After the overwhelming success of last two years International Day of Yoga celebrations, the Consulate General of India in New York is all set to make it larger in the third year.The Consulate General of India, New York in association with local Indian community and associations, is organizing a series of Yoga related events in New York City and States under its jurisdiction.

In an exclusive interview with The Indian Panorama, Consul General of India in New York, Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das shared the details of their flagship event and the preparations they are taking to make it ‘More successful’ than previous editions.

What kind of preparations you have made to go beyond the achievements in the last two years?

Like previous years, we are going to do a large number of events with the help of our valuable partners and Indian community, various temples, non-profits, and other cultural organizations.We have done a printed pamphlet this year with the list of events. Among all events, two stand out this year.

First one is the Times Square event on 21st morning which is organized by Times Square Alliance. It’s a magnificent event. They start very early in the morning and thousands of people gather there to participate. It presents a beautiful sight of people doing Surya Namaskar and yogic asanas in an impressive setting.

This year AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) is doing a Yoga session with Baba Ramdev in Atlantic City on June 24, from 5 to 7 in the morning and we are joining them. This is a combined effort of AAPI and the Consulate. The hope is everybody will turn up in the morning. Baba Ramdev will conduct yoga exercises with the AAPI group. It’s very significant that the doctors’ group is doing yoga. That connection should not be missed.

What is different this year?

It’s our flagship event at the Battery Park – the iconic venue of New York City. We have been working for several months with the Public Advocate’s Office. We got excellent cooperation from the Mayor’s office and park authorities.

On the 19th June evening, we are hosting the session right in front of the CastleClinton from 5 to 8.30 pm. We are trying to target people from the offices around. Our partners are Art of Living Foundation, Hindu Temple, and Urban Yogis. The Urban Yogis are from Brooklyn and they are African Americans. Eddie Stern is their yoga guru who will conduct a session. Battery Park event will start with some music, yoga shlokas, Bharatnatyam dance.

There will be yoga session by Hindu temple. Children from Malakhamba Yoga will also participate.We will round up the evening with a music performance. The whole purpose is to make general New Yorkers understand how much yoga can help you in dealing with your everyday life.

Any other interesting thing you want to share?

Yes. Yoga is being done by NYPD. There is one inspector who is posted in Queens. Her name is Inspector Colleen Quinn who has been practicing yoga for a while. She is a great advocate of promoting yoga in the law enforcement and says yoga helps her to deal with the stress in her job. She will demonstrate yoga with NYPD officers.

Will there be any event at the airports?

Yes. Art of Living and Sahaja Yoga will be hosting sessions at Newark airport on June 15.

Have you ever considered that how yoga can be a source of big business?

Right now, we are in the phase of promoting yoga. Government is not into business. Now, the whole idea is to take ownership of yoga. Many people don’t even relate yoga to India. Yoga belongs to India and that is what we are promoting.

What is your message to people on this occasion?

As our life becomes more and more stressful, as we are dealing with health issues, Yoga shows us the way,Ayurveda shows us the way. Do come in large numbers on 19th June in Battery Park. There will be a red carpet where you can pose and take your pictures. We should all come together to show Indians can promote something which is so ancient.

Please do register on our website: http;//www.indiacgny.org. registration.php