Yoga Exercise in Pakistan: A Story of Shared Roots
Recommended for Culture
Yoga Crosses the Border: A Story of Roots and Reactions
The news rippled through Islamabad like an earthquake. It began as whispers in crowded bazaars, then flared across social media: the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was offering free yoga classes in F-9 Park.
Yoga – the ancient Indian practice steeped in spirituality and physicality – had officially crossed the border into Pakistan.
Reactions were swift and divided. For some, it was an unexpected bridge, a flicker of a shared past between two nations locked in conflict.
For others, it was an insult, a cultural invasion from their longstanding rival. But amidst the outcry, there were also those driven by a simple curiosity, an urge to explore this practice that had captured the world’s attention.
A Shared Past, A Divisive Present
For generations, the border dividing India and Pakistan had been uncrossable. Yet, yoga – their shared inheritance – now dared to step over it. Old timers like Asif, with his spice-stained beard, remembered stories from before Partition.
His grandmother, forced to flee Delhi as a girl, used to bend into those same poses, sun salutations whispered under her breath. “Part of us,” he’d mutter, “lost and now found again.”
Questions and Surprising Answers
The aroma of cardamom and cloves drifted from Asif’s kitchen, a comforting hum amidst the chaos swirling outside. His grandson, Tariq, sat hunched over his phone, the blue screenlight reflecting in his furrowed brow.
“Baba,” Tariq grumbled, never looking up, “everyone’s losing their minds. The Capital Development Authority is teaching yoga…in F-9 Park of all places!”
Asif chuckled, a sound like dry leaves rustling. “Stir that tea, boy, or it’ll settle like the dust in this city.”
Tariq obeyed, his movements agitated. “But Baba, isn’t it… wrong? Practicing something from our enemy?”
Asif placed a warm cup before his grandson. “The poses, the stretches…they don’t carry flags, Tariq. Can a downward dog bite you?”
Tariq snorted, a small chuckle escaping him. “Well, no…”
“Can a breathing exercise cross the border and attack?” Asif continued, a twinkle in his eye.
A slight smile tugged at Tariq’s lips. This wasn’t the argument he was used to online. Asif’s wisdom was disarming, a gentle breeze against a storm.
Tales of Yoga, Long Ago
“Baba,” Tariq began, his voice softer now, “your grandmother…did she teach you these poses?”
Asif’s eyes took on a faraway look. “No, beta. Those days…women practiced in quiet corners, away from men’s eyes. But I’d peek sometimes,” he admitted with a mischievous grin. “She moved like a river – smooth, yet strong.”
“Was it magic?” Tariq asked, wide-eyed.
Asif laughed. “No magic, but perhaps a little something special. They say yogis of old could hold their breath for hours, that their hearts could beat as slow as a tortoise!”
Tariq gasped. “Like a superhero!”
“Maybe,” Asif smiled. “But the real power, Tariq, wasn’t in tricks. Imagine your mind is like a playground on a windy day…leaves swirling, kids shouting, everything moving so fast! Yoga was like finding a quiet bench and watching it all go by.”
“So…it made her feel calm?”
“Yes, and strong too! Strong enough to face anything, even leaving her home behind.” Asif’s voice softened. “Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is find a quiet place inside yourself.”
A Hidden Superpower
Tariq tilted his head, a crease appearing between his brows. “But Baba, why bother? What good is sitting still when there’s so much happening?”
Asif smiled. “Remember last week’s big cricket match? You were so excited, you could barely focus on your swing.”
Tariq’s cheeks flushed. He’d missed an easy catch, costing his team a wicket.
“Yoga,” Asif continued, “is like practice for your mind. It teaches you to find that quiet bench even when everything inside feels like it’s running a race. Then, when it really matters, you can focus better.”
Tariq’s eyes lit up. A better cricket player? Now that sounded interesting! Asif’s words were like a secret key, unlocking a way to control the whirlwind in his own head.
Tariq stared into his teacup as if searching for answers there. Asif’s words had painted a picture he’d never imagined: yoga as something gentle, a way to find a little stillness in a whirlwind world.
Yoga in the Park: More Than Exercise?
Not everyone shared Asif’s quiet reflection. Hamid, a fiery young blogger, paced his cramped apartment, fingers flying over his phone’s keyboard. “First their Bollywood films, now this? Cultural invasion, that’s what it is!”
His latest post spewed outrage, blasting the CDA for promoting this Indian practice. “We have our own traditions,” he typed furiously. “Why ape our enemy?”
Hamid’s words found fertile ground online. Within hours, his post was shared and debated, the comment sections swirling with a mix of support and anger. “This is an insult!” one commenter declared, while another accused Hamid of narrow-mindedness.
Yet, even as the digital storm raged, something else was stirring. Curiosity. For some, the controversy only made yoga more intriguing. Like Zara, a woman whose tight shoulders mirrored the tension in her city. “Yoga exercise,” a friend had urged, “It’s for the body, not the soul. Maybe it can help with all that stress.”
Despite her reservations, Zara found herself searching for class times.
As the first class gathered in the park’s misty dawn, the tension was palpable. A few protesters waved signs denouncing the ‘foreign practice,’ while others, like Zara, stood awkwardly to the side.
The instructor, a calm woman with a gentle voice, began with basic stretches.
Each movement was foreign, yet oddly familiar. As Zara breathed and bent, a tightness – mirroring the divisions between her country and India – eased, just slightly.
It wasn’t a solution, but it was a start.
Watch a video
A Cosmic Kids yoga class with Squish The Fish all about learning confidence.
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