The issue on hand, I guess, is a bit complex. "Yoga" is being projected by the Indian state, under the BJP/NDA regime in three ways - explicitly and implicitly, all at the same time: (i) it's a secular regimen of physical exercises, (ii) it's an inalienable part of Hindu spiritualism and (iii) it's a proud "national" legacy inherited from ancient India.
If we leave that aside for the moment, to my knowledge, Yoga, or Hatha Yoga to be more precise, is practised worldwide without connecting it to any religion and associated rituals. And, there are quite few variety of Yoga. It has three main elements: (i) Asanas - essentially complex static postures, (ii) Pranayam - various breathing exercises, usually in lotus posture or Padmasana (or Sukhasana or comfortable posture) and (iv) Suryanamaskar - an innovative combination of touch-the-toe, push-up and sit-up. The last one has nothing to do with the Sun or Surya except for the tag. It can be, and quite often is, performed in a room. There is no requirement of facing the Sun. One may also add some Kriyas, e.g. Dhautis, to these three. There are many books on Yoga. I, for one, have gone through only a few. None connected it to any religion. Arguably, a very authentic and exhaustive work is authored by late BKS Iyengar. Even this does make no religious connection. The UN evidently did not consider it as a religious practice while declaring the June 21st as the International Yoga Day. At the same time the incumbent regime is undoubtedly trying to drum up all sorts of parochial, and revivalist, sentiments while officially promoting it hard. The underlying complexity calls for a measured and thoughtful response. Otherwise it could be quite counterproductive. The write-up by Nirupama Subramanian posted under this thread, to my mind, is a quite measured and thoughtful response. Sukla On 22/06/2015, Shamsul Islam <[email protected]> wrote: > We must reject extravaganzas like Yoga Day as Indians committed to a > secular-democratic polity. Those apologists who tried to present yoga or > Yoga day as secular must read what the VHP International Executive > President Praveen Togadia said in Jaipur on June 20th. According to the > Indian Express: > > "Praveen Togadia said that the discipline was never secular and was more of > 'Vedic and sanatan'.He also said that Surya Namaskar was an essential part > of the exercise form and no performance of yoga was complete without it. > 'Om and Surya Namaskar, two exercises of yoga, are very necessary and > without them, yoga is incomplete,' Togadia told reporters at a VHP event > here. The Hindu right-wing leader leader further said that 'yoga was never > secular, it is more 'Vedic and sanatan' (ancient)". > > Yoga project is part of Hindutva project and June 21st was chosen to > coincide with the death anniversary of the RSS founder, Keshav Baliram > Hedgewar. It was organized to pay homage to him. Yoga is being used to > cover up NDA crimes. It was shocking that Modi's slogan of 'Make in India' > was forgotten during Yoga Day. More than 40 thousand mats were imported > from China. This order could have gone to weavers of Varanasi, Hapur (in > UP) Bihar, Maharashtra who are known for manufacturing cotton durries. Many > of them have committed suicide. > > S. Islam > > On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 12:54 PM, faraz ahmad <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> This was a brilliant piece by my good friend and one time colleague from >> good old Express days. Dear Nirupama, keep it up. >> Faraz >> >> > Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 15:29:46 +0530 >> > Subject: [भारत-चिँतन:33717] The Yoga Nautanki! >> > From: [email protected] >> > To: [email protected] >> > >> > I/II. >> > >> http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/i-wont-do-yoga-tomorrow/99/ >> > >> > I won’t do yoga tomorrow >> > I won’t have the government dictate my fitness choices, especially if >> > they are linked to religion, nationalism and patriotism >> > >> > It is insulting to both the practice and the practitioner to have it >> > thrust down in this manner. And to impose it on those who do not want >> > to do yoga or have no interest in it is worse. (Illustration: C R >> > Sasikumar) >> > >> > Written by Nirupama Subramanian | Published on:June 20, 2015 12:00 am >> > >> > My first serious and lasting encounter with yoga took place in >> > Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the stately building of what used to be the >> > Imperial Bank, now State Bank of India, as non-ashram as it can get. >> > It was the year 2001. Narendra Modi, who would become chief minister >> > of Gujarat later that year, wasn’t yet a household name. And Baba >> > Ramdev was nowhere on the horizon. >> > >> > In the grand hall with its high ceiling, where bank staff toiled over >> > the books under long-stemmed fans from another era, I had asked one of >> > the managers, an Indian from Bangalore, how he managed to look so >> > fresh even at the end of a hard-working day. Suryanamaskars, he