The Avatars of Baba Ramdev: The Politics, Economics, and Contradictions of an Indian Televangelist

One hot summer’s day in June 2011, news channels in India captured the unusual sight of a heavily bearded middle-aged man trying to evade the police by disguising himself in women’s clothes. The man was Baba Ramdev — by far one of the most popular modern day gurus in India- who had at that time embarked on a fast in New Delhi in protest against the national government’s alleged inaction against corruption. In addition to being a guru, Ramdev was arguably one of the most visible celebrities on Indian television, popping up not just on his own morning yoga shows on his own television channel, but on talk shows, interviews and news reports. The plethora of news channels in India could always count on Ramdev to provide an opinion on almost anything under the Sun from television starlets to capital punishment and homosexuality: one could say Ramdev was made for television, with his striking physical presence and an earthy and ready wit. What was unusual about the news channels coverage on this particular date, though, was that they were no longer laughing with him, they were laughing at him, even as they denounced the ham-fisted way in which the state had tried to stifle Ramdev’s agitation (see for example some typical coverage by Star News 2011). These same channels, though, played a significant part in powering another (non-guru), anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, to the extent that the Indian state was compelled to pass a resolution in parliament accepting most of Hazare’s demands.1