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Monday, June 06, 2011

Baba Ramdev, educated society and religion

There are lot of ignorant educated people out in India who think that Yoga is to do with religion. I got one guy commenting on twitter that "I don't have anything do with a man who wears a saffron attire"

Yoga is to do with the body and the mind that leads to spirituality. Dear friends religion and spirituality are not the same. In fact religion is where you follow a book of rules, while spirituality is just about an experience of an healthy body and mind.

I have never been in favor of Baba Ramdev's speeches on issues, not because he didnt have a good agenda in place. He has a very simplistic approach to solve huge societal issues that cannot be done by in manners he executes them. Further his style may also not be very attractive as he isnt as suave an educated English speaking society in the cities would look at it. :P

When Baba Ramdev started his fast, I was not keenly following it but I happened to see the lathi charge late night when we got back home after a happy Saturday night partying. It was certainly shocking and exposed what the government can get at.

While tweeting I didn't see any of the people there really getting together to raise their voice against the police brutality instead they mocked Baba Ramdev, his garb, his escape and the happenings. Mr. Anna Hazaare was not part of Baba Ramdev's fast  but after the Government action through the police, he has shown his support to Baba Ramdev because one can see "Something is terribly wrong" and as responsible citizens we shouldn't act ignorant :)

And when I saw my friend Arul's status, I was happy to know one person got it :)


"Arul (Ta'fxkz) Baliah: Ramdev has said that yoga cannot be limited to physical exercises, that it also a way to cleanse the soul and the society Regardless of his motivations, I have to agree with that sentiment. The ancient paths of the spiritual seers were not a bunch feel good practices but actual revolution, war and great personal risk. (www.tafxkz.info)"

And who wants a revolution, who cares. Arent we so comfortable doing what we do everyday??

Wake up you illiterate educated fools!!! 

14 comments:

Sarita Pandey said...

Baba Ramdev is a dangerous man. He is also a man of agendas. Advocating capital punishment for everything including being gay, adultery, cow slaughter is not a 'simplistic' approach. He has always had political ambitions. He has courted the Congress first and is now with the right wing. He should be viewed with caution. About the lathi charge that happened yesterday: millions are dying in various villages all across the country everyday to protect their lands, to eat food, to let their children eat, to not have their women raped. But there is no live media there. Why aren't live reports being carried out from Jaitapur where people are protesting against the proposed nuclear plant? "Corruption" is such a vague term, and neither government nor media has defined it. We, as people, should understand the media gimmickry and not react to this stupid news as if it is important. We need to inform ourselves before we react in favour of or against a staged play act like Ramdev's or Hazare's. If we keep reacting so strongly to these non-news things, media will keep serving us this, to take our attention away from real issues.

About yoga, well, am sure it must have benefits. But yesterday was hardly about yoga, we must know!

Neo said...

I couldn't agree more with your post. I was outraged at the brutal police action in New Delhi yesterday. But what was equally outrageous was the naivety of the comfortably-numb middle classes of our cities...

A i-know-it-all-i'm-a-smart-a$s friend on facebook wrote, and I quote, "The drama ended finally. The nation cannot be held hostage to fasts with demands that cannot be measurably met. Anna Hazare wanted the lokpal bill and he got it but the Baba just wanted to channel naive public anger against the government."

I bet he hasn't been 'hit' by anyone or anything in a long time. I so want to change that, but what I want to say to him is its one thing to speak from your rear in an air-conditioned office and its quite another to get hit by a police lathi and see your wife and child dragged away from you by the police and manhandled and looted...

My point in this is not Ramdev at all. Maybe he is foolish. Maybe he is not. Maybe he has a point, maybe he does not. Maybe he has a vested interest in all this. Maybe he does not. But nothing justifies this British-Raj act on civilians. A large gathering on non-violent protestors. The state can ignore them or not ignore them but they can't mow down civilians like that. The Britts tried it and failed. we are thrice that size now and its foolish of the state to try that again.

Acts of police violence and this slow but sure conversion of India into a police state is now coming to the forefront. and when it hits 'prominent' personalities, it becomes a big deal. People are now realizing that instead of being our so called protectors, the police only carry forward the agenda of our 'rulers'.

And this is just the beginning...

PS: Can't get enough of that Bob Dylan song 'The Times Are Changing'!

Satyadarshini said...

@Sarita Pandey In my opinion, I dont see Baba Ramdev as dangerous. I have attended his camps in the past..he makes outrageous remarks that I couldn't appreciate a bit..that doesn't make him dangerous but yes the government is dangerous..attacking sleeping people!
And Yoga isnt about benefits...its beyond the physical...its spiritual and surely one cant think benefits in that mind bend. Wrt Arul's comment I agree that spirituality is not just personal benefits..its about a country, a world and maybe a revolution...change is here :D

Satyadarshini said...

@Neo Thanks for adding to my blog...it should have been the main content of my post :P You have expressed it better than I could have....and I am waiting for some more comments but only the two of you were kind enough to do so :D

Sarita Pandey said...

@Satya: Will respond again to what you said, hopefully soon. But dangerous is a man who uses his following mercilessly and thoughtlessly for his personal ambitions. A homophobic man is indeed dangerous to me and my society and my friends. Of course the government is dangerous. But what's new in that? It has been up to such incidents all the time. Just because this particular one incident came to limelight as it happened in New Delhi, it becomes important? I think this "cause against corruption" is a total farce. And Ramdev is a fine one to
talk about black money! Ha!

