Yoga!

 June 21 is special for various reasons. It is Papa's death anniversary. It is the world music day. It is the summer solstice day in our hemisphere. Currently, there is yet another reason why the day is so very special. Yes, you guessed it right. Since 2015, it is the Yoga Day. 

In this sense, it is one of the best examples of India's soft power. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that it has overtaken even the Bollywood as the most potent and real popular soft power of India. As it is celebrated the world over, it can be argued that it is one of the prominent visible symbols which declare loud and clear that India has 'arrived' on the world scene/stage.

All of this is great, grand, good. Sometimes, however, i feel that like all the other "days", the international market forces have managed to co-opt yoga and the day allotted to it as well. Look at the very versions of nomenclature, for instance.  It should be "yog", right? Why call it 'yoga', right? 

Traditionally, moreover, it is not merely a mode of physical exercise or a warm-up to aerobics, or whatever. It is a way of thinking that believes in the symbiotic relationship between the "aham"/selfhood and the "param", the larger universal soul, right? At the individual level, it is a togetherness of hands/physicality, head/intellect, heart/mind and soul, right?

The proliferating Wellness Industry, given the need for an urgent medical alternative given the environmental awareness, loves it as a multi-millionaire business proposition. It jells rather well with the vegan, and all such food fads as well. Even the publicity for this product is more mouth to mouth and driven by the common man rather than the celebrities. No wonder, international market has made it so sexy, what with Yoga shorts to Yoga mats!

In fact, in the West, there are more versions and varieties of "yoga" than even we know of. Circa June 21, all these mini versions with their minor differences make it in a big way to the market! 

All this is fine, though what touched me the most while returning home from college this afternoon was this young girl performing the ring trick, the tightrope walk at the crossroad, at the busy junction. Her clothes were torn. Her eight or nine year old garishly painted face and kohl covered eyes had a curious mix of shrewd cunningness and naivete. She was performing the best 'yoga' position to the beat of her young brother's drum.

The saddest part was that some adult, the gangster lord-n-master, the lazy parents/family  were to feed off her difficult days. Though i know that i am helpless against such begging industry, i gave her a measly five rupees, with tears welling up in my eyes. Well, i now know for sure that the world is not totally bad because practically  every vehicle at that busy crossroad came up with some monetary help to the poor girl. The perfect yoga, togetherness, of individual needs and social responsibility!

Pratima@ Yoga is where perfect balance is !