A Sanyasi & A Tycoon: How Baba Ramdev Straddles Two Worlds

He burst into the scene with his yoga camps, amassing an unbelievable number of followers, gaining an impactful influence amongst the power corridors. Thanks to his popularity as a public figure, though contentious at times, his political stands have always been vehement and his ‘Be Indian Buy Indian’ stance vociferous. But, what transformed his image completely was his transformation from a straight forward sanyasi to a business tycoon. His brand Patanjali has created waves in the market, with people swearing by its affordable made in India products—be it food items, ayurvedic medicines, cosmetics, dairy and what have you. Now, with his plans to penetrate the garment retail segment and more, both he and his brand will come a full circle. Society talks to the man of the moment—Baba Ramdev.

- Meeta Mishra

It was on a balmy Monday afternoon that my photographer and I were escorted to Baba Ramdev’s home in Haridwar. We had driven from Delhi that very morning and had inadvertently taken a brief tour of the famous yoga guru’s empire. Inadvertently, because we were trying to find out where he would be available. So, we first got entry into Patanjali Yogpeeth – 1. It is on the main road and the campus comprises a hospital, a laundry, a clock room (that’s how their website spells it, we figured it was ‘cloak’ as it is where visitors can keep their luggage in safe custody), railway and air ticket booking counters and their own post office!

As it turned out, the person who was to facilitate our meeting was in Patanjali Yogpeeth Phase II. This is essentially a residential and office area. There are different housing schemes for the elderly and those in need. There is a building that hosts the langar (free food service) that caters to the poor and the Yoga & Research Centre.

Though we had reached before our appointed time of 1 o’clock, we learnt that Babaji would be meeting us later as the interviews that were to get over by then had not. So, after watching umpteen number of people moving about in white attire (which apparently is the colour code for the people working or studying there) and having lunch at their canteen Prasadam (a thali which consists of daal, sabzi, rotis and rice is for Rs 60), we were escorted to Baba Ramdev’s home, Sant Kutir. It was a couple of kilometers away from the main campus.