Indore: Former President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday cautioned against the dangers of decreased physical activities among people in the country and appealed to them to take full advantage of yoga and pranayama for fitness.
During his address at the seventh convocation of Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya in Indore, Kovind cited a report of the medical journal ‘Lancet’ and said there has been a sharp decline in the physical fitness of people in India in the last two decades.
At present, about half of the country’s population is not including enough physical activities in their daily routine and it is estimated that the number of such people will be more than double in the next 20 years, he said.
“I think this is a very serious issue for the future of the country because physical and mental fitness play a very important role in achieving any kind of a long-term goal,” he said.
Kovind asked Indore Lok Sabha member Shankar Lalwani, who was present on stage at the convocation, that if possible, he should request for a discussion in the House on the issue of fitness of people of the country.
“Our country is the birthplace of yoga and pranayama. Today people across the world are taking advantage of the gift of yoga given to humanity by Maharishi Patanjali. Why are we then lagging behind in taking full advantage of our cultural heritage?” the former president asked.
Recalling an incident, Kovind said when he went on a state visit to Cuba as president, his counterpart there surprised him by demonstrating yoga postures in front of him.
“Before this incident, I had this in my mind that the concept of yoga and pranayama is left far behind in communist countries,” he said.
Kovind inspired the students to adopt qualities like morality, integrity and good character.
“When there is beauty in character, there is harmony in the society. When there is harmony in the society, there is order and prosperity in the country, and when there is order and prosperity in the country, there is happiness and peace all around in the world which is very much needed today. The whole world is standing on the brink of ‘mahayuddh’ (war),” he said.
Kovind called upon the youth to firmly stay connected with the Indian culture while adopting modernity, and keep updating their knowledge and skills in the fast-changing world.
“We are fortunate that we are living in a time when our country has made its place among the fastest growing economies of the world. We are constantly moving forward towards becoming a developed country,” he said.
During the university’s convocation ceremony, 1,424 students, including 227 PhD scholars, were awarded degrees.
Apart from these, 15 meritorious students were awarded gold medals for securing top positions in the examinations of different courses.
