Office on Sunday: How Indian bureaucrats across the globe had a busy Yoga Day

FS Jaishankar with Richard Verma

FROM Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, India’s high commissioner Vishnu Prakash released a photo of him and his wife doing Yoga at the high commission premise on the occasion of International Day of Yoga on Sunday. In New Delhi, the ministry of railways released a photo of Railway Board chairman and 1976 batch officer of Indian Railways Service of Stores (IRSS) AK Mital with the officials of the ministry of railways participating in a Yoga event. Here below are the instances of how bureaucrats and diplomats spent the Yoga Day:
 India’s Ambassador to Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua Shamma Jain who calls herself a “mother, writer and opera enthusiast” has released a number of photos of the Yoga Day being celebrated “across 7 provinces in stunning Costa Rica, including El Museo de Arte”. And hours before the Yoga session began in UNESCO lawns in Paris, ambassador of India to UNESCO Ruchira Kamboj released a photo of the decorated lawn in a social media site. Then she tweeted, “A person who has controlled his mind is like an unflickering lamp kept in a windless place.” She also visited the Ramakrishna Vedantic Centre, Paris during the day.
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat released a photo of Yoga a session at Amman, Jordan before sharing another photo of princess Rym Ali speaking on significance of Yoga.
Senior officers retweeted Nina Davuluri’s post: “Started the morning w/yoga practice in DC! Happy #InternationalDayofYoga! Thanks @IndianEmbassyUS for having me!” Nina Davuluri is Miss America 2014.
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and IFS officer Asoke Kumar Mukerji had a busy day organizing the Yoga event at Times Square, New York. And at Rajpath, 1977 batch IFS and India’s foreign secretary was seen doing Yoga. MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup released the foreign secretary’s photo with US ambassador to India Richard Verma. Verma tells news channels that his wife is a regular Yoga practitioner and he is happy to be a part of the Yoga event.
Secretary of the ministry of AYUSH and 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS Nilanjan Sanyal along with the entire team of bureaucrats of the ministry were busy all throughout the day. He was seen at the dais along with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev.
District Commissioner of Police of North Delhi Madhur Verma, by the way, received an award from an organization on the occasion of International Yoga Day. And former IPS officer Kiran Bedi who participated in the Yoga session in Rajpath tweeted: “With Yoga in all continents, we can expect a huge demand for Yoga Teachers internationally. India can groom teachers to reach out worldwide.”
The mega event, however, did not pass without creating a row. Diplomat-turned Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari did not get an invitation to participate at the event!