Apr 24, 2007

Rämdév - the potential to be a true holy man

Rämdév - a homegrown phenomenon here in India.

This post was building steam since yesterday.

You must have gathered by now that not many "holy men" cross the bar I set for them. Rajneesh/Osho, the Iskon man Prabhupaada, Transcedental meditator Mahesh Yogi - they don't make it even though they do have many plus points. Sadly, too, the Relativity man, Einstein, is also in this group.

I look for a thought & action balance that resonates with me. Yes, I know this to be the conceit of a lesser man.

Despite his lack of scriptural erudition, Mahätmä Gäñdhi did achieve that balance spectacularly. And inspite of it, so did Shäshtri Pändûranga Åthävalé. I would bracket Bucky Fuller as "holy", too, but I am afraid my Bucky friends would object.

Today I have chosen to talk a bit about some one who shows the potential to be "holy" by my lights. His name is Rämdév.

He has been on my radar these 5-6 years as a Yoga teacher. He has become the darling of the Indian establishment, the middle-class especially, the non-anglophilic ones He is controversial and takes on the high and mighty. He keeps a respectful distance from the RSS. His local devotees have presented me with his Yoga CDs and they are okay - in fact impressive No highbrow bullshit. No marketing gimmick.

Last month I heard him on BBC-Hindi and liked the way he is shaping up. Bold, fearless, simple, rustic even. I heard him out twice to get a better sense of his soul.He now has funds and followers and this where things can go awry. But there was this picture in a newspaper recently showing him donating blood and telling everyone, it is good for you. So, I expect the blood banks will be inundated. Or, someone might set up a Rämdév Blood bank operation.

I haven't checked out Google links to Ramdev, but I picked up a magazine that was lying around with my mother's things. It's the December issue of a Hindi monthly put out by Rämdév's people. It's first article is 5 pages long devoted to the pomegranate . This is followed by a page long commentary-continuation on one of the Upanishads. A refreshing and unusual prioritization and juxtaposition! The other details that grabbed my attention are the name of the magazine Yôg Sandesh Editor Acharya Balkrishna
www.divyayoga.com divyayoga@rediffmail.com
Printers & Distributors gulshanrai@diamondcomic.com


On page 17 - they count from the front cover - there's a list of 19 items you can order and I shall mention here 3-4 that are available in English.
#1 Präñäyäm Rahasya Rs 50/= (13 languages incl. Eng)
#2 Yôg Sädhanä va Yôg Chikitsa Rahasya 125/= (ditto)
#3 Aushadh Darshan Rs. 30/= (10 languages incl Eng.)
#18 Video CD Yôg Sädhanä Rs 110/= (Eng.Version)
#DVD Yôg Vijñyän 1 & 2 Rs 199/= (Lang. not specified)
Aside from these there are audio cassettes, charts and literature. Shipping's extra.

Now,I have this quixotic plan: Rämdév has not only the Indian middle class - India's problem and potential solution, perhaps impacting significantly on the whole world - by its balls*, as it were, but has seriously taken on the big pharmaceutical companies and the Indian ministries fronting for them**. I like this fighter.

Early on in my Mass Housing Maya essay*** - or was it the Inside Outside article? - I had spoken of the enclosure problem as the "taproot" of all the other basic problems of human kind.

Rämdév is not aware of the Bucky idea of "reforming the environment" to 'reform/change' human habits/behavior. And if this could be done he'd do more for health and education*** - the former is his pet theme - than all the berbs and Yôgäsanas put together. Can this be done? Can this be even contemplated and considered?

Maybe.. yes but.. we don't know if it'll get us anywhere... But there is this thing about the Indian Middle class. It is obsessively impressed by outsiders, especially, of the white, Ennglish-speaking variety with U S U K connections.

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