I was part of the one-month residential “Young Instructor’s Course”. Both foreigners and Indians immersed themselves to gain mastery over yogic practice amongst urban-dwelling, mall-hopping, Brahminical Kannadigas, yet the Indian cretins, who received plenty of admonitions for not coming to class on time, were still awarded certificates at the end. It is said that these certificates are recognised internationally.

This was yoga of a different kind. After doing asanas for 10 years, I felt it was a waste of time. We were are asked to take permission from the teacher before going to the loo; we were told every morning to wear our uniform; where we were lectured about “good Indian culture”, we could not ask questions even though Guruji told us we have to “tear our teachers apart”; and where we were acquainted with our nationalist samskruti, I was amused to discover that if you want to be nationalist, at least be good at it. I wonder why yoga (which is undoubtedly Hindu) needs to be seen as “beyond religion” and “beyond asana“. The last time I remember reading a book about Hinduism and yoga, I did not read about the absence of a god heading this universe and the presence of worldly individuals claiming to speak on behalf of Patanjali.

My experiences with the right-wing have been astoundingly bad over the years. With Swarajya magazine, I learnt that centre-right and socially liberal perspectives are a far cry from what actually goes on in the making of a political entity: that no matter what posturing and “persecutions with the pen” (à la Vivekananda) are thought through and enacted upon, the wisdom that appears extraordinary and full of modern solutions are tied to a capitalism where the poor are excluded and where minorities are sidelined. For example, Guruji had announced, “In the 19th century, there was one Narendra who brought yoga to the world, his name was Vivekananda. In the 21st century, another Narendra is revolutionising the way yoga is propagated. He is Modiji.” More applause. I could hardly believe my ears. “You must stand up for the national anthem and show respect for the national flag,” they demanded.

Yet, S-VYASA was tolerant only in that the dummies did not understand that cultural studies has rearranged the ways in which culture is understood. As I spoke to them on Mrinalini Sebastian’s essay on Understanding Culture, which provides that useful analytical framework through which culture can be problematised, the students (not teachers) asked their questions: Why don’t you go to Pakistan? I said, “Whose culture are we talking about? Are we all Hindus? If Guruji says Hinduism is not a religion, why does he cry hoarse about divinity and compare Hinduism to Christianity and Islam?”. Throughout the lectures by  this scientist with several accomplishments to his name, we were told the West is bad and the East is good and that all Westerners are white, do drugs and that Indians need to help them out of various addictions.

The Odia “yogi” who was taught us asanas throughout the 29 days and who had told us to follow him as if he were Modi, could not perform even a simple padahastasana with ease. I felt like crying, for yoga will always be the asana and no matter what the BJP may think yoga to be, true asana practitioners will know that yoga can be disembedded from its religious appeal and contemporised for a growing population tired of political rhetoric. Patanjali would agree.

Dhruv Ramnath is a student at the School of Oriental and African Studies pursuing a Master’s degree in social anthropology. He had been primarily a freelance filmmaker, photographer and journalist before he worked with two media organisations in Bangalore

Courtesy: kafila.online
 

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The police in Kochi, Kerala have registered a case against a Hindu charitable trust following a complaint by a 26-year-old woman on Monday, alleging that she was forcibly detained at the yoga centre near Tripunithura, physically and mentally tortured for marrying a Christian man. While the police have reportedly arrested one person, while the four yoga teachers at the Yoga Vidya Kendra are absconding.      

In an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court, the complainant identified as Dr Shweta has said that over 60 Hindu women who had married men from other religions were similarly illegally detained, some of them for long periods. Dr Shweta who managed to escape from the centre filed her affidavit in support of a habeas corpus petition filed earlier by her 29-yearold husband from Thrissur, Rinto Isaac.

According to Dr Shweta, a  young woman, Athira from Kasaragod, who had chosen to convert to Islam on her own who recently ‘returned’ to ‘Sanatana dharma’ with much fanfare, was in this place for twenty-two days and that she had continued to insist on her preference for Islam.

Shweta and Isaac who married following Hindu ceremony at a temple subsequently registered their marriage under the Special Marriages Act.

According to a report in the Times of India, Dr Shweta was forced by her parents to go to the centre for “counseling”. She told the Times of India that at the centre her hands were often bound and the “counseling” was limited to pointing out the pitfalls of Christianity and Islam.

“We were forced to sleep on the floor of dormitories and the doors of bathrooms did not have locks. There were [those] who had [been] confined for years… Most of the inmates were ill all around but no treatment was given,” Dr Shweta said in her affidavit.

The yoga centre evidently functioned as a torture camp to ensure the ‘ghar wapsi’ of Hindu women who marry men from other religions.  Some years ago, similar kidnap and illegal detention centre was being run in Gujarat from girls from the Patel caste who married outside her caste or community.

The Udayamperoor panchayat has issued a closure notice to the Yoga Vidya Kendra run by one Manoj, alias ‘Guruji’. 

The story was first broken by the Malayalee news channel Media One.
 

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