‘Baba brand proved tough for them (MNCs) . . . they came and said Baba, spare us and join hands with us’

•TEENA THACKER: He then said you were misleading people by claiming magical cures.

I just explained myself. Anything I say may seem like magic. Not just me, even scientists the world over have been suspected. I don’t claim to be a scientist though. Some call me a scientist, some say I am a corporate manager of the religious world, some think I am marketing guru of yoga. People give me names according to their own perception. So it is with Ramadossji.

•ANIL SHARMA: I am diabetic since seven years. I exercise for two hours daily. Three years back I started following your techniques of yoga. Despite your claims, my insulin intake has only increased.

Neither exercise nor yoga is at fault in your case. I have never claimed to cure diabetes. I claim to cure asthma, thyroid problems, blood pressure-related problems. I say that one can prevent the complications diabetes can create. And to counter those which have been created. Yours is an individual case. Sometimes the beta cells of the pancreas dip dramatically, which is when one can face problems. This doesn’t pose a question mark on any given remedy. Results can vary.

•RITU BHATIA: Why did you give up eating grain?

It was neither for taste nor for religion. I thought I can survive without grain. It’s not the kind of food but its value which should be considered. I take only fruit, green vegetables, and milk. This provides complete food value: protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Yes, this food habit is satvik, which makes me feel light. I work from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m., so I need food to keep me alert. Grains make you feel tired fast and you need more sleep.

•TEENA THACKER: Brinda Karat kicked up a controversy recently, alleging that samples of medicines from your laboratory had human and animal matter in them. What do you have to say?

I would want you to get your facts right first. There was a bungling in the samples. The samples were provided by Brinda Karat, not taken from my factory. If she arranges the samples and the testing, the samples will be found to contain whatever is there in her house and her mind. My samples will be pure. There is a procedure to be followed: a drug inspector needs to go to the factory or laboratory and take the sample from there. The same thing has happened with many people abroad as well. The late Mahesh Yogiji was maligned similarly as some people claimed to have found human waste in his medicines. This was planted. Twice I had checks done on my samples, which came out clean. It was a maligning exercise — which failed.

•ABHINEET MISHRA: Yoga is centuries old. Why have people started benefiting from it only after you arrived on the scene? My grandmother thinks people’s perception of yoga has transformed. What did you do to achieve that?

I didn’t promote tough exercises. Only what everyone could do. The only thing I added was a time-frame for the exercises. If a 500 mg dose of paracetamol has to be taken to ward off fever, taking 5 mg doses 100 times will not do the trick. I gave the right dose, and people think I am good doctor. Those prescribing the latter are jobless. You don’t have to practice what I prescribe in my presence. Just follow the technique and the timing. That’s the only thing I have contributed.

•PALLAVI VERMA: If one exceeds the time limit prescribed by you, will the result be negative?

Why should one do tough exercise at all? If it’s for exhibition, like when my students demonstrate tough asanas, it’s fine. But otherwise, where’s the need to get into tough asanas? Exceeding the time frame will show negative results but not dire ones. If you drink excessive amounts of water, you’ll vomit. That’s about it. Nothing serious will happen. Pranayam practiced beyond its limit will cause small problems like temporary increase in blood pressure. No prescription or restriction is needed for yoga.

•S.B. EASWARAN: But there are people who market really tough ‘brands’ of yoga, if you could call it that — say, Ashtanga Yoga or Power Yoga, which requires a great degree of athleticism to practise even at the basic level. And people practise it to stay fit as athletes or for cosmetic reasons. What do you say about that?

In my programme, I teach some strengthening exercises, pranayams and asanas. These tough forms of yoga can be useful for competition or exhibition. Normal yoga is for health and beauty. Suryanamaskar, yogic jogging (a set of asanas and movements that I have put together) — these are more than enough. To keep one’s body from getting flabby, to have a glowing skin, to prevent premature loss or greying of hair, these simple exercises are enough. I am pro- and anti- as far as commenting on tough yoga regimens is concerned. Log bhog bechtey hain, toh yog bhi bechney lagey! They are glamourising yoga like bhog (sex). Philosophically, that is not correct.

•SHRAVAN SEN: Do you foresee a time when there will be no medicines, medical institutes or doctors?

Doctors will become jobless (laughs). I don’t take medicines. I travel a lot. I believe that’s possible for all. Medicines and doctors are required — or must be required – only to deal with emergencies.

•RUCHIKA TALWAR: I have heard that medicines from your Patanjali Yoga Peeth are effective. But people complain of high prices. Many who turn to your treatments are those who don’t want to, or can’t afford to, go elsewhere.

