Among the more unusual forms that have sprung up are “doga”, which is yoga with a dog. — AFP Photo RANCHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some well-poised pooches led the way Friday for International Yoga Day, this year with the theme of stopping climate change. Yoga Day, observed mostly in India but also worldwide on the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day, was Modi’s idea. It was adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly in 2014 and first took place in 2015. Modi performed sun salutations and other flexible feats in a mass early-morning session with an estimated 30,000 other devotees that was live-streamed on the media-savvy premier’s Twitter feed to his 48 million followers. Elsewhere in India, armed forces personnel laid out their yoga mats on the deck of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat anchored in Mumbai while at India Gate, a Delhi landmark, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the way. In Haryana the Indo Tibetan Border Police stretched out atop their nonplussed-looking horses and lying on the ground with their dogs who valiantly put their best paw forward, as did the pooches of the Border Security Forces and the Army Dog Unit, tongues hanging out. Foreign consulates in Delhi also got in the act with staff at the French embassy in the red, white and blue of the national flag. Germany’s new poney-tailed envoy and staff did their asanas a day early around his shiny red Ambassador car he calls “Auntie Amby”. Members of India’s National Cadet Corps (NCC) took part in a mass yoga session at the Bison Polo Grounds in Hyderabad… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply