Thoughtriders.com

You may wonder why I chose this late a time to cook up something of my own on the current global rage – Slumdog. And I allow you to wonder aloud – because as you read further, you will agree that Danny Boyle has truly done a wonderful job, apart from making a highly appreciable film. He has once again jolted us to take note of our valuable resources, of our very own country. See how Slumdog made it really BIG at the Oscars. Don’t you agree that had Danny thought of casting Hollywood actors in his film – it wouldn’t have really garnered this much hype. He owes every bit of success to India. And no, I am not doubting his capabilities as a wonderful film maker.
But the current pivotal issue that everyone is talking about is why does it take a Danny Boyle to make a Slumdog? I too have a question! And that is why I chose to put some wordy flesh on Slumdog yoga. Yoga – our very own ancient art of living has been in existence as early as 900 B.C.E. and finds references in Upnishads and Vedas. The oldest documented book on Yoga in the world is Patanjali’s work – centuries ago.
Now what is really demeaning is that this valuable art is filed for patents not in the country that gave birth to it – but the countries who have always exploited India for reasons well known. First it was Haldi, Neem and Tulsi and now Yoga. It seems whatever we have left for the world to benefit from – they are really benefiting from it.
And our Ministry of Health has woken up really late. There have been more than 130 yoga-related patents, 150 copyrights and 2,300 trademarks in the United States of America alone. Whoa. Now that’s what I call statistics. Whopping figures.
Just how the Slumdog Millionaire aka crorepati movie grossed millions of dollars, others too have set their sights on us. Our government has now set up a team of over 200 scientists and Yoga gurus to identify and aasanas and register each one them to prevent from further loss of our traditional knowledge. All the registrations get listed to India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library that can be viewed by all. Before granting further patents, the authorities from around the world would claim for a justified ownership form it.
Of course, the damage has already been done and Yoga is now a thriving 225 billion dollar industry abroad. Alas, we have always failed to take note of our country and our countrymen. And if this continues, we will have many more Slumdogs in the years to come and we will be the fooled spectators, celebrating a false success as ours.