By his own admission, Ramdev's audience at Ramlila Maidan was "80% farmers" and "99% people who do not understand the meaning of the word inflation". In short, it was vastly different from the quiet sophistication on show at Anna Hazare's five-day siege at Jantar Mantar.
Where high fashion labels strutted at Jantar Mantar this April, soiled dhotis, white kurtas and pagris in case of men and faux silk sarees with glass bangles in case of women dominated the scene at Ramlila Maidan. As a self-styled wellness expert to observed, "Here, 80% people seem to be farmers."
In Jantar Mantar, it was a largely English-speaking crowd — people who do not normally take to the streets, but had been galvanized by Anna. College students had missed classes to be a part of the movement. At Ramlila, rural dialects from almost the entire country mingled with Haryanvi — from the Baba's home state — being the most prominent.
Farmers, retired government servants and rural housewives have flocked to 'honour' the 'call of the Baba' rather than voice any first hand concerns about the cause. Many of them who had assembled from almost the entire country — Ramdev made it a point to highlight the geographical diversity of his audience by asking people from various states to stand up one by one — had clearly come for the free yoga camp.
Some had come just for a glimpse of the Baba — a fact that Ramdev was well aware of when he commented in the morning that it was too crowded for him to "interact" with his followers but he would do so in the evening. Where Anna's movement had focused relentlessly on the Jan Lokpal Bill, at Ramlila there is just one reigning deity: the Baba himself.
Ramdev was almost incidentally talking of corruption and black money. He could have talking of yoga and religion and his audience would have still lapped it all up. Where Anna's movement had banked on occasional but focused addresses from the Gandhian and his team, Ramdev's satyagraha was geared to impress and to keep the audience engaged.
The script has tragedy — in his fiery speech, Sufi saint Maulana Rizvi was almost in tears describing the country's woes in the hands of opportunistic politicians; comedy — Ramdev talked about how the fast would enrich the country in wealth and benefit overweight people in health; drama — a group of eunuchs turned up with placards supporting the satyagraha and the canny spiritual healer called them close to the stage, describing how even though "physically deficient, the eunuchs had developed masculinity when it came to standing up for the cause of the country."
There was song and dance too. When a bearded sadhu started dancing to the tune of a nationalistic song in front of the stage, some of Ramdev's young securitymen approached him with the intent of making him stand down. But the seniors waved them away. The sadhu was adding to the tamasha.
And there was Bollywood too. Actor Raja Bundela, without naming the superstar, apologized to Ramdev for Shah Rukh Khan's adverse comments about the movement.
Where high fashion labels strutted at Jantar Mantar this April, soiled dhotis, white kurtas and pagris in case of men and faux silk sarees with glass bangles in case of women dominated the scene at Ramlila Maidan. As a self-styled wellness expert to observed, "Here, 80% people seem to be farmers."
In Jantar Mantar, it was a largely English-speaking crowd — people who do not normally take to the streets, but had been galvanized by Anna. College students had missed classes to be a part of the movement. At Ramlila, rural dialects from almost the entire country mingled with Haryanvi — from the Baba's home state — being the most prominent.
Farmers, retired government servants and rural housewives have flocked to 'honour' the 'call of the Baba' rather than voice any first hand concerns about the cause. Many of them who had assembled from almost the entire country — Ramdev made it a point to highlight the geographical diversity of his audience by asking people from various states to stand up one by one — had clearly come for the free yoga camp.
Some had come just for a glimpse of the Baba — a fact that Ramdev was well aware of when he commented in the morning that it was too crowded for him to "interact" with his followers but he would do so in the evening. Where Anna's movement had focused relentlessly on the Jan Lokpal Bill, at Ramlila there is just one reigning deity: the Baba himself.
Ramdev was almost incidentally talking of corruption and black money. He could have talking of yoga and religion and his audience would have still lapped it all up. Where Anna's movement had banked on occasional but focused addresses from the Gandhian and his team, Ramdev's satyagraha was geared to impress and to keep the audience engaged.
The script has tragedy — in his fiery speech, Sufi saint Maulana Rizvi was almost in tears describing the country's woes in the hands of opportunistic politicians; comedy — Ramdev talked about how the fast would enrich the country in wealth and benefit overweight people in health; drama — a group of eunuchs turned up with placards supporting the satyagraha and the canny spiritual healer called them close to the stage, describing how even though "physically deficient, the eunuchs had developed masculinity when it came to standing up for the cause of the country."
There was song and dance too. When a bearded sadhu started dancing to the tune of a nationalistic song in front of the stage, some of Ramdev's young securitymen approached him with the intent of making him stand down. But the seniors waved them away. The sadhu was adding to the tamasha.
And there was Bollywood too. Actor Raja Bundela, without naming the superstar, apologized to Ramdev for Shah Rukh Khan's adverse comments about the movement.
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