Modi Brings Yoga Closer To The World

Delhi Diary By M.Santhiran M.Santhiran, Bernama's correspondent in New Delhi shares his take on the Indian capital city and its unique social nuances. NEW DELHI, June 22 (Bernama) -- It was a much awaited break of two weeks back in Kuala Lumpur and one of my first major event upon my return to New Delhi was the International Yoga Day officiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. After finally receiving the press accreditation after a five-month wait, it was my first event that I covered officially involving nearly 37,000 participants. The Yoga Day was observed in 192 countries, including Malaysia, with nearly 30,000 people taking part in the Yoga exercise at New York City alone. The Yoga Day was proposed by Modi during his speech at the United Nations in late 2014 and the special Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) was entrusted to promote Yoga and traditional medicine practices of India. Banners, posters and billboards could be seen all over city with veteran actor Amitabh Bachan roped in by the ministry to promote the more than 5,000 year-old ancient art form of India. For me, it all started late at 4.00 a.m. with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) office sending me the advisory to be at Rajpath before 5.30 a.m. for security clearance. Rajpath, the ceremonial boulevard, is located at the heart of city centre where India's Republic Day parades have been held for the last 65 years. JOURNEY STARTS WITH WRONG FOOTING My journey started with the wrong footing with police personnel diverting vehicles to as far as 10 kilometres from Rajpath. Only vehicles with special passes were allowed and this forced my driver to take much a longer route to get there. I was not informed on this requirement earlier by PIB officials and ended up walking about four to five kilometres to reach Rajpath area. Then I was given the run around by police and other security personnel before shown the special entrance to the foreign media section. Here all journalist even with accreditation are subjected to thorough security checks. Once at the boulevard area of Rajpath facilitators and security personnel gave strict orders for journalist to stay at the designated areas, 50 metres from the main stage. Among the attendees who received much media attention was the rather eccentric chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadami party. Kejriwal has been at logger heads with the Modi led central government for over a month over greater autonomy for the union state. However, yoga united both leaders with Kejrawal later telling reporters that Yoga should be above politics. EVENT ON TIME AND WITHOUT ANY MAJOR GLITCHES As scheduled, Modi arrived on time at 7.00 a.m and immediately delivered his speech in Hindi which lasted less than 15 minutes. Though I only could pick few Hindi words, it appeared the crowd was very responsive. Modi was not only hugely popular among the crowd but has also been the darling of local media here. The media also appreciated Modi's appearance and his dressing style to suit the different occasions. As expected the 64-year-old BJP leader raised to the occasion when he left the VIP stage after his speech and walked into the crowds. Modi who practiced Yoga every day, later performed various asanas (positions) of Yoga for nearly 35 minutes and the event was aired live by almost all TV channels in India. A day before the event, Modi credited yoga for his good health and fitness. Several senior journalists at Rajpath shared their view that Modi is not only a good orator but has also mastered the skill of getting wide media coverage in whatever he does. Within minutes after Modi left Rajpath, heavy rain forced the crowd and VIPs rush for cover. Youngsters mostly college and school students who were still in the midst of their summer holiday let themselves loose by drenching in the heavy rain, a welcome respite from the scorching Indian summer. For me, it is a different experience all together in covering such a major event in India and I am looking forward for more official events involving Modi. -- BERNAMA