Sadhguru delves into how Silicon City can transform into spiritual capital

Bengaluru has the best of minds in IT, BT, Engineering, health and other sectors. Yet, people are surrounded by problems and struggling for basic needs all the time. For a city that is constantly working on upgradation of infrastructure and other amenities, will spirituality offer better solutions? Isha Foundation’s Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev gives a Yogi’s guide to tackling big-city issues. Excerpts from an interview with Sadhguru.

Sadhguru, you have seen Bengaluru from your childhood days. What are your impressions and what has changed over the years?

Everything has changed. It does not look like what it was then. The city used to be cool and foggy until 10 am and blessed with so many gardens. But today all of it has just vanished and the outskirts are built up in such a way that it resembles any other African city without a green patch. It is emerging as the most congested city. Above all, the gentleness that one felt all around then and comfort are hard to be seen. It is time that we bring back that gentleness of welcoming everybody.

What could be the better way out, according to you, to bring the city out of its present-day problems?

I strongly believe that we can still develop the city without destroying its basic characteristics. If we do it in a little planned and cleaner way, the problems can easily be resolved. Rather than building concrete structures that have limited longevity, we can look at alternatives that can be fabricated elsewhere and assembled here. I am of the opinion that what comes up within the city shall come up in a sustainable way and it should last longer. I am of the opinion that one must build ‘One Building City’. On a 50-acre area, you can build vertical housing in one acre and develop green space, water bodies in 49 acres and live amidst nature in a healthy way.

In a changing scenario, what do you think Bengaluru is lacking?

The advantage of Bengaluru is that it can grow any way. It is not limited by anything like an ocean, mountain, unlike many popular cities. We do not need so many engineers to solve the city’s problems. If five people sit together, they can solve the problems of the city. But the problem is that everybody is lost in their own world. There has to be a partnership between citizens and the government. The negative activism has to stop and sensible people must talk and take things forward.

Do you think turning spiritual can bring about a change in the city and resolve its problems?

One must understand that you are in charge of yourself. Nowadays, when I visit Bengaluru, I am stuck in traffic. Everybody is trying to go everywhere and eventually, reaching nowhere. During the course, everybody is busy pushing and abusing each other. Because they are stuck on roads for long and have lost their cool, their patience and lives may have been messed up. So, infrastructure is important and so is the spirituality to balance it.

You recently joined the list of spiritual leaders who have made Bengaluru their home. Is the Silicon Capital of India also becoming the Spiritual Capital of India?

I did not think on those lines. The moment you say ‘Silicon,’ you mean you are full of artificial. If you say spiritual, it only means you are organic. Definitely, spirituality is needed. But I have been busy all over that it took so long for me to come to Bengaluru. Also, people have been asking me to come to Bengaluru for long. For me, it is the best place in many ways. In terms of communication, my essential language of communication is English, Bengaluru has the largest population of English-speaking people. Hence, Bengaluru is a natural place for me to come.

How different is your new ashram near Bengaluru from the one in Coimbatore?

It will be completely different even though the fundamental ethos is still going to be the same. But in design and construction, it will entirely be different, because we have been planning overall and building it. The Coimbatore ashram did not happen that way. We came up with this by buying the land piece by piece and it is still not what we had planned. But, in Chikkaballapur, we have much more freedom to plan the way we wanted and develop accordingly. But in terms of human experience, it will still be the same, as we never ask anybody about their caste, creed, colour or race.

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