Thousands beat the rain and hit the mat
Modi charisma brings enthusiasts to Ramabai Ambedkar ground despite early morning showers
LUCKNOW: All city roads led to the Ramabai Ambedkar ground as early as 3am on Wednesday.
Over 51,000 people from all walks of life took a deep breath, stretched and twisted their bodies along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other VVIPs to celebrate International Yoga Day at the venue.
Heavy rain early in the morning failed to deter the spirits of thousands of yoga enthusiasts who thronged the venue.
“It started raining at 4:30am. But people still made it to the venue. I am sure it’s the respect towards the PM that brought people here,” said Kaushal Raj Sharma, district magistrate, Lucknow.
“We are here to support Modi ji for the noble cause of spreading yoga awareness among the masses,” said RN Tiwari, a retired official of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), who hails from Gomti Nagar.
“It’s only Modi’s charisma that brought us to the venue despite heavy rain,” said enthusiasts.
The Yoga Day fervour could be gauged by the fact that people began their countdown for the event since Tuesday midnight. They left home around 2am to reach the spots from where they were ferried to the venue in Roadways buses.
“I came here all the way from Varanasi to become a part of the event. I am a great fan of Modi ji and have attended all the yoga Day programmes so far. Hence, I am here to take part in the third edition of Yoga Day,” said Vasudev Mishra, a yoga enthusiast, as he took his place at the ground.
The enthusiasts, mostly students from city schools, reached their respective institutions around 3am – the time fixed by school authorities for children to assemble at the gates.
Following instructions from the district administration, yoga lovers started arriving at the venue by 3.30am. But showers affected preparations for the event.
Yoga mats doubled up as protective shields for participants to ward off the rain.
Unlike those who stayed back till the end just to capture a glimpse of their Prime Minister, a few expressed disappointment, saying: “Rain played a spoilsport and dashed our hopes to perform yoga with the Prime Minister.”
Barring small tents for VIPs – and that too in a separate enclo- sure – there was no arrangement for waterproof tents at the venue despite the Met department predicting rainfall a day earlier.
It was 6 am and still raining. Arvind Srivastava, an ITI student, was shivering.
“It has been raining since 4am. I am drenched. Many volunteers have caught cold,” he said.
However, when asked whether he would still perform yoga. “Yes, Why not, I am here for that only,” he added.
Rahul Sharma, Arvind’s colleague, who was standing next to him, and shivering, agreed with his friend.
“Not matter what, I will perform yoga,” said Rahul.
Not only these two friends, but thousands of other volunteers also placed their mats on the ground when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the venue around 6.40am. The crowd welcomed the PM with chants of ‘Modi Modi’.
“I could clearly see the Prime Minister performing Yoga. It was worth getting soaked in the downpour today,” said Shreya Kapoor, 19, was a few metres behind the PM in the same block.
The administration came in for strong criticism from people for not setting up waterproof tents for the mega event.
“The Met department had predicted rain. But even then there was no arrangement of waterproof tents,” said Siddharth Godiyal, a participant.
“It’s a known fact that June is a rainy month, at least for Lucknow. But the organisers made no arrangements keeping that in mind. Rain certainly played a spoilsport,” said NCC cadets from Government Inter College, Hardoi.
Less than half the participants were seen practicing yoga along with the PM while others were seen standing idle.
Some preferred to leave the venue even before the yoga session ended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who reached the venue at 6:40am concluded his yoga session around 7:25am and left the ground. Initially, he had to leave the venue around 7:50am.