Abhijit Kumar M002-14, Sec A IntroductionThe aim of this project is to analyse Swami Ramdev as a person who built Yoga Empire and what corporate world could learn from him.Who is Swami Ramdev?Swami Ramdev is a renowned Yoga teacher, well known for popularising Yoga. The popularised Yoga through television in India first and thereafter at abroad. He is also one of the founders of the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust that aims to popularize Yoga and offer Ayurvedic treatments. Swami Ramdev was born in the Mahendragarh district of Haryana and was named Ramkishan Yadav. Before joining Yogic Monastery (Gurukul) in Khanpur village, he studied in his village till 8th standard. In the Gurukul he was taught Yoga Techniques and Sanskrit language. After completing studies at Gurukul, he renounced the world and entered into Sanyas (monastic living). He then joined Kalva Gurukul and there itself he started teaching Yoga to the villagers across Haryana. It is believed that sometime later, he travelled to the Himalayas, spending a number of years there. Thereafter, he went to Haridwar and till date, the city serves as his base.Swami Ramdev was initiated into the ascetic order by Swami Shankerdev. After his initiation, he joined the batch of swamis and started studying the ancient Indian scriptures thoroughly. At the same time, he also started practicing intense self-discipline and meditation. Swami Ramdev teaches Pranayama, a form of Yoga. The program consists of six breathing exercises which includes, Bhastrika Pranayama, Kapal Bhati Pranayama, Bahaya Pranayama, Anulom Vilom Pranayama, Bhramri Pranayama, Udgeeth PranayamaAs a promotional method and feature for Yoga, Swami Ramdev established the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust in 1995. In this project, he was accompanied by two more eminent people, Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna. The headquarters of the trust are located at the Kripalu Bagh Ashram of Haridwar. Swami Ramdev teaches yoga mainly at this ashram apart from camps worlwide.He is the host of a program named Divya Yog that is shown on Aastha TV every day, at 5 am in the morning. People from different parts of the country and world watch this program and have started doing yoga from the comforts of their home.Swami Ramdev also regularly conducts yoga camps in India and abroad.

One of the factors that makes Swami Ramdev different from other Yoga teachers is his emphasis on the practice of Pranayama . Traditionally, Yoga teachers have always more importance to the practicing of asanas (yoga postures).

Company Profile of Patanjali Ayurved Kendra Pvt. LtdPatanjali Ayurveda Kendra Pvt Ltd was officially inaugurated by Swami Ramdev & Acharya Balkrishna on 27th September 2007. Patanjali Ayurveda Kendra started its operation as a Pvt Ltd company at swoyambhu, Katmandu, Nepal with the ultimate aim of providing holistic, natural and effective Ayurveda treatment.Type of Business : Sole Distributor of Ayurvedic Product of Divya Pharmacy, Divya Yog Sadhna, Business Divya Prakashan & Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd., Haridwar, India.Patanjali Ayurveda Kendra Pvt Ltd. has registered in 2006 to company Registar, Government of Nepal. The company has authorized to operate sales of Ayurvedic Medicines and publication. It was established with the main purpose of curing and preventing common ailments by Ayurveda and importing all kind of Ayurvedic medicines, audio-visual materials and literatures of Divya Pharmacy, Divya Yog Sadhana and Divya Prakashan, Haridwar, India to distribute in Nepal.The Kendra was committed in taking guidance of all the advanced methods of effective treatment procedures of Ayurveda. The Center was equipped with Ayurvedic Doctors, Pathology Department, Pharmacy, Counseling Department and many more facilities. The Ayurvedic doctors were trained from Haridwar and in-house for a minimum period of 2-3 months before being put into professional practice.Patanjali Ayurveda Kendra had made achievements in treating thousands suffering from diseases like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, low back ache, cervical spondylsis, psoriasis, allergic respiratory disorders, multiple sclerosis, age related mental stress and rheumatic diseases. Ayurveda is a holistic healing science. Going beyond just curing an ailment, Ayurveda aims at total well being of the individual his mind, body and spirit.In NewsBaba Ramdev's black money deadline: On 27 February 2011 Baba Ramdev held alarge rally of over 100,000 people at the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi to protest against corruption. Those present at the rally included Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna, Ram Jethmalani, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh and many others. All members spoke and explained how corruption was rampant in the country and how the government itself was indulging in it. The mosthighlighted the issue was of Indian black money stashed in tax havens. A striking feature of this rally was that all major media houses boycotted it.After making people actively aware of rampant corruption present in the country and black money issue, Baba Ramdev launched the Bhrashtachar MitaoSatyagrahwhich was held at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi on 4 June 2011. Key demands were along with other prominent demands were, 1) Declare all illegal wealth/black money lying in foreign countries, which