The International Yoga Day celebration in Delhi was one of the most magnificent events I ever had the honor to attend. Everything went so smoothly and was so well organized. I am so glad to be in India, because the country is so deeply rooted in spirituality. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to popularize yoga are yielding more and more results, and I am proud to be a part of it.
Yoga Everywhere
On the day of our arrival, one day before the event, Delhi was filled with posters promoting the IYD with various people on it doing different asanas. On almost every corner of the city center was a reminder of the approaching event – the grand yoga demonstration at Rajpath on Sunday morning.
Our group (nine foreigners from the Art of Living Ashram, Bangalore) was invited to this event as a part of a foreign delegation. The next morning—the day of the event (Sunday, June 21)—we got up before 4 am just to arrive at the venue among the first and avoid the crowds that would build up at the entrance of the venue as the start of the event approached.
On leaving our hotel on Janpath at 4:15 and after a short ride, we arrived at Rajpath, where the event was to be held. On the way, an interesting thing caught my eye. The buses, filled with yogis in official white IYD t-shirts, were rushing down the lanes, and their digital LED displays, which otherwise show their numbers or final destinations, were running the word Yoga, flashing bright yellow. That was something worth seeing! It was a very unusual scene for a dark early morning.
At the Venue
Entering the venue was very smooth, and when we approached our designated yoga spots, we got our tags and yoga mats ready and waiting for us. All yoga mats were numbered, as the Guinness Book of World Records group was monitoring the whole event. This event was supposed to set a new record in the largest yoga-gathering category. As a gift for participants, everyone got to take their yoga mat home after the event; I thought that was very generous of the organizers. I got a special purple yoga mat with big orange dots on it; I love it! In fact, there were very few of these special mats there, so I swapped this one with the plain purple one initially given to me. A few more members of our group followed my example. That was the benefit of coming there so early!
It was still dark and we had a couple of hours at hand to do our yoga, Sudarshan Kriya, and meditation before 7 am, when the event was to officially start, with 35,000 yoga practitioners joining. As some of us finished our meditation, we were approached by television cameras, journalists, and photographers. It was obvious that we were interesting foreign people whose view on yoga and involvement in the event was to be explored. And so it was.
The Rhythm of Yoga
As my meditation got over, the sun was already high on the horizon and I found that the venue was nearly full. Giant video screens were telecasting the main stage, which was not so visible to many of the participants sitting far behind. During this lead up to the start of the event, Gurudev’s video was also played, along with the other great yogis of our time. At 7 am, the event officially started. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech in Hindi. I didn’t understand, but I believe it was a great one. As he finished, he stepped down from the stage and joined the thousands, ready to begin our yoga practice.
It all began with the prayer and continued with four trained yogis who were leading the session by demonstrating asanas that we were to perform. They were nicely dressed in tight and appealing yoga wear – dark pants and red t-shirts. They all looked very presentable. The way they performed was so synchronous, to the minutest detail, a beautiful flow. All instructions were given by a male speaker beside the stage and followed by a gentle female voice describing the impact and benefits of the asanas that we were holding. The flow of change from one asana to the next was quite quick. It seemed more like a yoga presentation or “demonstration” (as it was officially called) rather than the long and serious yoga practice that I expected.
I could see the rows of practitioners ahead of us, performing in great sync, so I also felt like giving my best to be up to the mark with my postures. It was a single body-mind complex that was moving, bending, twisting, and stretching, not a sum of individuals. After the yoga asanas were over, several pranayamas were introduced, followed with meditation and a closing prayer.
After it was over, on the screen next to us, I saw the Prime Minister again stepping down into the crowds – among children who were participating. Many of them ran to touch his feet, and made it almost impossible for him to move, before his body guards came to the rescue and escorted him towards a safer place. Modi seemed truly a man of the people.
As the event was approaching its end (it must have been around 8 am), dark clouds gathered above the area, and as the wind began to blow strongly, raising dust and yoga mats, it was obvious that it would soon start raining. So the whole venue cleared up very quickly. In just a few minutes, most of the crowd was gone. Very impressive for such a huge gathering!
I believe the Indian government did a great job – everything seemed to happen so flawlessly. Again, I was proud to be a part of it. As we started to leave the venue, my stomach was craving food, as I had done almost three hours of sadhana that morning (two hours of my personal practice and the 1-hour yoga performance) and it was making me feel very hungry. All I could think of was the nice and huge breakfast that was waiting for us back in the hotel.
Reflections
The IYD event went by so smoothly that I almost feel as if it was an ordinary, casual thing. But one final thing struck me on the flight back to Bangalore. In the middle of our flight, the voice from the in-flight announcement system started saying something in Hindi. I could recognize the words yoga, asana, pranayama, and a few other familiar yoga-related words. I became very curious. Luckily, what followed was the same message in English. The message went something like: We wish to welcome all the participants from the International Day of Yoga on board the flight… and continued explaining briefly what yoga is, what it consists of, and the benefits one can attain by practicing it. The announcement ended with something like: We invite you to adopt the yoga routine into your daily life. I was blown away!
To me, that was the peak experience. Having practiced yoga for over a decade and now hearing about yoga every step of the way, was like a dream come true. Coming from Croatia, where there are still many prejudices about yoga, even though many people are open to it, it is very unlikely something like an on-flight promotion of yoga could ever happen. But here, it all made perfect sense, and was fitting in perfectly with the general atmosphere of the country. Even the on-flight shopping coupons were offered at discounts in honor of the IYD. The whole shift in me was the acceptance that what was actually happening was beyond my comprehension. It felt unreal.
I began to think that a new time had arrived and that I was just witnessing history in the making, a day with which this precious knowledge of yoga was launched into the mainstream, making it available and approachable. The obvious truth was – yoga is here to stay, it is for everyone, and it is the key to stress-free living and to unlocking the true human potential. What would be the next to come? How will the years ahead witness the mass awakening of the human potential through the practice of yoga. I was curious just thinking about it.
This event changed my life. I now feel more then ever that I want to sincerely continue my daily yoga practice and bring this knowledge to more and more people. It has given me strength and confidence that there is hope for humanity and our planet. Thank you, India.
