Transgender community in Mumbai gear up for International Yoga Day

Mumbai: Members of the transgender community in Mumbai practised yogic exercises on the eve of the second International Yoga Day.

The United Nations (UN) in 2014 had declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga after adopting a measure proposed by India's current Narendra Modi government. The day is marked by mass practice of yoga and other healthy activities. A transgender participant of the Yoga session, Ananya, said it should be made a regular part of life. "Yoga is very necessary for our health because, the thing is, like if you have your yogas every day, it keeps your health very good and in today's life, it's like people don't have a little bit time also for doing some exercises, and yoga is a part of life which is to be done every day," she said. Samina Qazi, a Yoga instructor, guided them through the exercises.

"I conducted this session so they (transgenders) get to know about yoga and can use it in their daily life. Plenty of them liked it and they will continue to do practise, god willing," Qazi said. On the first International Yoga Day last year, Prime Minister Modi led thousands of people through various yogic exercises at Rajpath in New Delhi. With it, India created two records: largest yoga class with 35,985 people and most nationalities (84) participating in a single yoga event. This year, more than 135 countries will participate in the International Day of Yoga celebrations across the world, according to an official video.