New Delhi: If the United States has its way, Yoga may no longer remain an Indian treasure. The US Patent office has granted American companies patents and copyrights to Yoga related accessories.
And that's not all. A Los Angeles based Yoga guru, Bikram Chaudhury, has claimed intellectual property rights over 26 asanas, which he says are postures developed from the ancient tradition.
The question that was being debated on India 360 was: US based lifestyle gurus are patenting age-old Yoga asanas. Can wisdom be patented?
Hoslistic Health Guru Mickey Mehta tried to answer this very question saying, "It's ridiculous and unfortunate that if anyone practices a Yoga asana that has been patented by Bikram Chaudhury, he or she could well be granted a legal notice."
However, he added that one must hand it to the US for taking Yoga to such epidemic proportions. "US and Europe have really been the place where Yoga came to light, even though India may have given birth to Yoga."
In the same breath, he said that a patent should not have been sought because Yoga is an ancient Indian art and though it is universal, Yoga belongs to India.
Perhaps the reason why Yoga spread in the US and Europe is because it has now become a $3 billion industry. There is a school of thought that says that intellectual property rights and Yoga is really antithetical and that it is a violation itself of the tradition of Yoga.
Mickey Mehta said that it was very unethical because Yoga had been documented in the Patanjali Sutra, which is 10,000 years old. "Of course, the writers of Patanjali Sutra did not patent it as there was no such regulatory board then. I think India has all the rights and the Indian Government should push our case to get this patent reversed."
Is the Indian Govt Apathetic to Ancient Indian Traditions?
A task force was set up in 2003 because there was talk of all herbal medicines that needed to be patented by India, which were being taken away by many individuals across the US and Europe as well.
However, nothing was done, maybe because the Indian Government was lacking and also because there was a certain sense of apathy towards ancient Indian traditions.
To this Mehta said, "The Indian Government certainly wakes up very late and by that time, all that belongs to India is already drained and has migrated to some other Western country. And it's very sad and very, very unfortunate that all that belongs to India has gone away as will the birth of Indian tradition if the Government does not act soon."
Yoga has made life healthier for so many people across the world and India has given this ancient tradition to the world free of cost, but if the Indian Government does not act soon, this might soon be taken away from Indians.
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