Rancorous Yoga Camp

File under: Satscams and The Siddhi of PR

One of our favorite gurus to write about is the rancorous Swami Ramdev. You may remember last year when he was allegedly caught putting animal testicles and human skull powder in his "medicine" products. Then he got the cops to declare a harmless yet ambitious and persistent student reporter as a terrorist. Oh, and he claims to have cured AIDS and cancer with his therapies, prompting the Health Minister of India to refute that nonsense personally.

Now he's coming to dupe the hapless sheep-yogis of New York, New Jersey and Chicago with several yoga camps this summer:

The Swami, who has surpassed many yoga and spiritual gurus in popularity, is scheduled to hold a yoga camp in New York from June 30 and July 1 and another in nearby New Jersey from July 4-8, with a total capacity of about 3,000 at the two places. Moving on to Chicago, he will hold a camp from July 11-15 for about 5,000 people.

Needless to say, we're thrilled at the possibility of the loose-lipped Swami going off to the press in the States. If he's anything like he's been in India, get ready for an awesome spectacle of self-aggrandizement, the likes of which only Adi Da and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have ever approached.