What the hell do we think we are trying to do? Aping Mahatma Gandhi by going on fast or doing some kind of a “satyagruh” to solve the problems of this country? Are we looking at a solution to a problem or just blaming somebody else? Have we cleaned up our own closets before pointing fingers at dirty linen of others? And as the saying goes, the first stone will be hurled by the person who has never sinner in his life.
In ancient times our Rishi-Munis had nothing to do and they were as power hungry as the kings of those eras would be and hence they would pull off stunts like “Saadhna” for 1 year, live in the jungle for 10 years, praying to “X” god standing on one foot, Samadhi and the works. All of them wanted nothing but some special wish to be granted to them. Each one of the God men of those days had some mystical power bestowed upon them by some God. Don’t know how true that is and honestly, I don’t care but our mythological books are filled with such anecdotes and stories. Our imagination is so wild that we get one “Savitri” to ensure that “Yam raj” returns life to her deceased husband. Come on!
In the modern times, Mahatma Gandhi went on to copy the same ‘Satyagruh”, fast until death, non-cooperation and the works to get British Government out of India. Now, we won’t be debating that because he was successful in doing so but the Government that time was British, not Indian. They were invaders, they were ruling us, and they were not a part of this country. It was justified to acquire any means to get them out of this country. The path chosen by Subhash Chandra Bose or Bhagat Singh was radically different from Gandhi’s path to freedom, yet in my opinion, any path that would have taken us to total freedom was the right path.
Now several years later, it dawns upon the likes of Anna Hazare to follow suit to Mahatma Gandhi and hold the government hostage and make them agree to meet the demands for Lokpal bill. While Anna Hazare (minus the idiotic controversies) at least has been actively involved in social reforms and fight against corruption for the longest time and has managed to unearth many a cases of corruption. He has also ensured that the justice is served. His battle for truth has caused a lot of corrupt officers and ministers to resign from the post.
Now in addition, one more joker baba Ramdev, who is an extremely media savvy, media manipulator “Yoga” teacher, has joined the whole protest business. Harbouring a secret political ambition (he launched his political party “Bharat Swabhimaan” in March 2010), Ramdev first shot to limelight when he suddenly started giving nationalist statements in his Yoga classes. From being a prolific Yoga teacher, he suddenly turned in to somebody who wants to be the flag-bearer of social and political reforms.
Now let’s understand this Ramdev character. He is a Yoga teacher and he has not discovered Yoga but he has made it more acceptable and fashionable. My dad has been doing Yoga for 40 years or more and at 65, he it fitter than I am. He is as flexible as Ramdev is and probably has better stamina to hold on to various acrobatics that Yoga has to offer. Similarly there are thousands of people in India who have been doing Yoga for the longest time. But to give it to Ramdev, he made is popular. He used the tricks and techniques that the other religious Gurus appearing on TV do. Use celebrities, use real life examples, use the method of ‘Chamatkar”, publish and bring forth the story of miracles happening due to Yoga, people cured of ailments and diseases because of Yoga endorsing it.
He did a brilliant job of teaching “Yoga” and thus helping them cure their ailments, leading to a fit set of people in India and eventually abroad. He established a trust/ an ashram/ several gurukools in India where he propagates, teaches and practices Yoga. Till about 5 years back, he was known for his Yoga and not for anti-MNC stand but suddenly everything changed and his Yoga-shivirs became a place for lambasting the MNCs especially cola companies. Even this was acceptable as he was leading people to live a healthy life and colas are not the healthiest products in the market.
All this soon changed when a lot of politicians started visiting his Ashram and Yoga-Shivirs. No doubt that they definitely need to be in shape, they definitely need to cut down the bulk, get rid of ailments like diabetes, joint pains, body aches and no better medicine than Yoga can help our politicians. This unfortunately resulted in fuelling the ambition of Ramdev who suddenly wanted to become a messiah or patriarch of change in the society. This is where a lot of people stopped respecting him.
