The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) opened up its daily shakhas (gatherings) to women and children on International Yoga Day, but stuck to the protocol when it came to picking yoga poses for the programme.
The surya namaskar , excluded from the national-level celebrations, were an integral part of the RSS yoga programmes on Sunday.
At a shakha in Noida’s Sector-34, the usual 10 swayamsevaks were joined by about 150 members of the general public. Leading the exercise, the nagar karwa (incharge) of Ramnagar, Satyendra Singh, told the crowd about importance of mental peace.
Using Sanskrit names, he asked the participants to concentrate on different body parts, even as a group of children played cricket in one corner of the park. A boy accidently kicked his sister in the head while stretching and she retaliated by throwing a pebble at him, leading Mr. Singh to yell “Sit down”.
Taking the crowd through surya namaskars , he said: “We usually do 13 surya namaskars , one each for the 13 avatars of the sun God, accompanied by a mantra. Since we don’t have much time, we only did seven.”
Participant Virmal Makkad, could not understand why surya namaskar was left out in the Rajpath programme. “We do yoga everyday and it has helped me cut down on medication. There is no connection between religion and surya namaskar . Would we be alive without the sun?”
A senior RSS member told The Hindu that shakhas were free to choose their own plans for yoga day. “We just asked them to popularise yoga in their areas. We don’t have any opinion on the government excluding surya namaskars .”
As the programme winded down in the park, located opposite a church, Mr. Singh informed the participants they could leave if they didn’t want to attend the prayer. Apart from a few restless children, the crowd stood still. The day ended with a loud “ jai Shri Ram”.