belong to Indians as National Property.2) Enact a strong Lokpal bill.Baba Ramdev declared to go on an Anshan (indefinite fast) on 4 June 2011, at Ramlila Ground Delhi to pressure the Central Goverment to root out corruption from India and bring back the black money stashed away in various financial institutions abroad. After this the government was said to have set up panel to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad.On 4 June morning lakhs of people joined Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on his protest at Ramlila maidan. Satyagraha was going peacefully when at night a huge team of 10,000 officers of the Delhi Police and RAF raided the ground when most of the Satyagrahis were sleeping. Tear gas shells were lobbed and people were lathicharged to evict the ground. Baba Ramdev was arrested and deported to Haridwar.This crackdown on people who were peacefully protesting was condemned by whole section of society including Political parties. Controversies:1. The Divya Yog Pharmacy owned by Baba Ramdev was accused of mixing animal material and human bones in the medicines by Social activist Ms Brinda Karat. Her statement was supported by employees of Divya Yog Pharmacy. The state government last h gave a clean chit to Ramdev on the allegation of using animal parts and human bones in his medicines.2. Comparing cold drinks like coke and pepsi with toilet cleaner, he wrote on his facebook blogCoke and Pepsi are not only toilet cleaner it causes cancer. When State of California asked them to print a health warning label on the bottle that the colouring agent is carcinogenic they are finding ways to avoid printing the health warning label.So drink milk, buttermilk, fresh fruit juices and other healthy drink. This will help you health and also help farmers financially3. On March 15th 2010 Yoga guru Baba Ramdev declared his plans to launch his own political party though he said he won't fight elections. Baba Ramdev said he wants to 'cleanse' the system. The yoga guru planned to field candidates in all Lok Sabha constituencies. Ramdev, who was in Ghaziabad on March 15 to participate in a school function, targeted the UPA government for not keeping the prices of essential commodities in check and alleged: "The intention of the government is very much doubtful towards poors and farmers".Sometime later Baba Ramdev clarified that he has no political ambitions and is not interested in starting a political party, but feels it's his obligatory duty to reform social and political ambiguities apart from popularising yoga and thus strengthen the country.

AnalysisTheNew York Timescalled him "an Indian, who built Yoga Empire, a product and symbol of the New India.Every brand has a story associated with it. Ramdev's story was "practicing yoga can cure any disease". Those who have seen his yoga DVDs will recall the line "Karte raho, cancer ka rog bhi theek hoga".This story helped him build a huge yoga empire with an annual turnover of over Rs 1000 crore. The story was working well, until Ramdev decided to diversify, like all big brands do. He now wanted to start a political party and launched a campaign to bring back all of India's black money lying in foreign banks. His story changed from being a yoga guru to an aspiring politician who is also a yoga guru. And that clearly did not work as the government went hammer and tongs after him and because of the huge base of public support he enjoyed government became softer later on.This huge base of public support was because, Baba Ramdev never mixed religion with preaching of Yoga and pranayam, and the takers of his Ayurveda medicines were not confined to any particular caste or creed.Unlike many modern gurus who went on TV channels to preach about religion and God, Baba Ramdev used the reach of the medium to rekindle popular interest in Yoga, particularly pranayam. The number of his followers swelled, his appeal cut across boundaries of caste and faith and high and mighties from different walks of life sought his help to overcome stress and ailments.Some of Baba Ramdev's prominent followers are Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Uttaranchal Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia, former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leader Ahmad Patel, superstar Amitabh Bachchan and SP leader Amar Singh, among others. The list goes on and on.The Yoga itself is a multibillion dollar business in US. In many Universities it is accepted as subject and included in the Syllabus. In the latest famous book "Inspire! What Great Leaders Do" written by Mr.Lance Secretan recently published by John Wiley and sons, the benefit of meditation is elaborately described for good corporate governance. By practising transcendental meditation, or TM, many people have got relief from back pain, neck pain, depression. The mind calms and quiets. What thoughts you have during meditation become clearer, more focused. Anger, anxiety and worries give way to a peace. In the world exorbitant medical expenses one can definitely make use of meditation. Baba Ramdev is helping in popularising this. In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna has inspired Arjuna to rise from his depression by preaching Gita in the battlefield and to rise from the depression to do his duties. In Holy Gita we can see, being hidden by the cosmic overview of any institution beset with myriad problems, not the least of which is its lack of moral probity, there is a