Practicing Yoga is like opening a zero balance account- Modi
Yoga has been part of the Indian culture and tradition for centuries but never before had it achieved such hype as in the last two years. The credit for this goes to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who knows how to make anything a Brand, be it his famous Modi Jacket or Yoga. The fact that for the first time in history a Yoga posture was painted on the United Nations building a day before the International Yoga Day celebrated on June 21 means that this ancient Indian system of wellness has been brought out of Ashrams of Rishis and Gurus to take center stage. It was only last year that Modi pushed for Yoga globally and today we have people from 185 nationalities participating and happily posing for the cameras to show their prowess in Yoga as almost the entire world celebrated the International Day of Yoga. In its very first year in 2015 the International Yoga Day created a world record when the sight of over 35,000 people participating in Yoga simultaneously at the India Gate made it to the Guinness Book of records. This year the Prime Minister decided to participate in the programme of Yoga in Chandigarh and about 32,000 people had participated in the show even after the heavy downpour the night before. Among the participants at Chandigarh were a number of differently- abled children now known as Divyangs, with whom he Prime Minister freely interacted before the commencement of the programme. Yet another milestone this year was the participation of around 2,000 pregnant women in the yoga program beating a record of 913 such women participating in yoga on June 5 in China. In Nagpur the Government declared an incentive for prisoners to reduce their jail term by 3 months if they practiced Yoga regularly. So infectious was the mood this year that besides the PM leading the show, Yoga was also practiced at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and several State capitals and cities. The PM told the gathering at Chandigarh that among all the programmes of the United Nations the International Day of Yoga had become a movement which is going from strength to strength. Those who heard him also got to see why he is considered such a good pracharak (preacher). Allaying the fears of Muslims that Yoga was being imposed on them he categorically stated that Yoga was not a religion. “Yoga balances the body, heart and the mind.In Yoga you don’t have to wait for the next birth to get the results of your good deeds. It takes care of your health in this birth itself,” he told the mesmerized audience that had been waiting for him since early morning. Instead, he pitched for the medical and health benefits from practicing Yoga and told the gathering that investing time in Yoga was like opening a zero balance account. Heading a government that came on the agenda of development, Modi said that Yoga was the cheapest preventive healthcare system available and declared that next year the focus of the IDY would be on tackling diabetes, which had become one of the most fatal diseases in the country.