Yoga a Sport or Political 'Posturing' by the Government?

For the last few months I've been enamoured by Pari, who I often see during my early morning runs in my neighbourhood park. The 6 year old is part of a yoga class of about 35 people, of all ages. Pari caught my eye because of her perfect asanas: she does the Chakraasan, as if she has no bones in her body; advantages of a young and supple body, perhaps.(Yoga Now a Sport in India)

A couple of days ago, after learning that Yoga had been recognised as a sport by the government, I couldn't help but tell Pari's father (who diligently picks and drops his daughter to yoga class everyday), how with regular practice and hard work, he may, in the near future, be recognised as the father of a sports champion. But before her father's fantasy could take full flight, Pari, upon hearing my comment, shot back, " Of course I will continue to practice Yoga, but to win a medal you need to have competitions, right?"

As it turned out, the 6-year-old isn't just a yoga prodigy but precocious too; with no national or international competitions of note, one wonders what could have been the thought behind government's decision to place yoga in the category of priority sports in India?

"More than 120 countries participated in the Yoga Day. The way the government has been successful in popularising it, you will soon have yoga teams in different countries. Even if you don't have it internationally, in the next few years you will have enough qualified teams in India, which will set standards for the competition", is how BJP leader Chandan Mitra defended the government's decision.

But the larger question remains: in the absence of a scoring system, and with no rules and regulations in place, can yoga even be classified as a sport?

Former Sports Minster, Mani Shankar Aiyar believes, "Sports by definition are competitive events. In yoga you compete against yourself. This is not amenable to a scoreboard or amenable to breasting a tape"

Babul Supriyo, a MoS in the government has a contrary view, "Why not? If gymnastics can be a sport, then so can yoga. Just as one judges gymnastic moves, Yoga asanas can also be judged by a set of expert judges. Yoga belongs to India and we must promote it in whatever way possible"

At this rate, one may argue, going to the gym, or participating in Dahi-Handi, or even Bharatnatyam dance be given the status of sports; after all they too tick all the right boxes, of being popular across the country and physical in nature.

"Yoga is a scientific process, by categorising it as a sport you are demeaning the spiritual practice of Yoga", is how Rahul Basin, owner and instructor of a yoga centre in New Delhi, sees it.

Renowned Yoga practitioner, Nivedita Joshi adds, "Yoga is not a physical activity like sports, it is what lies inside you. Yoga in fact is an antithesis of sports, it is limitless, and by compartmentalising it you are going against the spirit of yoga"

Is yoga a sport? we may never have a definite answer, but what can't be ignored is the fact that the government created inertia has helped the ancient Indian dicipline leapfrog into the 'priority' list of sports, whilst a few others have remained in the 'general' category for the last many years.

Take Shiva Keshavan as an example: the 34 year old is the current Asian champion and has represented India five times at the Winter Olympics. Yet, he's never received any sort of support from the government, simply because his sport of luge lies in the 'general' category of the country's sports list.

Reacting to the latest developments re yoga Keshavan said, "While categorising sports you should take into consideration the kind of international competition there is. This arbitrary categorising of sports is not done. I've been representing India for the past 19 years, and not even a single year out of the 19 the government has stood behind me or taken care of my expenses to represent India. But now Yoga participants will get those benefits ,even before their discipline is adapted into a sport"

Motorsports in India has a similar story: CS Santosh became the first Indian to participate in the World famous Dakar rally by spending huge amounts of money from his own pocket. The only two Indians to race in Formula One- the pinnacle of motorsports- Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok too relied on personal funds and corporate sponsorship to represent India at the highest level.

"No disrespect to Yoga. It is something I do myself and it takes a lot of discipline. But I don't know if it is as competitive or counted as being as competitive as motorsports or any other sport for that matter", is Karun Chandhok's opinion.

The current dispensation has already done enough to profess their love for Yoga (read International Yoga Day), and hence it becomes very difficult to view their latest move in isolation; one can't help but notice residues of the profligate Yoga day celebrations in their decision to 'elevate' Yoga to the category of priority sport.

So, if you are a sportsman seething with anger because Yoga leapfrogged your sport in joining the Indian government's priority list, I can only offer you a piece of advice: practice 'Anulom Vilom Pranayam', it helps in anger management.