Music, humour and yoga

Devotional and patriotic songs on Friday 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.

Devotional and patriotic songs on Friday 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.

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A music-filled morning greeted the thousands of people who poured into the sprawling site to see and listen to Ramdev.

At 4:50am, Ramdev came on the dais accompanied by saffron-clad monks and he was joined by radical Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambhara and Muslim and Sikh religious leaders.

It was almost a one-man show by 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, Ramdev would introduce, apparently to project that his movement was not sponsored by RSS or any other organisation.

Ramdev continuously addressed the gathering and was followed by Sadhvi Ridambhara who lavished praise on the Baba saying "if there were more Vallavbhai 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 Muallah Omar's Taliban. This is Hindustan," drawing thunderous applause.

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)."

When a follower gave him a Rs 11 lakh cheque, he quipped "take the photos, this is not black money".

Ramdev said support from politicians is welcome but they cannot make give 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.