So it has happened! The Soviet Union has begun its onslaught on Prime Minister Nehru and now anything may happen. Moscow radio quoted a Russian magazine and said that yoga was dangerous to health. It is shocking enough to be told that the quintessence of 5,000 years of Indian wisdom is so much nonsense. What is more significant is that the Russian magazine singled out Shirshasan as the culprit number one. It said that of all yogic poses, that on standing on the head is the most dangerous. Now, all the world knows that standing on his head is Prime Minister Nehru’s most favourite form of exercise. It has even been accepted that from this peculiar vantage position, Shri Nehru has been able to see the world right side up. It is our firm belief that the Russian attack on this particular pose is the forerunner of the ultimate attack on Prime Minister Nehru. And we must hasten to add that it is a pernicious attack, tantamount to hitting far below one’s belt. What form of attack can be more personal? Of course, Shri Nehru will not ‘react in panic’ and give up his morning habit all of a sudden. At the same time it will be futile to try and stand Mr. Khrushchev on his head as a gesture of rapprochement in the spirit of Panch Sheel. The fact is that the reported understanding between Moscow and Peking is just beginning to show its teeth in other fields. We might as well stand on our feet for a change.
14th December 1960.
