The Indian embassy partnered with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) to celebrate the International Day of Yoga (IDY) at the Capitol Hill on Saturday. The HSS is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has 150 branches across the U.S and organises weekly shakhas or assemblies where “physical and intellectual” training on the lines of traditional RSS shakhas in India is imparted.
The event at the West Lawns of the Capitol — the place where the inauguration ceremony of U.S. Presidents occurs — had various Indian classical dance performances, a yoga training session, and was attended by senior diplomats including Ambassador Arun K. Singh. Mr. Singh congratulated the organisers for the selection of the venue. The event was organised jointly with the India International School.
Mr. Singh recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress recently where he mentioned how yoga had become part of the cultural connect between the two countries. Nearly 30 million Americans practice yoga, Mr. Modi had said.
The UN declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga last year, following a diplomatic push by the Modi government. Promotion of yoga has become an objective of Indian foreign policy under Mr. Modi. Commentators call it an expansion of Indian soft power; conventional RSS volunteers say it is in line with the organisation’s vision for India as the ‘vishwa guru.’
The joint statement of India and the U.S. when Mr. Modi visited earlier this month had a paragraph on promoting yoga, healthy life style and moderating the intake of sugar and salt.
And Indian diplomat who did not want to be named said the HSS was only one of the several organisations that the embassy was partnering with for various events this week. “By having several small programmes at various locations around DC, we are trying to reach out to different crowds at different geographical locations,” he said.
He said other events have Patanjali Yogpeeth, Gayatri Parivar, Isha Foundation, and John Hopkins University as partners. The IDY last year was celebrated as a single event that had several Indian origanisations partnering, including the HSS.
