29 June 2010
Bangalore, India
Sri Sri Pledges Support To Fight Heart Diseases
The mood at the satsang was full of life, people dancing and signing to their favorite bhajans. Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Dr P C Reddy handed over the pledge form to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Dr Reddy said it was an ‘electrifying experience’ to launch the campaign at the AOL ashram. "By 2050, India is likely to be the heart disease capital. The diseases which were seen in 60–year–olds is now seen in 30–year–olds. The incidence is five to seven times more than that of the western world.
Along with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Times Group chairman Mrs Indu Jain, P C Reddy and his family unveiled the campaign and took the pledge.
"When we operate on young patients, we see that their heart vessels have narrowed down like that of elderly patients. India has three gold medals for being the diabetic capital, heart disease capital and the cancer capital. We need to throw these gold medals out of the country. The main issue behind heart disease is diabetes, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, being over weight, stress and not implementing traditional knowledge like yoga in the country," said Reddy.
Sri Sri read out different pledges that citizens can take to avoid heart disease. For instance, yoga, meditation, a pledge to play more and smile more, keeping cool and using the stairs more often will help. "Sudarshan Kriya (a yoga form developed by Sri Sri) reduces cholesterol. We should try to drive away heart problem from our country by doing these simple things," Sri Sri said.
The satsang hall filled with hundreds of followers reciprocating to the campaign and cheered the guruji for taking up the cause.
Sharing a light moment with the followers, Mrs Indu Jain said the followers of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will not have heart disease because their hearts have been stolen by the guruji.
Sri Sri Ravishankar, founder of Art Of Living Foundation, with Mrs Indu Jain (left), chairman of the Times Group, at the Billion Hearts Beating campaign in Bangalore on Monday. Dr P C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals, and his wife look on