With the UN-backed International Yoga Day on Sunday, which apparently has made into the Guinness Book of records for its sheer numbers, Indians who are proud of the country’s ancient past can be gratified that the world has seen it. The day was indeed unprecedented because such a public display of people stretching and bending in large numbers in world capitals was new.
That India, or rather the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the force behind this global spectacle will certainly make a lot of Indians proud. It was him, who had urged the UN General Assembly in 2014 to set aside a day for yoga. Subsequently, India’s resolution on the proposal drew the largest ever number of cosponsors in the General Assembly. Leading the show in Dehli on Sunday, he said: “I believe that from the 21st of June, through the International Day of Yoga, it is not just the beginning of a day but the beginning of a new age through which we will achieve greater heights of peace, good will and train the human spirit.”
Most of the mainstream media went into an overdrive with anchors, experts, celebrities and politicians claiming how great Yoga is. Most of them said its practice kept them fit, while hardcore fans claimed that it was effective against a lot of illnesses from cancer to hypertension. What was however, unanswered in the excitement and hype, was how different it was from other forms of exercises in terms of results. Barring the personal testimonies of its diehard fans, many of whom also believed that ancient India was the repository of even modern scientific and technological knowledge, the mainstream media hardly presented any scientific evidence to demonstrate the superiority of Yoga. Neither were there any counter-views. It was a one-sided revelry that bolstered the Indian fantasy of a super power.
That India, or rather the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the force behind this global spectacle will certainly make a lot of Indians proud. It was him, who had urged the UN General Assembly in 2014 to set aside a day for yoga. Subsequently, India’s resolution on the proposal drew the largest ever number of cosponsors in the General Assembly. Leading the show in Dehli on Sunday, he said: “I believe that from the 21st of June, through the International Day of Yoga, it is not just the beginning of a day but the beginning of a new age through which we will achieve greater heights of peace, good will and train the human spirit.”
Most of the mainstream media went into an overdrive with anchors, experts, celebrities and politicians claiming how great Yoga is. Most of them said its practice kept them fit, while hardcore fans claimed that it was effective against a lot of illnesses from cancer to hypertension. What was however, unanswered in the excitement and hype, was how different it was from other forms of exercises in terms of results. Barring the personal testimonies of its diehard fans, many of whom also believed that ancient India was the repository of even modern scientific and technological knowledge, the mainstream media hardly presented any scientific evidence to demonstrate the superiority of Yoga. Neither were there any counter-views. It was a one-sided revelry that bolstered the Indian fantasy of a super power.