In my camps, around 50 per cent of participants donate money, which we use to provide discounts to the poor. For the very poor, the medicines are given free. Our ayurvedic medicines are 50 per cent cheaper than others and 50 times more effective. The problem also stems from perception about how cheap ayurvedic medicines are. When people think of ayurvedic medicines, they think of triphala churn, which I too sell cheap, for as less as Rs 10. But medicines for complicated diseases such as cancer contain expensive ingredients, like diamond or or pearl or gold bhasm, which is very expensive. Diamond ash costs Rs 2,000 per gram. Does Baba have a diamond mine? It was Rs 20,000 in the market, I brought it down to to Rs 2,000. Pearl ash is for Rs 250 a gram. Buy it from me at Rs 30 a gram. Nobody had ayurvedic hospitals in India. We have given 500 franchises. We have 450 doctors and 30,000 patient in the OPD every day.

•SEEMA CHISHTI: You called carbonated drinks like Pepsi and Coke toilet cleaners. Has any remark come from these companies? Have they contacted you?

They said, ‘Baba humein bakhsho aur humarey sath shamil ho jao.’ (Spare us and join hands with us). I said this is toilet cleaner. They said, ‘We’ll sell whatever you say. But you become our partner.’

•SEEMA CHISHTI: At what level was this offer made to you?

Let it be . . . (laughs). Baba brand proved tough for those who were endorsing their brands using TV. Now kids are switching to fruit juice. Here comes my next line of offence. The companies selling fruit juice are MNCs. They are siphoning out huge amounts to their parent countries.

•C. JAYANTHI: Why are you against MNCs? They create employment.

I don’t oppose science & technology. I oppose McDonald’s, Pepsi, Coke, shampoos and soaps. MNCs come here from their countries with 5-10 per cent of their money and get the rest from our share market. Ninety per cent of the money is from my country. How can they walk away with 90 per cent profits? They don’t give us any technology. Water of my country is bottled and sold at high prices. They add animal matter in water and bottle it. Water level goes down. Hardly 10-50 people get employment, because their plants are automatic. The rest are harmed. In the name of therapy, multinational pharma companies are milking the country to the tune of thousands of crores a year. Indigenous thearapy, indigenous education, indigenous economy and thoughtful development of rural India: till we achieve these targets, the country cannot progress. I am not a ponga pundit who merely talks about asanas and pranayam, I am also about patriotism. It’s my country, my pain. I provide scientific remedies to national problems. Around NCR, the water table is contaminated. The future generations will curse us. So a clean India, population control, total self-dependence via indigenous practices and complete resolution of issues arising out of the corrupt political system — these are the issues that will decide the country’s future. Someone applying for a peon’s job needs minimum educational qualifications. This isn’t required for being a politician. Is there any country that has three names? Our original name was Aryavrat. We call it Bharat. The British called it India. What kind of unifying practice is this? Is desh mein Hindi mein vote maangtey hain, aur angrezi mein shasan kartey hain. (In this country they seek votes in Hindi, and rule using English).

•COOMI KAPOOR: A newspaper in the west carried an article about a Catholic priest saying that yoga is anti-Christian. Is there skepticism in the west about yoga?

They are criticising yoga because of its popularity. They think it attracts spirits. That’s unscientific. Rather yoga wards off such thinking. In terms of science, we follow the west. Pictures of scientists are put up in schools and homes. But we are trashed as ponga pandits. I respect Einstein, the Wright brothers, and all scientists for their knowledge. But the science of our own rishis is discarded. This is the West’s tragedy.

•S.B. EASWARAN: What do you have to say about the patenting or copyrighting of yogic techniques and teaching methods in the west? Bikram yoga, for instance.

People haven’t gathered anything from such forms of yoga. They aren’t very helpful, so there is no harm done even if they are patented. Yoga’s basic asanas can’t be patented. My addition to yoga is timing. In order to prevent distortion or misuse of this timing, I am getting my techniques patented/copyrighted too. It’s not to get royalty, but for security. So that others don’t stop us from following and propagating it. I don’t want other countries to tell India later on that we can’t use a particular technique. People can teach my techniques freely. Patanjali Yoga Peeth has organised yoga classes in 535 districts recently. We have free classes at 35,000 places and I pledge to take that figure to 9 lakh.

•RUCHIKA TALWAR: What was your experience at the UN?

My address was against poverty. Development doesn’t reflect in a rich man further amassing wealth. It is rather visible in a poor man’s education, health, dignity of life. Just like the rich, the less prosperous also have the right to effective treatment and a healthy life. This notion is disregarded today.

•S.B. EASWARAN: What is your view on the caste system, the caste barrier that you broke through?

I believe in being four-in-one. Dimag sey Brahmin, bal, parakram, urja, neeti-nipunta, vyapar aur prbandhan se Kshatriya, aur sewa se shudron jaisa hona chahiye. (One must cultivate the intellect of a Brahmin, the strength and vigour of a Kshatriya, and the sense of service that is in a Shudra.)

•RITU BHATIA: Don’t you feel angry ever? Or do you avoid showing it?

Try annoying me! (Laughs) He who doesn’t get angry isn’t a human being. Each of us have our vices. I get angry only on traitors, those who cheat their country. In administering my institute, I am soft and harsh at the same time.

(The transcript was prepared by Ruchika Talwar)