Baba Ramdev: Cocktail Of Yoga, Satsang, Ayurveda, Business, And Politics

If u suffer stiff necks and aching shoulders and many such body ache problems, better invest in yoga mats and try out yoga workout apps. These apps are needed for motivation, daily mobility and to keep yourself fit and healthy, say Yoga's champions.

So, on World Yoga Day 2021, the Ministry of Ayush has launched the WHO mYoga app that aims to educate users about yoga with the help of audio and video clips. This app has been launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Ayush and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The app was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Yoga day Livestream. The app is currently available for Android users only and will soon be rolled out on iOS as well.

The WHO Yoga app is now available for download on both Google Play Store. It provides 10, 20 and 45 minutes of audio and video clips for learning and practicing different asanas. Though, the app is free for all and allows users to download but sooner than later Google will surely want to mint money. It doesn't provide free apps unless sponsored by some agencies.

So, guys Yoga has become a highly attractive commercial activity like other Patanjali products, thanks to the enduring efforts of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and our worthy Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Started in 2006 by Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, Patanjali Ayurved, has seen a meteoric rise in the past few years with revenues of Rs. 9,500 crores INR (US$1.2 billion by the end of 2018.

Patanjali’s combination of low prices, ‘natural and pure’ proposition and ‘ swadeshi’ positioning are widely acknowledged to be the reasons behind its success. Baba Ramdev is its sole brand ambassador and has played a critical role in Patanjali’s path-breaking sales and distribution strategy in driving its exceptional growth trajectory.

Patanjali is able to offer low prices to consumers due to very low selling, administrative and general costs at 2.5 per cent of revenues. It spends more than 6 per cent on advertising. It has kept retail margins at half or lower levels as compared to the competitors.

And Patanjali's latest ad on beauty products claiming to be invented by more than 300 scientists is as misleading as the earlier ones.

Normally, the real goal of a sadhu is to attain moksha but for Baba Ramdev it is to serve the masses. "My business is not for profit but to spread wellness," says Baba . Riding high on Yoga, Baba Ramdev has become India's most celebrated yoga guru. The cocktail of Yoga, Satsang, Ayurveda, Business, and Politics has made him India's swadeshi FMCG baron.

It is said he has direct access to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is close to several members of the Union Cabinet and a number of chief ministers across the country. He was one of the key figures of the Lokpal movement in 2011, was received at the airport by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as the UPA government tried to broker a deal with its leader Anna Hazare, and cut a comical figure when he was taken into custody at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi while trying to escape dressed in a salwar kameez.

However, a mischievous glint in his eyes often reminds me of Baba hidden emotion, agenda, idea, plan, etc. In the normal course, a sadhu renounces worldly affairs and does not indulge in money-making. Yoga has been practiced in India for over a thousand years, many different schools of thought and types of yoga have been developed. But all of them stayed aloof from worldly affairs. However, Yoga Guru is the exception.

(Chander Sharma)