Diplomats, foreigners join Yoga Day festivities at 7 venues

From expats to government officials, people from all walks of life rolled out their yoga mats on Tuesday to celebrate the International Yoga Day.

Most of the participants were regulars at parks, but for the first-timers it was the free T-shirts and mats that lured them to stretch out.

In Lodhi Garden, Daneil Coover, an Australian working with the BBC, said he wanted to learn yoga to “feel more Indian.”

“I have been working in India for two years now, and looks like I will be here for a few more, so I wanted to learn yoga. I think it is very interesting how it focuses on so many things and not just a svelte body.”

In Nehru Park, people in white and blue T-shirts were seen fumbling with yoga asanas as a lot of first-timers tried to push their flexibility limits.

Rakhel, an Israeli tourist, said he thought he would be able to manage the sun salutation.

“I have seen videos about Surya Namaskar and how it is like a complete workout if performed correctly, but it is not as easy as it seems. So I wanted to push limits and see if I could do a few poses. Turns out, I need a lot of practice,” said Rakhel sheepishly.

For the regulars at the parks, yoga was something refreshing as this changed their daily routine. Sumita, who walks daily for half-an-hour in the mornings, said she wanted to see if yoga will help her. “I think it is a very good initiative, if people can continue doing this daily, for me yoga is not something new. I think doing it as a group activity really gets the person in a better mood for the day.”

President Pranab Mukherjee too celebrated the day with 1,000 people participating with him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Passengers in the Indira Gandhi International Airport were seen participating in the celebrations at the Terminal 3. Crew and ground staff joined in and did the asanas next to the hasth mudras of Surya Namaskar at the terminal.

Connaught Place was packed with an estimated 10,000 volunteers, who had started assembling before dawn for the event that started at 5.30 am. Participants lined the three radial roads — inner, middle and outer circle — for the mega-event.

Doctors at the AIIMS, including its director M.C. Misra, also marked the day at its newly-developed research centre. “Yoga is a way of life and it should be part of everyone’s life. Yoga keeps several health complications away if done regularly with dedication,” said Dr Misra.

More than 700 Jawaharlal Nehru University faculty, staff and students, including vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar, performed yoga at the university’s sports stadium.

At Chhatrasal Stadium in North Delhi, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia led an event where hundreds of school students performed yoga.

Delhi government officials and staff also marked the second International Day of Yoga at the Secretariat in the evening though chief minister Arvind Kejriwal did not join any of the events. City chief secretary K.K. Sharma also joined in.

Apart from Connaught Place, the Ayush ministry organised the event at six other locations — Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, Talkatora Garden, Swarn Jayanti Park in Rohini, Yamuna Sports Complex in Patparganj and district park in Dwarka. At least 100 resident welfare associations identified by the ministry also hosted Yoga Day events.

This time, the capital hosted the event in various parks where the main event was telecast live.