PTI Baba Ramdev laughs while addressing his followers at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Friday.
Devotional and patriotic songs on Saturday reverberated across the Ramlila Grounds, the site of yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s hunger strike against black money, as his discourse was laced with humour and demonstration of ’asanas’
A music-filled morning greeted the thousands of people who poured into the sprawling site to see and listen to Baba Ramdev.
At 4:50 am, the yoga guru came on the dais accompanied by saffron-clad monks and he was joined by radical Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambara and Muslim and Sikh religious leaders.
One-man show
It was almost a one-man show by Baba Ramdev who conducted the proceedings, interspersing yoga demonstration, discourse and music with a bit of humour to spice up the proceedings.
Whenever religious leaders came on the dais, Baba Ramdev would introduce, apparently to project that his movement was not sponsored by RSS or any other organisation.
Baba Ramdev continuously addressed the gathering and was followed by Sadhvi Ridambara who lavished praise on the Baba saying “if there were more Vallabbhai Patels, then there was no need for a sanyasi to sit on satyagraha.”
Maulvi Rizvi complimented the Sadhvi for her speech and said “this is not Mullah Omar’s Taliban. This is Hindustan,” drawing thunderous applause.
Message for the Obese!
Baba Ramdev was at his humorous best when he told his followers that the hunger strike will help them in two ways.
“Hamara mota bhai aur moti baheno ke liye yeh satyagrah health benefits dega aur desh ke liye wealth mil jayega” (while the hunger strike will help slim obese brothers and sisters, it will also bring wealth to the country)”.
He said support from politicians is welcome but they cannot make speeches.
“They can support us but they cannot make speeches because it leads to controversy,” he said.
The yoga guru then gave instructions to those who were fasting along with him, saying “we have arranged for water and lemon juice but don’t drink in large quantities.”
“By making this call, we can awaken the country. We have received more than 55 lakh missed calls already.
Sometime, we will cross a record one crore mark to remove corruption,” he said, referring to his campaign.
Bhojpuri star at agitation site
Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwari was the first celebrity to reach Ramlila Maidan, the site of Baba Ramdev’s hunger strike. The popular singer-actor claimed that he had told his producer that he will not shoot for a month from June 4 as he wanted to join Baba Ramdev in his campaign against black money.
Tiwari began with Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan ’Raghupati Raghav Rajaram’ and also sang other patriotic songs.
A young sadhu, who claimed to be a Bhuddhist yoga teacher, was seen recording the performance on his Blackberry.
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