‘My book on Baba Ramdev is nothing but well-researched journalism’

One would imagine that a man who practises and sells yoga and meditation for a living would be a much more secure and calmer person, one who wouldn’t give into these notions of self importance, unlike us mere mortals. Alas, many don’t practice what they preach. And Baba Ramdev is one such meditative soul.

Baba Ramdev went to the Karkardooma district court in Delhi and obtained an injunction on ex parte basis, which means neither the publisher nor the author were asked for their version on the book about his life written by Priyanka Pathak-Narain and published by Juggernaut Books. Juggernaut cannot sell or publish Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev unless the injunction is overturned.

Round one does seem to have been won by Ramdev, but the publisher and the author are sure they will be able to turn the order. Round two is when game, set and match will happen. “Wherever possible, I have tried to back up my 52 interviews with over 180 public documents, 8 RTIs, over a 100 ROC documents and several government documents,” says Pathak-Narain, who used to be a business-of-religion reporter at Mint and is now an independent journalist.

“I believe the book highlights his achievements as well and I’ve been very admiring of his contribution not only to Yoga and Ayurveda, but also in using Ayurveda to transform the FMCG market in India. No one can take that legacy away from him,” stresses Pathak-Narain, “I can only restate my motive - which was to put together honest, objective, dispassionate and thoroughly researched journalism. My work has neither political nor religious affiliations with anyone at all. It is exactly what it appears to be.”

Neither the publisher nor the author expected an injunction. And she refuses to speculate on what could have brought about the action. But, as any reportage would have both sides, her book also has stories from his farm days, death of his guru and his unmasking at the Ramlila grounds.

Was it difficult to find people to speak about Ramdev? “Some sources were easy to find, others took months to identify and track down. Nearly everyone asked me: ‘Are you writing for him or against him?’ No one seemed to believe me when I replied, ‘I have no angle. I just want to hear the story as you remember it’,” said Pathak-Narain.

“They all talked and connected me to someone else who wanted to talk. It felt as if they had been waiting for someone to knock at their door and ask them their story. It need not have been me. It could have been anyone. They were, all of them, ready to share their memories of their time with Baba Ramdev and his growing empire. I spoke to over 52 people who witnessed his rise at close quarters or were those who knew some details about it,” added Pathak-Narain.

Being a journalist only helped the author who interviewed Ramdev, Balakrishnan, Gulabo Devi, Ramdev’s mother, Aacharya Karamveer, who was Ramdev’s early mentor, Kirat Mehta, former MD of Aastha India and SK Patra, the ex-CEO of Patanjali as part of her research to finish the book.

Initially, however, Pathak-Narain had carried around an idea of a book about some of India’s top godmen and their enterprises. “When I pitched the idea, my publisher Chiki Sarkar came back in April 2016 with the idea of doing a book exclusively focused on Baba Ramdev and Patanjali. This book was important because Baba Ramdev has changed the landscape of the FMCG market in India. Yet, despite high visibility, there isn't enough known about a person who has dominated our public square for over a decade and half. Without context, I felt it would be impossible to truly appreciate the rise of Baba Ramdev,” added Pathak-Narain.