About yoga: sure, yoga cuts across religion. But to associate it with 'Hinduism', which is done all the time by most yogis, obviously alienates many non-Hindus. Why should anyone be forced to recite an "Om" or a "Gayatri Mantra"? How many Hindus will agree to recite "Azaan" because it is actually good for the lungs and the health and so on? But, of course, majority rules, so we Hindus rule, and we find 'scientific reasons' to defend our views.

Hopefully write again. :)

Sarita Pandey said...

To answer your question: And who wants a revolution, who cares. Arent we so comfortable doing what we do everyday??

Let me answer who wants a revolution.

The poor, the dispossessed, the disadvantaged, the excluded tribal populations in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Orissa want revolution. Millions of them have taken to streets decades ago and they are frustrated so bad that they have taken to armed rebellion. The people protesting in Jaitapur against the proposed nuclear plant want a revolution. Why? Because their lands have been taken away forcibly and illegally. If their is no revolution, they lose their livelihood. The farmers whose farms have been taken away forcibly for building middle class (read high class) housing all over India want revolution. The people in Kashmir and North East want revolution because they live in the terror of this draconian army rule, who don't know when their sons will be arrested under false cases and their daughters raped. The million of Dalits and Adivasis and OBCs who are blatantly discriminated against want revolution.

The only 5% people who don't want revolution are the educated urban people. And why do we want revolution? We should, in fact, be scared of revolution! :)

Satyadarshini said...

@Sarita I am glad to see this line of thought out here because we both represent clearly how the people here are divided. We are good examples!!

But I would request you to not use Ramdev as a point of argument as I am not a fan of his and his ways but I would be glad if any good comes out of it. What happened from the government...I think you missed the videos..I saw it for hours that night. Tear gassing people who are sleeping aint right at all.

Further the problem with many hindus in India is that they have been exposed to the Angrez way and thats where the divide comes...

Obviously many here havent understood yoga or hinduism (got them mixed up)..there are people there in yoga camps from all religions. There are reasons why all may not be able to comprehend....so when we see from a distance, one can get judgmental. And I have met many people from other religions in such camps...btw I have been in it from childhood..have met all Swamis and Gurus..and I dont follow any...have a mind of my own!! :P
And please dont get that Om..gayatri mantra wrong....its just that the truth is all the same in any spiritual space...I have attended other religious stuff too..its just that the Hindus express in the medium they know..and even a non-hindu gets it..if they are evolved to a certain level of learning.
And again I think you see Yoga as a health thing (body level)...its not about lungs or the body....I will explain when we meet sometime...

And before I end, would like to mention: there are 3 kind of people:
1. who live at the body-physical level
2. function at the mind level
3. spiritual level

This needs a meeting and more debating..man I have work to finish :P

Sarita Pandey said...

Oh, yes, we do need a meeting to speak more. 7:30 pm and I am still in office. :( Still got pending work. :(

You may be correct in your point of view. But, well, to take a spiritual high-ground and look down upon people who live at body level is, I think, very arrogant. :) Priorities depend upon what we lack in our lives. Some lack food and shelter, some lack 'deeper meaning.'

More when we meet! :)

Satyadarshini said...

A correction dear..again you get this understanding wrong.
When one mentions about body level..its not about poor people. Its about human beings like us..who cant think more than what function than the physical...
This is a very common though process if you have read or heard enough in this space, I am a little surprised that you thought body level meant food and shelter...

Satyadarshini said...

@Sarita btw I needed some good food and had lots of hot pakorees :P I think it was good fun debating but dont want to lose a good friend :D pls do forgive me if I hurt your feelings or sentiments in any form

Sarita Pandey said...

wow, i so love pakoras. but never get good ones anywhere. you're lucky!

you don't really think i got upset or anything? i am sorry, i got carried away. :) just realised i was saying too much, especially when i know so little. i really need to learn and learn and learn and then learn some more. :) that, alone, should be my daily goal. i must defend myself on one point, though: i didn't mean body-level consciousness meant food and shelter for poor people. so many educated, well-to-do people -- including me -- exist only at body-level consciousness. i claim no intellectual or spiritual superiority over anyone at all! i strive for that ever-elusive humility everyday only to realise how vain i am. i would die a million times before claiming i know better than anyone else. my point, though, about the ramdev drama was a completely different, disconnected one, which, as is obvious, i was unable to convey. some other day, maybe. :)

attitude said...

just adding my two bits here. what we saw on the tv channels regarding the 'police brutality' at ramdev's camp in delhi was a fine case of selective journalism. consider this: 60 odd people out of a gathering of estimated 50,000 people get hurt. almost half of them are policemen.
the same two cops were repeatedly shown launching teargas shells at crowd. will someone tell us what the other 4998 cops were doing?
police resorted to baton charge after the crowd turned hostile and brick-batting started. but consider the restraint used as is evident in surprisingly low number of injuries in the light of the common knowledge of what our police force is capable of.
why did the media not have a single shot showing the much discussed lathi charge. it covered everything else from ramdeve making arousing speeches to his jumping off the stage to his cross dressing.

i would like to clarify here that im not condoning the late night eviction of peaceful sleeping people. that is a disgrace in itself. but i find it absurd how easily educated people get duped by media gimmickry.....
obviously, "Govt. teaches Ramdev a lesson" doesn't make as good a copy as "Democracy Murdered!" does.

Govind said...

I agree to Sarita's many points
Ramdev is simply using people for his political ambition and he is making fool to people in the name of Yoga

Anonymous said...

we can tell the quality of a truth speaker by the harshness and number of plots to discredit him or her,,,
in ramdevbaba's case we see all too clearly how his truthspeaking has sent the twisted leaders of class politics and economics into a frensy of camoflaged abuse tactics to try to bring him down

all the more reason for the wise to listen to his words and really try to see what his truth actually exposes