Kumbh bereft of biz leaders, cine stars

Just a day before her team upset the IPL’s hot favouite Mumbai Indians, cine star Preity Zinta was in Haridwar for a ‘kumbh’ bath in the Ganga. Besides, she also performed a ‘yagna’ meant for crushing the enemy.

And the dimple-cheeked actor was certainly not alone from Bollywood in the ‘kumbh’ crowd. Hema Malani and Vivek Oberai also came last month. And perhaps that was all. Unlike other religious places like Shirdi, the ‘maha kumbh’ mela has not found much favour with the Bollywood’s top personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and others who keep visiting temples regularly. This may be due to the Uttarakhand government’s appeal asking the VIPs to avoid ‘kumbh mela’ this time. “Yes, we are not too keen that VIPs should come to Haridwar which is always overflowing with people in general,” said additional ‘kumbh mela’ officer V S Dhanik.

With at least 20 million people taking bath since January 14 when the ‘maha kumbh’ began, the biggest gathering on the planet has not seen many a people from the top business houses also. All the four Hinduja brothers were only the top business leaders who were noticed by the media. Others might have come and gone, said Dhanik, who is not aware of any business leader taking bath at Haridwar during the past three months.

With just three days left for the main and the last bath of the ‘maha kumbh’ on April 14, it would be anybody’s guess whether any top personality comes to Haridwar during the remaining days. “Kumbh is certainly not a brand. This is purely a question of spirituality and high sanctity of the Ganga that people come rushing to Haridwar, especially during the ‘kumbh mela’,” said Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik. However, top religious leaders and politicians are regularly visiting Haridwar these days.