said. >> > “You should try it out. I do 12 everyday, and it makes me feel as >> > light as an idli”. Six sets before he dropped his daughter to school >> > and six after he returned. It did not take minutes to tie up. His >> > wife, an accomplished yoga practitioner and teacher, would teach me >> > from the following week. >> > >> > INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY >> > Does PM Narendra Modi Do Yoga, Asks Russian President Putin >> > Church Bodies In Nagaland And Manipur Oppose Yoga Day On Sunday >> > NDA Govt Will Try To Break A Record Set In MP A Decade Ago >> > Maharashtra Government Plans University To ‘Standardise’ Yoga >> > Yoga Day Event A Mass Spectacle, Say JNU, DU Teachers >> > >> > It was a two-week course, in their terrace flat on top of the >> > building, with a panoramic view of Colombo port. I would show up at 7 >> > o’clock every morning, with a special permit to enter what was then a >> > high-security zone with multiple checkpoints and soldiers barking for >> > ID proof. The Sri Lankan president’s house was a two-minute walk from >> > the bank. For an hour every day for the next 15 days (weekends >> > excluded), she taught me the basics — breathing techniques, standing >> > and sitting postures, as well as prone ones — on their carpet with a >> > clean white sheet spread over it. On some days, I allowed myself to be >> > persuaded to stay for breakfast — dosai or pesarattu — over which the >> > husband and wife would narrate yoga stories. >> > >> > She saved the suryanamaskars for the last two days. The sheer grace of >> > the movements as one posture flowed into another in the series of 12 >> > hooked me forever. The following year, I saw a yoga mat for the first >> > time, in a supermarket in the United States. It was for $15, and I >> > bought it immediately. For the next 10 months, in an Ivy League campus >> > on the east coast, I learned more yoga from a Canadian who was >> > training to be a teacher and was desperately looking for students to >> > practise her stuff. >> > >> > The green rubber mat was a precious possession when I came back to >> > India in 2003. There were already deep footprints where I kicked off >> > the suryanamaskars at the head of the mat, and a set of toe marks at >> > its foot, where I pushed my feet back through my 12 sets. I clutched >> > on to the mat, praying for its survival, even as I looked for a >> > replacement in Chennai, which I found only four years later. Since >> > then, I have burned more yoga mats than I can remember. I continued to >> > learn all the while. In Pakistan, my teacher was a Swiss woman, a >> > committed practitioner who later travelled to Chennai to attend >> > training classes at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Some of the >> > other students at her class were Pakistani women. She brought to her >> > practice and teaching a precision and perfection that was, well, very >> > Swiss. >> > >> > At a yoga studio in Chennai, I did 108 suryanamaskars early on a New >> > Year’s Day, and again on the summer solstice that year, with some 50 >> > other people from diverse backgrounds. We had practised together for >> > two months. I also wangled a few classes from the great >> > Krishnamacharya’s son, T.K.V. Desikachar, unashamedly taking advantage >> > of him being my neighbour. I combined yoga at times with Pilates, and >> > at times with a running regimen. Many a time, I find myself folding up >> > in a padmasana almost involuntarily. >> > >> > But I am not going anywhere near my yoga mat on June 21 — because I >> > won’t have the prime minister or the government of India, or any >> > politician, dictate my fitness (or wellness, if you like) choices on >> > that day or any other, especially if they are going to link them, >> > overtly or insidiously, to religion, nationalism, patriotism and >> > morality. It is insulting to both the practice of yoga and the >> > practitioner to have it thrust down in this manner. And to impose it >> > on those who do not want to do it or have no interest in it is worse, >> > because it can only give yoga a bad name, as it has in the last few >> > weeks, and turn something beneficial into a divisive issue. >> > >> > Yoga flourished all over the world much before Modi decided he was >> > going to popularise it. Some of the most committed teachers of yoga >> > are in the US, where learning it has been in demand from the 1960s or >> > even earlier, after the violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin introduced the >> > legendary B.K.S. Iyengar to his friends, decades before urban >> > middle-class India discovered it on TV with Ramdev. In China, people >> > have been practising yoga for at least two decades. When Iyengar >> > visited there some years ago, he was stunned by how many followers he >> > had. Yoga has never needed a day declared by the UN to be special or >> > recognised internationally. Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to usurp >> > yoga as one of his diplomatic coups for Indian soft power is quite the >> > illusion. Yogis know that. >> > >> > [email protected] >> > >> > II. >> > >> http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/yoga-on-rajpath-with-help-from-made-in-china/99/ >> > >> > Yoga on Rajpath, with help from ‘Made in China’ >> > Head to constituencies, use event to reconnect with people, ministers >> told. >> > >> > The Gujarat government’s Yoga Day invite. >> > >> > Written by Abantika Ghosh | New Delhi | Updated: June 20, 2015 8:32 am >> > When the Narendra Modi government makes its Guinness World Record bid >> > on Sunday, it will be doing so on mats that were, by and large, made >> > in China. >> > >> > Since the contract was awarded barely three weeks ago, Arch Concept >> > Private Limited, a Tilak Nagar-based event management company which >> > won the bid to provide material for the June 21 event, went into a >> > tizzy shopping for about 37,500 yoga mats. >> > >> > An aeriel view of the preperations on Rajpath for the coming >> > International Day of Yoga on Thursday. (Source: Express photo by Oinam >> > Anand) An aeriel view of the preperations on Rajpath for the coming >> > International Day of Yoga. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand) >> > Since such a huge number of mats could not be procured from just one >> > city, the company went about buying them from 50-odd dealers across >> > the country. >> > >> > INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY >> > Does PM Narendra Modi Do Yoga, Asks Russian President Putin >> > Church Bodies In Nagaland And Manipur Oppose Yoga Day On Sunday >> > NDA Govt Will Try To Break A Record Set In MP A Decade Ago >> > Maharashtra Government Plans University To ‘Standardise’ Yoga >> > Yoga Day Event A Mass Spectacle, Say JNU, DU Teachers >> > >> > “These are Chinese-made mats. The procurement was rushed because >> > everything was last-minute. In fact, containers of mats from China, >> > which were headed to dealers and sub-dealers here, were diverted to >> > the warehouse for use on yoga day,” said a senior official in the >> > Ministry of AYUSH, which is organising the event. The mats are crucial >> > to the government’s bid as the Guinness World Record (GWR) authority >> > requires each participant to perform yoga on a separate mat. >> > >> > It was equally tough to procure 32 LED screens to be put up along the >> > 1,400 metre stretch at Rajpath. Because so many waterproof screens >> > were not available in Delhi, some had to be procured from Mumbai. With >> > Arch Concept charging Rs 35,000 for each screen, the tab for these has >> > reached more than Rs 11 lakh. About 11,000 square metre of carpeting >> > and 1,20,000 half litre water bottles also had to be arranged for the >> > event. >> > >> > “Mats were crucial because GWR conditions require every participant to >> > perform on his or her own mat. It was all last-minute — tenders were >> > finalised only about 20 days ago and we went all over the country to >> > all importers, dealers and manufacturers to buy their entire stock. >> > Some mats were manufactured in India, but most are from China,” said >> > Dilpreet Oberoi, managing director of Arch Concept. >> > >> > Sources said the company, which has been organising the Plast India >> > Exhibition at Pragati Maidan for several years now, was chosen for its >> > experience and also because it quoted the lowest bid. >> > >> > The tender price quoted was about Rs 250 per mat, or Rs 93 lakh in >> > total. Mats would be provided in seven colours and GWR will number >> > each mat and also scan bar-coded entry tickets to ascertain how many >> > people participate in the record bid. >> > >> > Sources said the total value of the contract awarded to Arch Concept >> > is about Rs 3 crore. >> > Meanwhile, NDA ministers, who were initially told to attend the yoga >> > event at the Capital, have now been instructed to go to their >> > constituencies to lead the celebrations there. >> > Sources said the instructions came from PM Narendra Modi last week. >> > They said the PM wants the ministers to use this event to reconnect >> > with the people. >> > >> > Ministers have been asked to arrive at their constituencies a day >> > before the event to supervise arrangements. Most ministers have not >> > undergone training and are likely to perform basic yoga asanas as a >> > symbolic gesture. >> > >> > >> > First Published on: June 20, 2015 2:09 am >> > -- >> > Peace Is Doable >> > >> > -- >> > >> > --- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "Bharat Chintan" group. >> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >> an email to [email protected]. >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bharat-chintan. >> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Bharat Chintan" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bharat-chintan. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Bharat Chintan" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bharat-chintan. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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