As everybody knows and agrees that “Babagiri” is a highly profitable business today. Not because people learn Yoga or religious discourse or find peace & solace in sayings of the Babas but purely because they are neutral meeting grounds for a lot of power brokers/ politicians/ industrialists and fixers. Mahesh Yogi, Chandraswami, Pilot baba, Mauni baba and there are hundreds and thousands of such babas in India who have made 5 star Ashrams on lands provided by the Government or one of their rich disciples. Not only these Ashrams have state of the art lodging and boarding facility, they also are fairly modern with air-conditioned prayer halls, staying huts for privileged members, and hi-tech communication facilities.
The first business after the Ashram is established is to publish literature of Swamiji’s teachings. A full-fledged printing press with multi-colour offset printing is dedicated to print the material and later these books/ pamphlets/ weekly newspapers are sold to the followers. The next business (which is now the major revenue earner) is the audio and video recordings of satsangs or lectures of swamiji. Some of the followers also buy early morning time slot on various TV channels for swamiji and they run these tapes on those channels. Apart from this, some swamis are smart enough to get in to Herbal medicines as well and they produce and sell medicines to people. The best part, you can order them on internet as well of course on the swamiji’s website. Besides this, the entire running expense of an Ashram is born by a set of wealthy followers of swamiji. Be it food or electricity or water or any other expense. If you ever get to visit an Ashram, you will see that you are in a 5 star facility.
One more aspect of their earning is offering the membership to the Ashram. Here is a glimpse of how Ramdev’s Patanjali Ashram operates. Please pay attention to the language used and you will realise what I mean;
Corporate member – 11 lakhs and above
Founder member - 5 lakhs
Patron member - 2.5 lakhs
Life member - 1 lakh
Dignified member - 51 thousands
Respected member - 21 thousand
General member - 11 thousand
Facilities to Members of different categories:
Residential Yoga Science Camps: Residential Yoga Science Camps will be arranged in Patanjali Yogpeeth for the devotees coming from different parts of the country and abroad. Appropriate arrangements in addition to lodging and boarding will also be available. Following facilities will be available for the honourable members of Patanjali Yogpeeth during such camps:-
1. Corporate Member: Eight family members or eight delegates of a company of a Corporate Member will be provided free lodging & boarding facilities on priority basis in one residential Yog Science Camp in a calendar year. The Corporate Member will be invited on special occasions and important meetings including policy making meetings of institution from time to time.
2. Founder Member : The Founder Member’s family (husband, wife and two children), will be provided free lodging & boarding facilities on priority basis in one residential Yoga Science Camp in a calendar year. The Founder Member will be invited on special occasions and important meetings including policy making meetings of institution from time to time, their opinion and guidance will be incorporated in policy making and hence institutional functioning. Two poor persons nominated by a Founder Member will get free admission on priority basis to a residential Yoga Science Camp once a year.
3. Patron Member: The Patron Member along with spouse will be provided free lodging & boarding facilities on priority basis in one residential Yoga Science Camp in a calendar year. The Patron Member will be invited to participate in special programmes of Patanjali Yogpeeth and one poor person nominated by a Patron Member will get free admission on priority basis to a residential Yoga Science Camp once a year.
4. Life Member: The Life Member will be provided free lodging & boarding facilities on priority basis in one residential Yoga Science Camp in a calendar year. He can be accompanied by another person who shall get admission by paying registration (Cooperation) amount on the spot on priority basis to a residential Yoga Science Camp once a year.
5. Dignified Member: The Dignified Member will be able to take part in three residential Yoga Science Camps, free of cost in his/ her lifetime.
6. Respected Member: The Respected Member will be able to take part in two residential Yoga Science Camps, free of cost in his/ her lifetime.
7. General Member: The General Member will be able to take part in one residential Yoga Science Camp free of cost in his/ her lifetime.
Guest House: Residential facilities to all honourable members of Patanjali Yogpeeth from Corporate to General will be provided on priority basis & on availability for three days once in a year in the Guest House of Yogpeeth.
Non Residential Yoga Science Camps : Eight free passes of special category for Corporate Member, Four free passes for Founder Member, three free passes for Patron Member and two free passes to a Life Member will be given free of cost, for taking part in a non-residential Yoga Science Camp.
Seating arrangements in Residential Yoga Science Camp for Honourable Members of Patanjali Yogpeeth (Trust): Seating arrangements will be made right in front of the stage for Corporate, Founder, Patron and Life Members and thereafter for other members respectively.