groundswell of educated people seeking answers to deeply personal but universally asked questions. Chie Executives taking lessons from yoga, meditation and learning how to deal with human resources equations in an enlightened manner. Individuals from every walk of life can get ideas of how to be better human beings, more balanced and less stressed out.Medical studies continue to show regular meditation working magic in reducing blood pressure and stress-related illnesses, including heart disease. Brain images show that regular meditation helps calm the most active sensory-assaulted parts of the brain.Baba Ramdev is world famous figure, not only for his contributions to sustain the Vedic health education in the forms of Yoga, but also in the form of a excellent entrepreneur and a social reformer. As soon as his name falls into our ears, memories of an half-aged bearded man in saffron clothes, performing yoga, particularly of taking a deep breath and exhaling with a swishing sound which comes while practicing pranayama on the early morning TV shows comes to our mind. At that time Baba Ramdev was given the credit of introducing in the yog aasanas into the living rooms of the people through the television. Later, the venues shifted to the grand Patanjali Yog Vidya Peeth in Haridwar, where couple of thousands of people could be seen performing the aasanas under the leadership of the Yog Guru, Baba Ramdev.In 2011 people also got a thought of a huge gatherings against corruption in the Ram Leela grounds of New Delhi where police action were waged to vacate the grounds. The result was that the controversies started and continued for days and months, in television debates and discussions in the political circles, in paper media, amongst people and bureaucrats for a religious Guru for his involvement for a socio-political change. Here, I do not intend to be a part of such debate also I am not for or against, rather wish to throw light on one facet of Baba Ramdev which will remained neglected or unnoticed if not highlighted.Patanjalis Mega Food Park by S.K. Patra, CEO & President of Patanjali Food & Herbal park.No doubt, Patanjalis Mega Food Park is a fantastic venture as it is spread over a huge sprawling estate over 85 acres of land, its state of art processing units, the carefully engineered and beautiful infrastructure, like dry warehouses with a capacity of 20,000Mt, integrated cold storage facility with a capacity of 2500Mt, having pre cooling chambers, banana ripening chambers, variable humidity stores, multi commodity cold storages and reeferigeration room with 2500Mt capacity. Multi-commodity automated washing and grading unit, ETP with capacity of 550Mt/day, technically advanced ware-housing and material handling system for grains, water de-mineralizer with a capacity of 15,000 litres/hour, soft water with a capacity of 15,000 litres/hour, internal R.O. plant having 45,000 litres/hour capacities, raw water of 125,000 litres/hour capacities and so on. Already 12 units are running like co-packing facility-tetra pack and voll-pack, multi fruit juice processing lines, neutraceutical processing lines, PET and HDPE lines corrugated boxes manufacturing unit, flour mill, candy plant, digestives unit, juice plant etc. are other attractions there.The facilities have numerous potential and prospects for encouragement of enterprises in fruit based, vegetable based, cereals and grains based, milk based, sugar-cane based, paddy based industries, that also have vast scope in concern for our country i.e. agriculture based India where sadly agriculture is not considered as Industry. Every unit in the park , every step one takes forward, increases ones respect for the promoter, the visionary, for one cannot cite any other example of any successful enterprise anywhere in the world, that has risen in an absolutely professional manner in such a small span of time and is totally indigenous and also provides employment to thousands of local youth, His entrepreneurship also competes with the best of MNCs products that are feeding us junk-foods. The most significant aspect of the whole venture undoubtedly had been his ability to select the right people.The Indian Parliament recently passed a bill that obligates the big corporate to spend at least two percent of their annual profits under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This could be a good example of young corporate house of Baba Ramdev that has emanated from the social responsibility towards the people. One can also see rural women moving around the factory campus, working in different groups and enjoying the social and financial dividend that Patanjali has offered them. Some of them are working as permanent workers and are lone-earner of their family. The friendly and refreshing work culture and man-force of the factory campus could be compared to the best in the country, who together make their efforts for their socio-economic growth and add to the development of the country.

Bibliography1. Patanjali Ayuveda Kendra Ltd.,Patanjaliayurveda.com2. Company Profile,Patanjaliayurveda.com3. Baba Ramdev: Latest news on Baba Ramdev,timesofindia.indiatimes.com (Feb 27,2011)4. Baba Ramdev: Latest news on Baba Ramdev,timesofindia.indiatimes.com (4 June,2011)5. Baba Ramdev: A Yog Guru for Entrepreneurship and Social Transformation, indiacsr.in (Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013)6. Story of Patanjali and the Gift of Yoga Knowledge - Part 1, artofliving.org