Delhi Day 75

We’re at India’s largest indoor sports arena – the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in the capital city of India, New Delhi. It’s mind boggling to see such a huge venue jampacked! It looks like the whole city is in the stadium. The noise is deafening – everyone is singing and dancing as they wait for Sadhguru and when they spot the motorcycle, the frenzy reaches a climax. It’s day 75 but looking at the reception Sadhguru receives here, it feels like the launch of the Movement.

Like most Indian cities, Delhi’s history too dates back several centuries- it was the political capital of the Pandavas from the famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat. Since then, for five centuries, the city has been a political hub for Mughal dynasties, Hindu rulers and British colonizers. With so many cultural influences, the city boasts of a unique flavour. The citizens, who have built and rebuilt the city several times over and have long defended it with gusto from several invaders, have a deep love for its soil. Sadhguru extracts a promise from the sellout crowd that they will keep the momentum up until policies are framed for soil regeneration.

Back at the campsite, the familiar comedy of errors continues with the laundry. With dozens of SaveSoil T-shirts of the same color and size, we’re now used to witnessing the musical chair routine with the Tees- you grab it first, you’re the owner. More than soil, the Save Soil Tee is the great unifier (and the great leveler). 😊

Earlier in the day, we were at the Vigyan Bhawan. It’s a premiere conference center of the Government of India. National and world leaders gather here for conferences, seminars, and award ceremonies. It is apparently let out to non-governmental bodies only when either the President, Vice President or the Prime Minister of India are in attendance. And so it came to be that Sadhguru met the Indian Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi at Vigyan Bhawan on the 75th day of his #JourneyForSoil (to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence).

An august audience is seated waiting for the PM and Sadhguru to arrive. Conversation is hushed. Protocol is followed. It’s nothing like the boisterous events we’ve been witnessing everywhere. And then, the soil anthem comes on…immediately, the backbenchers erupt. In a minute, the Isha volunteers have a party going in the stately hall of Vigyan Bhawan. The impeccable ladies and gentlemen in the audience are uncertain how to react or even if they should…but they’re saved from making that decision by the arrival of the popular Prime Minister and Sadhguru. They’re received with a polite but thunderous standing ovation…ah! That’s more like it- this is right up their alley 😊.