CHENNAI: Dressed in white shirt and pyjamas, and standing in neat lines just as trained soldiers, 5,000 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets from over 40 schools and colleges across the city assembled on the Madras Medical College grounds on Sunday to observe the first ever International Yoga Day.
As the clock struck 7 am, participants rolled out their mats and began performing suryanamaskar 108 times. They went on to perform 21 yoga asanas (postures) for 35 minutes, without a pause. They were part of the country-wide initiative by the Corps to stage a feat so remarkable that it now stands a chance to enter the record books.
“We have been practising for this day for the last eight weeks,” said Arun Selvan, an NCC cadet from a government school in Chevvapet. “It is a great form of exercise and it’s nice to be a part of this event,” he added.
The cadets from medical, R and V and girls battalion participated in the event. Three qualified instructors from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandir instructed the students from time to time as they bent and twisted their bodies. “This is the first time we have participated in an event of this magnitude,” said Col KN Anbunathan, commanding officer of the Tamil Nadu medical unit. The authorities are planning to send in their entries to the Limca Book of Records.
