Baba Ramdev and Modi drew attention of the Indian media and its people almost at the same time around 2002. Both have remained the most hated personalities in the pseudo-secular Indian world but are tremendously adored by nationalists. Both have refused to change their ways just to become acceptable to the traditional Indian media and pseudo-intellectuals. Both have refused to feel apologetic in claiming Hindutva as their strength and Hinduism as their ideological foundation. Both feel proud of our common ancient heritage and our incredibly continuing civilization. Both have expressed their intentions to do everything to put India on top of the map of the world and have declared this as the primary aim of their lives.
Both have willingly adapted to the requirements of modern technologies and have used the same to establish the credibility of our ancient knowledge, wisdom and understanding. While Modi has utilized computers and the internet to limit the alarming levels of corruption that prevailed in the public funding schemes, Baba Ramdev collaborated with AIIMS and other such reputed institutions to carry out research on Ayurvedic drugs and medicines using modern scientific techniques. Patanjali of Baba Ramdev has developed a state of art research lab of international standards having animals for drug trials and experiments. Both have contributed in realizing June 21st as ‘International Yog Day’ in their own way to revive our lost pride.
Yes, Modi has the advantage of being associated with an organisation, the RSS, that has an enviable army of selfless social workers. Baba Ramdev, on the other hand, started everything from scratch. But both have successfully challenged the defeatist psyche of nationalists and have revived a strong wave of hope in them. And in this process, both also destroyed many established narratives of the left-liberal intellectuals.
The campaigns against both of them carried out by the biased media and pseudo-intellectuals have failed completely. And this happened because their immature campaigns relied on attempts at proving them corrupt – they probably know this, as the only way to counter someone’s rise. To the disappointment of the propagandist media, both the personalities hardly require to give any kind of explanation on this account. Their transparent personal lives are enough to assure their followers that these campaigns are ill intended.
Rise of both these nationalists’ icons also owes to the arrival of relatively very free social-media and of the era of liberalization of TV channels in India. The era of controlled media started crumbling after the advent of almost free social media. The power to establish a narrative that rested completely with the limited Lyuten’s media before the arrival of social media realized their hopeless limitations after that. Baba Ramdev used a private TV channel ‘Astha’ and ‘Sanskar’ to establish himself in no time and Modi stormed the social media to finally claim the top position in BJP.
What has demoralized the opposition and liberals in particular the most is that both do not belong to the upper caste Hindu fold. The time tested weapon of the liberal gang to bring in the caste divide has failed them this time. In fact the emergence of Modi and Baba Ramdev almost as worshiping figures have shattered the century long narrative built by liberals of upper caste supremacy in Hinduism. The fact that they are being adored and idolized by Hindus, in general, despite their non-upper caste background further reinforces the pro-Hindutva narrative that our ancient civilization had always kept itself open to knowledge and wisdom and have never bothered about their sources.
Baba Ramdev, in particular, has been an extraordinarily innovative go-getter. What he has achieved in less than twenty years makes him almost a superhuman. I admire him because he has gone beyond the role of merely advising people or just cribbing – usually nationalists often engage themselves into. He didn’t just appeal to people to buy ‘Desi goods’ in the name of the Swadeshi movement, he established a business empire, produced them for us and has successfully challenged many established multinationals. He didn’t just appeal to the scientists to use Ayurveda in modern scientific research, he made that happen before himself in labs developed by him, in such a short period.
The two would be remembered as the new-age reformers of modern India. Both are not just Yogis but – Karmyogis in the true sense of the term.
