International Yoga Day Finally Arrives in India, Amid Cheers and Skepticism

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/world/asia/india-narendra-modi-international-yoga-day.html?_r=0

By NIDA NAJAR
JUNE 21, 2015



Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India led participants during a demonstration in New Delhi on Sunday for the inaugural International Yoga Day. Credit Adnan Abidi/Reuters

NEW DELHI — It was a rare sight — after a brief speech to inaugurate International Yoga Day on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi descended from a huge stage in front of the presidential palace and took off his glasses and his shoes. He quietly took his place before a sea of schoolchildren and others, mats neatly arranged in a checkerboard as far as the eye could see, to begin what was billed as the largest yoga demonstration in a single venue in history.

Reporters pounced, and a camera lens shattered on the ground. Muscular men wearing International Yoga Day T-shirts held back the crowd. Some volunteers formed a chain around onlookers.

To this, Mr. Modi appeared impervious, lost deep in his practice. After bending and twisting through most of a 35-minute session in unison with an army of more than 35,000 participants, many in identical white T-shirts, he delved into the crowd of children, who touched his feet reverently. When he beckoned, and not a moment before, they rushed to him, touching the scarf he had used to wipe his brow.

“When he touched my hand, it was like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” said Shubhangi Tiwari, amid a gaggle of students afterward.

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