Yoga Sandesh - Monthly Magazine Yoga Sandesh, a research oriented monthly journal of Yoga, Spiritualism, Ayurveda, Culture and Tradition, published by Patanjali Yogpeeth in Hindi, English, Guajarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese and Nepali will be sent to all honourable members free of cost in the language of their choice.
Note: Yoga Sandesh Magazine will be sent to Corporate, Founder, and Patron & Life Members residing abroad in the language of their choice.
Residential Yoga Science Camps: Residential Yoga Science Camps will be arranged in Patanjali Yogpeeth for the devotees coming from different parts of the country and abroad. Appropriate arrangements in addition to lodging and boarding will also be available. Following facilities will be available for the honourable members of Patanjali Yogpeeth during such camps:-
Residential facilities in Yoga Science camps:
1. Deluxe Air-conditioned residential facilities will be provided to Corporate & Founder Members during camp days.
2. Special Air-conditioned residential facilities will be provided to Patron Members during camp days.
3. Medium Air-conditioned residential facilities will be provided to Life Members during camp days.
4. Air-cooled residential facilities with Toilet & Bathroom will be provided to all other Members of Patanjali Yogpeeth, free of cost.
Medical Facilities: Special arrangements for treatment will be made for Corporate, Founder, Patron and Life members.
Note:
1. All Corporate/ Founder/ Patron/ Life member, while leaving after a residential Yoga Science Camp shall have to contribute a nominal amount of Rs. 1000/- towards the running expenses and for the maintenance of the Patanjali Yogpeeth. Members willing to contribute more will be welcome to do so.
2. All right of changing existing rules and regulations pertaining to facilities for members of the Patanjali Yogpeeth will be reserved with the working committee of Patanjali Yogpeeth. The same will be ratified in the meeting of Corporate & Founder Members of the Patanjali Yogpeeth.
Now, this just sums up everything. Money can buy you everything including happiness and happiness in an Ashram. So Ramdev is smartly playing his cards on how to deal with different kinds of individuals in his Ashram. Yoga is a free teaching and from there have been references of Yoga as pictures in the Indus Valley Civilization. What is Ramdev charging for? Is it a spa or a health centre? Who do you think in India has 11 lakhs and above to pay to an Ashram? Forget that, who has 11 thousand rupees as disposable income to attend one Yoga shivir at Ashram?
Yet, as a business model, this is brilliant and I am sure that’s the intent as well. Keep the Ashram running. There is a lot of charity work also going on via the Ashram and you need money for charity. I am not against the way the Ashram is being run. There are no free lunches and hence people who can afford will pay for it. There is nothing wrong in asking people to cough out money if they want to attend the Yog-shivir or live in Ashram for a few days. It is like a spa/ holiday destination/ medical tourism.
But, in the light of all this, how do you expect yourself to be a messiah of the poor/ downtrodden farmers and labour class people. One this Ramdev must understand and admit that the people shelling out money to be a part of his Ashram have not earned this money the right way. It is their black money which they are putting in to his Ashrams. A poor guy, who earns 60 rupees in a day, neither will need his Ashram nor can afford his Ashram so why is he trying to represent them. Why is he claiming that he represents 1200 million people? Give us a break.
Coming back to his ‘Satyagruh”. What is he trying to prove by ‘Fast until death”? Will he fast till every single rupee of the black money lying in Swiss banks, Cayman island banks and invested in various markets illegally? Will he ensure that each rupee of black money recovered is used to its fullest benefit? Assuming that Government decides to distribute this money amongst people, will he take charge of doing so? Is he even aware of the moneys involved in running a nation? Ramdev is as clueless as I am or you are.
Imagine the plight of a minister or a secretary who was sent to meet Ramdev to persuade him to not do this “fast until death”. Kapil Sibal and Subodhkant Sahay both are lawyers and have their own set of achievements. One can read about both of them on their wiki profiles. Ramdev is 8th pass and I am sure all of us will agree that at national and international level, native intelligence is not sufficient. A minister is a politician so he has to be popular enough in his territory to win the election, be a part of the government, and then work on the portfolio given to him. Sibbal is HRD minister, and no one, I repeat, no one can understand the pain and pressure that he goes through every day to keep the HRD ministry running smoothly. A minister has dual role – to be a leader and to be a minister which is an official designation. In an organisation, you will find many a leaders who will spearhead a project themselves and deliver but now imagine the position of a chief. He not only has to be an effective leader but also need to run his company. It is not impossible but it is a herculean task. In politics, in a coalition government, trust me, it is more than herculean.
I have always believed that corruption starts from us. Anyone can take a bribe only if it is being offered. Greed gives birth to greed. Corruption starts when we are 1 year old. Mothers bribe us sweets for drinking milk, chocolate for finishing homework, one hour TV for one hour of writing and what not. Exams form a good basis for corruption. If you get first class, you get a cycle. If you are first in class, you get a vacation or a PSP or anything of that sort. Corruption is in our nature. It is the need of humans and we cannot get rid of this. Enforcing law can never ensure end of corruption. The forms of corruption will change. Banning Rs. 500 or Rs. 1000 as currency will not change anything. The Swiss accounts will then have dollars or pounds or Euros.
The government had agreed to Ramdev’s demands. Ramdev himself admitted on stage that 50% victory is done. He did not keep his side of promise, did not break his fast and when his letter was showed to media, a Yogi (supposed to be having control over his feelings) got upset, cried foul, and like a child refused to talk to Kapil Sibbal. Now Ramdev, you think all of us, all 1200 million of us are fools who will believe that your aide wrote the letter because the ministers said that they will show it to the prime minister. Is this some kind of a joke? Are we juvenile? Ministers said and you believed and agreed. Come on Ramdev, be reasonable. The letter that your aide wrote was an act of foolishness and he tried to maintain the ambiguity by not mentioning the subject of corruption anywhere. You think people can’t see this. It was purely “Government should agree or else we will continue to do our fast”. The reason was simple Mr. Ramdev. Government has already been working on things which you had proposed. Sibbal himself admitted in the press conference that they are agreeing to it because they were logical things to do in any case. Mr. Ramdev knew this from the very beginning because the ministers met up with him to explain to him that his demands hold no water as the government has already been working on it. Now Ramdev had no face so he agreed to write the letter. The whole operation would have ended up in a mess with thousands of people coming to Delhi and many millions protesting in rest of the country if Ramdev had called off the fast. He changed the fast to “Prayer” and did not share it with anyone. Hiding a fact is also a lie; it is a form of corruption. Because Ramdev was worried that the whole build up without the drama, without TV coverage for the day will mean that he will not get eye balls. Millions of middle class Indians who think that Ramdev is a messiah and will get all the money stashed in Swiss banks back will never be able to see the magical powers, government bending. None of this will happen and therefore Ramdev hid the facts.
Now, give it to Kapil Sibbal, he is a tough negotiator. On pretext of keeping his promise, he waited till 6-630 pm for Ramdev to announce that the Anshan is over and when Ramdev did not do it, he brought the truth out. Sibbal is a lawyer; he is a politician and a part of the government. Ramdevs of the world cannot force him to do things he does not want to do. No Ramdev can hold government hostage. The late night arrest of Ramdev was the best thing Indian government could have done. I strongly support this. Ramdev should be arrested and complete investigation should be done. A politically motivated movement will fall flat on its face for sure. Ramdev is known for being an excellent Yoga teacher and that’s what he should have stayed. Corruption eradication is not his domain because none of the people who were supporting him are free of corruption.
Mind you, I am not saying that corruption or black money or money laundering; stashing money in tax free heaven is a good thing to do. No, I abhor it as well. We need policies, we need law, we need to declare this a criminal act, we need to ban the banks and countries which support black money deposit, and we need to collaborate with other countries to fight this corruption. But, Ramdev is not Anna Hazare. Ramdev has an agenda. Political agenda. And I am not willing to support anyone who has a political agenda.
In 1974, Anand Bakshi sahib had written the right thing;
Yaar hamari baat suno, aisa ek insaan chuno…jisne paap na kiya ho jo paapi nah ho!
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