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NEW YORK CITY
With orange yoga mats and sunflowers in hand, thousands of New Yorkers gathered at Times Square here June 21, to observe the Summer Solstice and celebrate the first International Day of Yoga. Amid construction fences, rumbling buses and honking taxis, 30,000 people of varying age groups, race, and physical ability filled Times Squares’ pedestrian plazas for all-day yoga sessions.
A serene atmosphere took over the iconic venue, known for its hustle and bustle, as people practiced breathing, raised their arms, stretched, bent, knelt, and faced towards the sun.
The day which started off soggy, turned out to be a beautiful one, although a bit humid, with temperatures reaching 80 degrees. Nonetheless, it did not matter for the thousands of yoga aficionados who gathered during the Summer Solstice June 21 that coincided with the International Day of Yoga included by the United Nations in its calendar from this year, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The UN declaration of the day as the IDY evidently added more importance to the event and helped in greater interest and participation.
Six sessions were conducted throughout the day, where yogis, both the initiated as well as the uninitiated, practiced asanas under the guidance of local yoga gurus. “Put both legs forward and lie down on your back; Go down and hold your feet; with thumbs and fingers grab your big toes. If you cannot reach, lift your knees up; Hold your breath before you relax. Come on guys, you can do it,” Rajashree Choudhury, a Bikram yoga expert in her own rights called out to participants in one of the sessions. Men and women, young and old, black and white – most of them in spandex or shorts – obliged.
Among the participants were scores of Indian-Americans as well, including some 80 members of the Hindu Swayamsevak Singh (HSS) dressed in yellow-orange golf or tee shirts with messages of Swami Vivekananda and world peace. Most of them had come from Queens and New Jersey, but some also from Pennsylvania as well. “This is a great event and we wanted to make sure that our members do come and take active part in the event so our ancient tradition gets more attention internationally” said Rudra Upadhyaya, president of the NYC HSS.
The annual event, hosted by The Times Square Alliance, aims to bring a little bit of stillness, a little bit of santosa (having a sense of modesty and the feeling of being content with what we have), to this intense and crazy city. Tim Tompkins, president of The Times Square Alliance told Desi Talk that the event was established in 2003, with the idea of drawing on the energy of the sun to re-energize ourselves through stillness. “As a producer of the other solstice celebration (aka New Year’s Eve), the group thought this could be a calm, quiet and sunny counterpoint to that boisterous event,” added Tompkins, a certified yoga instructor.
Adding to this visual was Time’s Square’s flashy and commercial aspects as billboards flashed out advertisements of local yoga schools extolling the benefits of the ancient Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline. Participants were seen clicking photographs in complicated postures with the yoga stage as a background. Several tourists, who were exploring the Times Square on foot or passing by in the tourist buses, were seen were also clicking photographs of the yoga sessions.
Just as yoga unites a person with the universal flow and connects him/her with their own personal rhythms, the Times Square event brought together a diverse number of people together – the melting pot that New York City is – thereby connecting them with each other. Other than just providing physical exercise, the discipline of yoga is known to a person’s ability to respond to subtle cues that promote wellness, both of the body and the mind.
A message that was reiterated by renowned yoga guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, when he explained how yoga contributes to global amity: “Inner peace leads to world peace,” he said to a thunderous applause. “India’s timeless tradition of yoga is taking place in Times Square today and everybody is welcome,” he said from a small makeshift podium at one of the four mass yoga sessions, addressing all those on the mats on the bare asphalt, and hundreds of bystanders.
In his brief two-minute address Shankar, dressed white dhoti and kurta, told those present how yoga can contribute to global peace because only inner peace can lead to international peace. He also mentioned about the recent violence in South Carolina in which nine people were killed, and how and why Yoga is important for keeping inner peace of human beings. “The U.S. spends about $40 billion on anti-depressants and yoga could help cut this down,” he said.
Seated along with him on the small platform at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 44th Street were External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, U.S. Congresswoman from Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, Consul General Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay and India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asoke Mukerji. Swaraj addressed all those present as ‘Dear New Yorkers’ before briefly speaking about the benefits of yoga.
Swaraj described the day as “historic” and thanked the people for their participation and making the day a success. Calling the participants “Ambassadors of Yoga,” Swaraj said. “I congratulate you. It is a historic moment and you have made it doubly historic with your large presence. Adding that yoga could provide relief from stress, the minister said the “yoga mat is the best place to turn to when therapy and anti-depressants don’t work.”
For a change, all eyes seemed to be riveted on the Art of living Guru conspicuous in his trademark lowing beard and all white clothes, and not so much on the other dignitaries. Almost breaking the media enclosure, some bystanders came forward, wanting to have a closer look at Ravi Shankar. “Guruji Namaste. Guruji ..” his followers, mostly Indian-Americans, shouted in a vain attempt to draw his attention.
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