(Image source from: World Bends)

June 21st has been celebrated as International Yoga day, world over. After Indian Prime Minister requested in the UN general assembly on last September, nations accepted and decided to observe 21st June as International Yoga Day. Yoga celebration in India was performed at Rajpath with over 37000 people, bending, stretching and breathing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Officials said the yoga programme at Rajpath saw the largest number of participants of 35,985 people and the most number of participating nationalities, 84nations. This conglomeration is being considered for Guinness book. “The deadline for this year’s book has passed so the record won’t appear on the book until September 2016 at the earliest. We receive 40,000 record applications per year and our editorial team decides which 3,800 records appear in the book based on a number of factors,” Doug Male, the Guinness World Records public relations manager told.

“It is a matter of pride for India that we have broken two records on one day,” minister of AYUSH, Shripad Naik, told.

In Dubai, a 40-year-old man of Indian origin, Ivan Stanley, a Dubai-based advertising professional stood on his head for 61 minutes in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record. "It feels nice but a little disorienting. Those last five minutes were impossible, perhaps the longest of my life," Stanley said. "When I contacted the Guinness World Records international office and the Dubai one, there was no such challenge registered with the organisation. We have registered the attempt and will send the video to them. Hopefully, we should know soon enough," Stanley said.

There was a controversy regarding the absence of Vice President Hamid Ansari. The Vice President's office asserted that, "Vice President was not sick. He was never invited for the yoga programme. The Vice President only attends those programmes in which the minister concerned invites him as per protocol".

By Premji