Indian swami takes the fizz out of
Coke By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Swami Ramdev may not be known
to the West yet, but he is giving the jitters to
many multinationals operating in India, where his
enterprise, which revolves around yoga, is valued
at more than US$50 million and is said to have
touched 100 million people.
The swami is
open in his derision of cola drinks, packaged and
fast food, and pharmaceutical companies selling
allopathic drugs,
even
as he seeks to generate health consciousness
through spiritual and simple breathing exercises
(called pranayam) claimed to be particularly
useful in dealing with lifestyle diseases (such as
diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac problems,
arthritis, cholesterol, overweight, kidney
disorders, cancer) and aging.
His take on
cola giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola is that such
carbonated drinks should be used to clean toilets,
not consumed. The swami's mantra is that most
diseases can be controlled by proper breathing and
diet (essential tenets of yoga) and Ayurvedic
medicines, although regular drugs are essential to
cure some diseases and during emergencies. He has
even spoken out against french fries.
Such
is the impact of Ramdev, who appears on television
to reach his dedicated followers, that yoga
classes have mushroomed across India alongside
new-age avatars such as cyber-cafes, gymnasiums,
coffee shops and glitzy retail outlets of foreign
brands such as Nokia, Nike and Reebok. It is said
that Ramdev has revolutionized the way of life of
Indians and drawn them away from junk food,
non-vegetarianism and has made millions, including
youngsters, wake up early in the morning to listen
to his sermons on TV. Indian advertising guru
Alyque Padamsee has said the advertising mantra of
the yogi rivals David Ogilvy's.
Ramdev's
live pranayam sessions (he holds more than 150 a
year) could put any rock star to shame, filling up
the biggest stadiums. The swami has an earthy
narrative style that connects with people, even as
he coaxes them to continue with their deep
inhalations while he talks. During his
shivirs (live gatherings), many exult on
camera the benefits of his exercises, though some
yoga practitioners have criticized Ramdev for
being simplistic.
Nobody, however, doubts
that Ramdev is India's first tele-guru and has
been called the Amitabh Bachchan (Bollywood's
mega-star) of spiritual TV. Ramdev's sermons sit
on top of a slew of similar shows on exclusive
channels such as Aashtha (with Ramdev as the
mascot), Zee Jagran, Quran TV, God TV (beamed from
Israel) and Sanskar that have gained remarkable
popularity in the recent past, with advertising
revenues crossing $2 million. Surprisingly,
television ratings show that people in the
15-35-years age group make up more than 35% of the
viewers, even as these channels have begun
peppering discourses with movies, music,
discussions and comedies to retain the eyeballs
and compete with youth-oriented programming on MTV
and Channel V.
Not much is known about the
guru, except that he originates from the state of
Haryana and has lived in Haridwar, a holy city on
the banks of the River Ganges, for the past decade
while learning his art. Pictures show him to be a
man probably in his late 30s or early 40s. The
swami's Divya Yog ashram at Haridwar has a huge
herbarium and a drug-manufacturing unit (for
Ayurveda medicines) backed by a team of doctors. A
new factory is being built close by. The swami's
dream project is a 120-hectare Ayurvedic ashram
near Delhi, which Ramdev has said will rival the
World Health Organization. Revenues are generated
through brisk sale of medicines, registration fees
for his live sessions, books, video discs,
television and of course donations, especially
from non-resident Indians, from across the world.
Recently, an unseemly spat ensued between
a prominent leftist-party leader, Brinda Karat,
and the swami. Karat, angered by allegations of
labor-law violations at a drug-manufacturing unit
run by the guru, said some of the medicines being
manufactured by Ramdev used human or animal body
parts. Ramdev lashed out at Karat, accusing her of
"championing multinational drug companies to
undermine comparatively cheaper Ayurvedic
medicines".
Though many multinational
marketing and sales executives privately relished
the controversy, Karat had to beat a hasty retreat
when politicians across the spectrum, including
her own party, spoke in favor of Ramdev. The
Bharatiya Janata Party sought to give the incident
a swadeshi (indigenous) versus
videshi (foreign hue) slant. Union minister
and Bihar political satrap Laloo Yadav said: "If
herbal medicines help, it hardly matters if they
contain bones, whether human or demon.'' Karat
finally had to sing the virtues of Ayurveda and
yoga publicly.
Indeed, it is to the credit
of Ramdev that he has not only managed to teach
the virtues of yoga to so many, but also turned it
into a selling proposition. "He is a fitness guru
with an Indian twist. He uses the Indian religious
language to sell the idea of fitness to [the]
masses," Santosh Desai, president of ad firm
McCann Ericson, said in a recent interview with
Economic Times.
Yoga is already a
$30-billion-a-year business in the United States,
with Western followers familiar with the
meditation techniques of Deepak Chopra, Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, and Bhagwan
Rajneesh, who appealed to his audience through a
modern interpretation of Buddhist philosophy.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Sri Satya Sai Baba also
have large, loyal followings, but the numbers do
not compare to Ramdev's.
It is said of
Ramdev that he has moved beyond the abstract
ministrations of the mind propounded by the above
mentioned to actual physical exercises that are
seen to provide succor to increasingly stressful
lives associated with the advent of consumerist
lifestyles and the proverbial rat race in India.
It is estimated that close to 20 million
Americans practice yoga, with most fitness clubs
offering instruction. Retailers such as Wal-Mart
and REI stock up on yoga accessories, including
video discs, apparel, mats and other equipment.
The average yoga practitioner's annual expenditure
for enlightenment turns out to be $1,500. It was
indeed ironic that the benefits of yoga, which
owes its origin to India traditions that are 4,000
years old, has been so successfully packaged in
the West and not in India. That is, until the
unlikely Ramdev brand emerged.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
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2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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