The recent chain of fasts has only exposed the limitations of the yoga professionals involved. These fasts remind me of the famous novel, The Guide, by R K Narayan that was also adapted into a movie by Dev Anand. In the movie, Raju guide, supported by the community of villagers, goes on a fast for 12 days to make it rain in the village, but eventually he dies. In the movie, it rains in the end. But in the book neither does it rain nor does Raju guide survive. One wonders what will be the outcome of these fasts?
Chandrashekhar Ranade, Washington
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