NEWDELHI: At 4.30 am on June 4, 2011, the saffron-clothed man with the fierce black beard appears on stage to the cheers of a waiting crowd. Baba Ramdev begins to chant the hymn from the Mahabharta. “Yada yada hi dharmasya, glanir bhavati bharata” (whenever there is a decline in righteousness, O descendant of Bharata and a predominant rise ofunrighteousness –at that time I incarnate myself). Ramdev, who has just commenced his indefinite fast against black money, invokes Lord Krishna, thereby reminding his thousands of disciplined followers that he, too, has been chosen by the almighty to free the country of the corruption-ridden government.
The crowd erupts into rapture. Men, women and children shout with one voice—“baba hum aapke saath hain, is desh ka kala dhan vaapis laake rakh denege!” (We are with you baba, we will bring back the nation’s black money.)
A handful of foreigners visiting the Baba’s camp are awe-struck with the interface of spiritualism and politics in India. “This is something unique, something never seen in France,” says Nicholas, a Frenchman who came to see Baba Ramdev’s show, after reading about it in the newspapers. He wonders how a spiritual guru, generally associated with compassion, can demand capital punishment for the corrupt.
Exuding optimism, after the beeline of politicians visiting him for the past few days, Ramdev advocates composure. “We don’t want that politicians should do a sheerarsan (headstands) before us,” sending out strong signals to the government as well as his followers that he is willing to see reason.
Ramdev’s disciples, are unconcerned about the number of days they would have to fast. “As long as Baba is fasting, we are with him. So, what if we will die, it will be for the noble cause,” says Majid Ansari, who has travelled from Ranchi. All are committed to sit along with Baba on the dharna till he decides to call off the satyagraha. Ramdev’s congregation is disciplined, polite and organised. This, perhaps, has more to do with planning and the arrangements done by Baba’s devotees. The crowd has no acrimonious words for the government, leaving it to their guru to do all the talking.
Ramdev, on his part, does not disappoint. A good orator, who has all the skills of a politician, he continues talking for hours, be it on spiritualism, politics, corruption, yogic exercises or just singing patriotic songs. Ramdev is all in one, the reason, perhaps why when he comes on to the dais, after taking rest for a while or going for talks with Union Ministers, there is visible anxiety writ on his suporters’ faces.
Fresh, jovial and relaxed, Baba’s devotees are more from his shivirs in Haridwar, Moradabad, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and mostly from BJP-ruled States.They claim to have been cured of various ailments and practice yoga on regular basis. So obsessed are these disciples with yogic exercises that they do not fail to profess the same to whosoever comes to them.
Whether it is the crowd of 250 young girls from a shivir in Uttarakhand or a gathering of 50 of senior citizens from Bihar or Sikhs from Punjab, all speak with one voice. “We have come to support Babaji. We will fast and won’t move until he says so,” remarks Savita from Jharkhand.For the likes of her, living in a tent along with her colleagues is no big deal. “We want to restore to India the pride of yesteryears. We will get blackmoney back and once again become a country of the golden bird,”she says. As Baba speaks, people come on to the stage with cheques to aid the movement. The organisers claim they have recived over 1.16 crore telephone calls in Baba’s support. The congregation is swelling.—with Tarun Nangia