Friday, June 3, 2011

corruption bandwagon

corruption , or actually anti-corruption is a good bandwagon to jump onto .

This is not to belittle  any efforts against corruption. today's India is so steeped in corruption, at every conceivable level, that any person standing up against corruption is a much-needed and welcome move .

 when anna hazare  went on a fast against corruption, the very simplicity of the man and his track record was so appealing that everybody from young to old  thronged to support him. his agitation also had a single focus about the lokpal bill . he had also proved his mettle by spearheading , successfully , the RTI bill.  he wasn't a great, fiery orator  nor did he have a  ready-made following from another vocation.

And that brings us to ramdev baba .  leaving aside my basic skepticism that people in Saffron  clothes  are sanyasis  who are supposed to have renounced the world and all the worldly matters including politics and corruption and have gone beyond to seek spiritual enlightenment. And ramdev baba  is not even  a spiritual leader. He, like, sri sri ravishankar , is at best a pranayam and yoga teacher .  I have never understood how educated people from all walks of life fail to make this distinction and start treating these people like saintly god-men .  and fall at their feet asking them for  spiritual advice.  its a lot like asking your  gym instructor/ trainer the  meaning of  atharva ved or  after life .

 yesterday on television I heard sri  sri  very smugly declaring that he will not answer certain questions because it would cause an international upheaval because of his following  across the world.very non sanyasi talk .   and the more I see ramdev baba ,  in spite of my urge to support everybody who is standing up against corruption, there's something that holds me back.  he is  a complete contrast to anna .  he is more like a digvijay singh or some other crony  mouthpiece of a political party .  a bit  too smooth , a bit too flashy , a bit too filmy .

 and that's what saddens me.  I want to support everybody who is fighting against corruption, because I firmly believe that our political system and politicians have failed to do so.  And maybe  we have to look at, common  people/aam aadmi /civil society  to take up this fight.

 and yet I hesitate to support ramdev  baba .  I wonder why.
 as far as I am concerned, he has done both good and bad to our  society.
 he has popularised yoga and pranayam through  television very successful. he  has made phrases like kapalbhati , and anulom-vilom  household words across our country and maybe amongst the Indian  diaspora  across the world.  and that's good.  what's bad a is , / yoga/pranayam ,  from what little I know, do not work like'  one size fits all'.  it has to be taught taking into account individual needs, individual  goals and has to be tailor-made differently for each person. So thousands of people following one form of yoga or pranayam is  going against the basic principle of the discipline .

 and in spite of all this, I wish I could get to support him, just because he is against corruption . 

1 comment:

  1. The madness in India makes me wants to believe in God. How else is it that a country where there is so much corruption and indiscipline has managed to stay in the race. I think God runs this country; on a trial and error basis. That’s why something or the other is always going wrong.

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