics. “I was in jail during the Emergency in 1975 and was detected with a heart problem. I underwent surgery and of 10-12 people operated on for the same defect, only two survived. Since then, I realised that we should keep the body fit as it is a gift from nature,” he says. This led him to adopt yoga and other physical fitness programmes.
On International Yoga Day, Modi has his full team solidly behind him. Arjun Meghwal, BJP MP and chief whip in the Lok Sabha, has been practising yoga since 1980, and is an expert at Tadasana, Padmasana, meditation, Pranayam and Suryanamaskar.
“Yoga started from India. It went to Western countries as they wanted to increase their life expectancy,” says the MP. Ironically, his son Naveen Meghwal is his guru. He had learnt yoga and did M.Sc in yoga sciences from Dr HR Nagendra’s Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana in Bengaluru. Naveen runs his own yoga centre in Singapore.
Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, MoS Chemicals and Fertilisers, says yoga can help one work longer hours, like the PM does. He denies yoga has religious connotations. “Yoga is a product of India. Anyone of any religion or race can do it. It will help a Hindu as much as a Muslim. We have taken cricket from the West, and yoga is our export to the world,” he says.
BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe says though yoga started as an Indian contribution to wellbeing, it is now an international phenomenon.
More than 30,000 people will participate in a mass yoga demonstration at New York’s Times Square. Global leaders and diplomats will be part of the celebrations at the UN headquarters. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver the keynote address at the start of the day’s celebrations.
Whatever Modi does, he does it on a vast scale to generate maximum effect. Whether it be the hologram onslaught, Mann Ki Baat to schoolchildren across the country or Chai Pe Charcha, all are efforts calculated to leave an impact on the audience. The story is the same overseas too, starting with his address at Madison Square Garden, which is rockstar territory. Modi’s yoga drive has impressed world leaders he met during his official tours. In April, US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had a ‘yoga garden’ for children and their parents who attend the traditional Easter Egg Roll festivities at the White House. “Come enjoy a session of yoga from professional instructors,” was the message sent to parents and children.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha celebrated Easter at a yoga retreat. At the India pavilion at Hannover Messe trade fair, which Modi inaugurated during his Germany visit, business yoga and the relevance of yoga in the Western world were highlights. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who Modi calls his “brother”, vowed to promote yoga in his country and was gifted a yoga book by Modi.
The Indian Prime Minister, in his quest to discover the forgotten wonders of Indian civilisation, has succeeded in bringing awareness of yoga as a panacea to the ills of modern lifestyles. International Yoga Day is his first big show to highlight the achievements of a lost age on a grand scale in India and abroad. It is also unlikely to be his last.
| "Namaaz has a close resemblance to yoga postures. Hence it is inappropriate to claim that it is part of a particular faith or culture." RAMESH CHENNITHALA, Kerela Home Minister |
With Pratul Sharma, Richa Sharma, Harpreet Bajwa, Kiran Tare, T Muruganandham, Rajashekar S and MS Vidyanandan.
Also Read:
| How It All Began | The Yoga Cheat Sheet | The Father of Yoga in the West | Vivekananda on Yoga | 38 Health Benefits of Yoga |