• World Heritage Sites in India
• Yoga - A Spiritual Commodity!

• Red Fort now a world heritage site

Red Fort, the 17th century Mughal marvel, has been given the world heritage status by UNESCO today. Pitted against 45 other sites from across the globe, the Red Fort is among the four cultural sites that was selected by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which is currently meeting in New Zealand to choose the next heritage sites. Japan's Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, Turkmenistan's Parthian Fortresses of Nisa and Australia's Sydney Opera are the other sites that will now be inscribed in the UNESCO's World Heritage List. Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal creativity, which under emperor Shah Jahan was brought to a new level of refinement. The planning of the palace is based on Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion reveals architectural elements typical of Mughal building, reflecting a fusion of Persian, Timurid and Hindu traditions, UNESCO said in a statement. The palace was designed as an imitation of paradise as described in the Koran; a couplet inscribed in the palace reads "if there be a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here." The Red Fort's innovative planning and architectural style, including its garden design, strongly influenced later buildings and garden in Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra and further afield. Through, its fabric, the complex reflects all phases of Indian history from the Mughal period to independence, it said.

Courtesy; www.hindu.com, June 28, 2007

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The UN Inter Governmental Panel on climate change predicted that the global temperature would rise by 6 degree Celsius by the turn of this century. Global warming will leave nearly two billion people water starved by 2050 and let 20-30 species disappear. The panel said the climate change was real and manmade. The main reason for this global ill is the aggressive pursuit of a distorted form of Market economy, which enforces a life style change among people. Today the world leaders have two options: care for human life or face nature's retribution. Care for human life always comes from a healthy mind. Here Yoga helps in a big way by creating healthy minds, which will ultimately help reverse the life style change. In developed nations people have discovered that yoga gives them the proper state of mind to enjoy life. This is the reason why millions of people across the world practice yoga to keep their body and mind in proper condition. Yoga has increased the happiness level of people, which the economists world over could not achieve with a host of economic models. The primary objective of every economic model is to increase the happiness level of people. Over the years, yoga has become the chief spiritual commodity to compete with other products in the global market.

According to NAMASTA, an organization for mind, body professionals in US, around 70,000 yoga teachers in North America teach yoga. The demand for yoga studios is so high that it has become the hot pursuit of the commercial real estate giants. In corporate world, yoga has been recognized as a stress management tool and an elixir for increasing productivity. In USA, the Corporate yoga classes are growing faster than shopping malls. Government organisations, police departments, military bases, therapists both mental and physical, schoolteachers and media people etc, are the main target groups. The profession of yoga instructor has become very attractive as he earns $ 80 to $ 125 per class. The income increases many folds in corporate environment. According to a market survey release "Yoga in America"; the number of yoga practitioners has reached 16.5 million. Yoga is a $30 billion business in USA, which includes yoga accessories, DVD, apparel, mats and other equipments. The average yoga practitioner in US spends $ 1500 per annum. Americans spend $2.95 billion a year on yoga classes and on yoga products. According to a yoga journal release, 7.5 % of US adults practice yoga every year. One in seven non-practitioners in US are interested to practice yoga within next 12 months. The number of yoga practitioners has increased by 43 % in 2005 over 2002 in US. In Asia, yoga has become a booming business in 21 Asian countries with an annual turnover of $ 500 million. Recently Hong Kong hosted Asia's largest yoga conference. Pure Yoga studio in Hong Kong is believed to be the largest yoga studio in the world. Yoga has become a national craze in Singapore. The recent survey made by Singapore Sport Council, noted an estimated 55000 people practiced yoga out of 4 million population in 2005. The growing pollution level in urban centers in Asian countries due to unplanned economic growth, forces people to resort to yoga for survival. European countries also take special interest in yoga to increase productivity. Today every small urban center in Germany has a yoga school. This is a good sign that people are doing the basic to reverse the robotisation of human civilization. The pleasant journey for unification of mind and body will be the chief pursuit of the smart and educated people who have the ability to see reason in their action. The growing awareness about life style value has made yoga a global industry. Besides, diseases and high cost of medical expenditure also force people to enter in to the world of yoga. Swami Vivekananda first recognised yoga as a spiritual pursuit commodity when he delivered his famous lecture at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893. Vivekananda was optimistic that India could cash in on the opportunity of marketing yoga. After a long gap when the developed world is going in a big way to market this 5000 year old purely Indian spiritual commodity, India has made its preliminary work of digitalizing database of 1500 yoga postures and their therapeutic properties. This is only a baby step in the aggressive war of the titans in the age of globalisation. Though India is the treasure trove of yoga knowledge it sits like a cricket third umpire watching the game from a secured room and not playing it. The new Intellectual Property Agreement known as Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) will prompt developed nations to forcibly push patents- a tacit encroachment in knowledge area. This may cost Indian economy over $700 million per year as global players have already started marketing yoga products in different names: yoga plus, power yoga, yoga vita, mind yoga and pure yoga etc. India still has time, resources and skill to make yoga sector a thriving economy. There should be a National Yoga Policy for better focus on this sector. India can undoubtedly be the outsourcing hub of yoga products. Indian cottage industries can produce a wide range of organic yoga mats and apparels to meet the global demand. Yoga could easily be a business proposition for bankers. Indian banking community must think of including yoga sector in their business plan. While taking care of health and employment of the country, Yoga can bring both emotional integration among world community which will humanize globalisation. This is high time for India to play the lead role to complete the integration process and visualize a world reversing the global warming.

Courtesy: www.centralchronicle.com, June 19, 2007

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