Yoga has been trivialised and it’s a sad state of affairs. Bringing a homogeneity and universal identity, this might be what the strife filled world needs today. That’s the way the world works. People are embracing various cultures and doing away with archaic forms of thoughts. A healthy alternative to coffee, it seems to be a desi tadka, in a drink.Honourary Consul of Spain, Bengaluru, Surbhi Sharma feels that these cultural exchanges are great occasions for camaraderie, "We talk about living in a global village and this is a perfect example. Yoga is yoga, the whole practice is to work with oneself, body and mind. Holi is played with fervour in Spain, with marathons having Holi colours as a part of their run-dez-vous. Salamanca resident and lawyer, Lina Marcela Santibáñez Mejía, who participated in the Salamanca Colour Race, describes it, The runners got a bag containing coloured powder that we could throw on anyone we wanted. 

JFK said it best: The only unchangeable certainty, is that nothing is certain, or unchangeable.. Yogini Samita Rathore is filled with angst at this interpretation. Ironically, fly-by-night ‘new’ yoga teachers are offering classes of yoga that start with a deep puff from a chillum. Hashish Yoga, in which yogic asanas are performed with a smoke-ful of hashish manna, threatens to obliterate the very essence of yoga. Take Holi, the festival of colours, which is played with fervour in Spain, with marathons having Holi colours as a part of their run-dez-vous. Hashish, or charas, is seen as a gift of Shiva to aid in sadhana. This way, tourists, locals and farmers benefitted too,” she says, adding, "The Spanish town of Bunol greatly benefits by attracting over 40,000 tourists on the day of Tomatina Festival, leading to a good amount of business. Karanth attributes the fusing of two individual activities into one as an instance of an inter-cultural cauldron, "Cultural taboos are slowly fading. The event had full support of the government of Meghalaya whose horticulture department collaborated with the Vegetable Sellers Association. 

In any case, we need to respect current laws in force, and if they have outlived their purpose, we should endeavour to change them. knowing that someone would want to hang onto the old, and then let the universe decide what will be permitted. I see this as a merger that ushers the advent of a liberal era. It’s a ‘Holi’day!A marathon and Holi What’s the connection People in Salamanca found one, when they held a 5K marathon with Holi colours.It’s desi in videsi garb with a fusion of celebrations, festivals and customs. It’s an exotic health drink — the West has realised its health benefits. Even parties across the world have thrown some gulaal into the revelling. I would therefore go with the evolving trend. While all these bring about a sense of belonging, there are also worrying practices like ‘hashish yoga’ that tries to marry age-old spiritual yoga, adding pot into the asana and pranayama equation. 

However, while it is always a struggle to decide what part of culture needs to remain sacrosanct and what needs tweaking or discarding, the world now uses the power of collective or crowd intelligence. In modern times, this sort of navel-gazing to sell a concept is outrageous, Personality coach and mind guru Ian Faria sums it up in a nutshell, "I believe that culture is a moving standard.K. Organic cafes are serving Turmeric latte with ginger. She says, "While a turmeric latte is a wonderful marrying of cultures, Hashish Yoga is ridiculous. It’s demoralising and dangerous too. It’s a full cycle and it makes me happy when India gets highlighted. A new-age stick workout, similar to our Gujju behen’s Dandiya has taken fitness junkies into its clattering umbrella too.”In a thumping party too, splashing colour on one another is something that has taken Madrid and Barcelona under its colourful umbrella, adding some more to the boogeying.” While she felt the addition of colours was a tad frivolrous in a marathon, she says, "Companies take advantage of these new ideas to attract young people, though I did enjoy the post-race tapas session and drinks. In the early days, when yogis used to take cannabis, it was not taken recreationally but as a pure herb, this new form is against the first rule of yoga, which is ahimsa and non-violence, as it violates the body. Such celebrations are a perfect way of promoting better understanding and camaraderie among the people of the world. Does cannabis help in one’s quest for vinyasa NOT, is the universal answer.” In Indian history, cannabis is believed to have been used as an entheogen as early as 1000 BCE. At completion of each kilometre, all runners got a ‘coloured shower’ under an arch with each arch in a particular colour.. Likewise, India too joins this bandwagon with the various Tomatina Festivals being held here. The very fact that the festival of Holi is observed in Arabian countries, and our Northeastern counterparts seem to be taking active part in Tomatina, a festival celebrated with gusto in Spain, testifies to this. A damp squib — new-age yogaYet, something like yoga seems to be getting some disturbing interpretations.”Yoga teacher Samita Rathore has been seeing a craze for it in Australia where she is currently teaching yoga, "‘It is big time in Sydney. India produces most of the world’s turmeric and uses 80 percent of it (for cooking)!Renowned Chef Abhijit Saha says about the ‘Indian saffron’, "There is a rule the world follows: Do things differently instead of coming up with new things. It is indeed becoming a small world, where one sees festivals as a celebration irrespective of origin, and issues as a part of the world crisis. Together in celebration rather than apart in beliefs! That oft-gulped and much detested haldi doodh of childhood has turned into a chic organic drink in the West, with turmeric latte and tea being the go-to. I think we need to use our brains to realise what is true and what is a gimmick. It takes very little for things to become a rage and it’s great that people have found a new formula to market things. The line between homegrown customs and the West is blurring with elements of desi-ness becoming a part of international celebrations. I am delighted to see such cultural exchanges that go beyond boundaries, and into the minds and lives of others. It’s desi in videsi garb with a fusion of celebrations, festivals and customs. It clearly shows how people are so disconnected with reality — the fact that people are even using a term like Hashish Yoga is such a shame — something so sacred and traditional like yoga is being degraded to such a umbrella level by an unseemly bunch.”Such exchanges promote understanding and sociologist B. To think that the age-old nuska for good health — haldi doodh — has reached foreign waters speaks volumes of that ordinary nub of turmeric or curcuma. Usually taken as a concoction in milk as bhang and used during religious ceremonies. A spice that is 4,000 years old in Vedic culture. It’s ironic that our very own haldi doodh has been turned into a latte craze. 

It is especially interesting to see this take place this year, as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Indo-Spanish diplomatic relations!”And everyone wants to be a part of it, "Holi has become a huge fad abroad, especially after the release of Coldplay’s music video that was shot in India which focused on Holi colours, so many of my relatives from the US and UK have shown interest in flying down, just to celebrate the festival here!” exclaims Yasmin Paul, a student of communication. It’s remarkable how we all used to have it as kids — we would close our noses to gulp it down, and now we’ve forgotten it and the West has embraced it. Empirically, this has proved to be very accurate in determining trends and shifts in mindset. More than being a Roman, we seem to be taking Rome wherever we go!” he quips. The ordinary ripe tomato too finds its festival being celebrated in the country, as the Tomatina of Spain comes to the Northeast

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