Baba gives a taste of his brand of humour before fast

Till now, Baba Ramdev was all fire and brimstone. But preludes to fasting apparently bring on the need for humour. And so it was with Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru-turned-crusader against corruption.

Emerging just before 5 am on the dais at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Ramdev was accompanied by a motley bunch of holy men and women – among them, the odd maulana and the fiery Sadhvi Rithambara of Babri Masjid infamy.

The Baba began by announcing the benefits of fasting. The fast, he said, would help bring in both health and wealth, he said. “Hamara mota bhai aur moti beheno ke liye yeh satyagrah health benefits dega aur desh ke liye wealth mil jayega" (while the hunger strike will help slim obese brothers and sisters, it will also bring wealth to the country)".

That, of course, depends on whether the bhais and behens continue going easy on their diets after the anti-corruption mela gets over. Mela, after all, is an anagram of meal. The wealth, of course, is another story. Trying to prise black money away from the crooked is like parting a child from his candy-stick. But we’ll let that pass.

A while later, the Baba was presented with a cheque for Rs 11 lakh by a bhakt. “Take the photo, he said, this is not black money.” The audience twittered. But did he mean that cameras should be off if the money was not clean?

Despite the presence of assorted religious leaders from the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities, PTI says that it was largely a one-man show. Whenever a religious leader came up to the dais, Ramdev would introduce him or her, apparently to project his movement as not being sponsored by the RSS or any other organisation.

While Ramdev continuously addressed the gathering and was followed by Sadhvi Rithambara. She lavished praise on the Baba saying “if there were more Vallabhbhai Patels, then there was no need for a sanyasi to sit on satyagraha.” The sanyasi smiled.

Maulvi Rizvi complimented the Sadhvi for her speech and said “this is not Mullah Omar’s Taliban.  This is Hindustan,” drawing thunderous applause. Did he mean Baba Ramdev was not Mullah Omar?

Ramdev said support from politicians was welcome but they cannot make speeches. “They can support us but they cannot make speeches because it leads to controversy," he said. Only he apparently cam make speeches without controversies.

The yoga guru then gave instructions to those who were fasting along with him, saying “we have arranged for water and lemon juice but don’t drink in large quantities.” That, presumably, can be done after the fasting is over, and the feasting begins.

He advised those against corruption to send him a missed call. “By making this call, we can awaken the country. We have received more than 55 lakh missed calls already. Some time, we will cross a record one crore mark to remove corruption,” he said, referring to his campaign.

(With PTI inputs)