International Yoga Day: Delhi exercises its right to stay fit

NEW DELHI: The early morning heat and the high humidity did not deter thousands of Delhiites from stretching their bodies into sinuous forms at various events to observe International Yoga Day on Friday. For government servants, participation at the yoga sessions was more or less mandatory, and for many members of religious organisations, it was an opportunity to blend the spiritual with the physical.For the common citizens, however, it was a festive occasion as much as the chance to become a part of mass action, inspiring them to leave their homes in NCR towns before dawn to join Delhiites at various designated spots.
The temperature at 7am wasn’t pleasant at 32 degrees Celsius at 7am, made worse by the 60% humidity. But enthusiasm won over. At Rajpath, the capital’s ceremonial esplanade, smartly carpeted in neon green, there was none other than defence minister Rajnath Singh egging the participants on, himself showing the way. Alongside were some Union ministers, Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, chief ministers and members of Parliament, all eager to assume the postures the asanas demanded.

Yoga is not an activity belonging to any religion, Singh said, rather a platform that enjoined on all people to make a better world. “And today,” he went on, “not only Indians, but people in over 177 countries are performing yoga in letter and in spirit.” People gathered at Rajpath around 5am, but the formal asana sessions began at 7:10am after a live address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Over 18,000 members of social organisations such as Art of Living, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, Vivekananda Yoga Ashram, Brahmkumaris and Gayatri Parivar joined personnel from central armed police forces in flexing their bodies there. Dharmendra Thakur, 32, a member of Gayatri Parivar, revealed that over 2,000 of them had come from places like Noida. “Yoga is as much about spiritual and social development as it is about physical health. It is a mission of peace,” he said.
For a while, however, peace was missing amid the tussling and fierce arguments over the yoga mats being distributed for free. Sunita Mutreja, an Art of Living teacher from east Delhi’s Krishna Nagar, did all she could to dissuade people from gleefully leaving with more than one mat. “Some people do not even have a single mat with them and others are looting and taking away so many,” she fumed. “From next year, they should mark people so each gets only one mat.”
Pradeep Sah, 22, a civil services aspirant, came with the kids in the family. “Having seen last year’s event on TV, the children insisted on being at India Gate. Interest in yoga has increased since a day was dedicated to it globally.” Bann Singh, 55, too expressed happiness at new interest. A practitioner for a decade, he couldn’t help adding, “While I like the initiative, they could have begun a little early because it became very hot midway.”
Praveen Kumar, 32, an employee of Delhi Transport Corporation, brought his family for the physical exertions. “Pollution is our main concern, and yoga can help us immensely to counter the toxic air we breathe in,” he claimed. In fact, consideration about the environment was quite in evidence everywhere, with the use of eco-friendly material such as khadi for the mats and paper cups at the water dispensers for quenching thirst.