In a small cage. I knew at once that I wanted to keep him

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY ESSAY 5 (600 WORDS) 
Introduction 
In the year 2014, the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi gave the proposal to 
celebrate 21st June as International Yoga Day. The proposal was liked by the United 
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and 21st June 2015 marked the first International Yoga 
Day. The proposal placed by Mr. Modi and the subsequent decision taken by the U.N. was 
appreciated and supported by spiritual leaders and yoga practitioners from around the 
world. Indian spiritual leader and the founder of the Art of Living, Sri Ravi Shankar said 
that Yoga was like an orphan earlier but not anymore. After its recognition by the United 
Nations, this art has received the stature it truly deserved. 
The First International Yoga Day 
Though the first International Yoga Day was celebrated with great zeal in various parts of 
the world, it was particularly a special day for India. This is because Yoga was originated in 
India in the ancient times and having received recognition at this level was a matter of 
pride for us. The day was thus celebrated on a large scale in the country. 
A big event was organized at Rajpath, Delhi in the honour of this day. The event was 
attended by Mr. Modi and notable people from as many as 84 nations. Apart from this, the 
general public gathered in large numbers for this first-ever Yoga Day celebration. 21 yoga 
asanas were performed during this mass yoga session. Trained yoga instructors guided 
people to perform these asanas and people followed them enthusiastically. This event set 
two Guinness World Records. The records were made for the biggest yoga class that 

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included as many as 35,985 participants and for the greatest number of participating 
nations. The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and 
Homoeopathy (AYUSH) had arranged for the event. AYUSH minister Shripad Yesso Naik 
received award for the same. 
Besides numerous yoga camps were organized at different places in the country. People 
gathered around in parks, community halls and other places to practice different yoga 
asanas. Yoga trainers volunteered to lead the people to make these yoga sessions a 
success. The enthusiasm shown by the general public was immense. Not just the people 
living in the metropolitans, those residing in small towns and villages also organized and 
participated in yoga sessions. It was a great sight. One of the reasons why such large 
participation could be achieved was because 21st June 2015 coincidently fell on a Sunday. 
On the same day NCC cadets also entered the Limca Book of Records for the “largest yoga 
performance simultaneously by single uniformed youth organisation”. 
So, all in all it was a great start. People did not only come out in large numbers to 
participate on the 1st International Yoga Day but were also motivated to embed yoga in 
their daily routine. Yoga training centres saw large number of people enrolling for different 
yoga sessions post the Yoga Day. People in India already knew about the importance of 
Yoga but the initiation of the Yoga Day emphasized it further. It inspired them to stop 
procrastinating and turn towards a healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, for many people 
around the world it was a new concept. They felt blessed to have been introduced to such a 
great art. Hence, this also marked the establishment of many new yoga centres in India as 
well as abroad. 
Conclusion 
It is a matter of pride for Indians that our ancient art of keeping the mind and body fit has 
been accepted and appreciated worldwide. India is a land of several such treasures and we 
are glad to have shared one of the best among them with the world. 
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