“All must work together to prevent drugs from entering our society. The government on its part should introduce strict laws and rules in this matter. Singapore has a tougher stance against drugs, such measures are needed in India,” opined Sri Sri Ravi Shankar while addressing the press and media here in the city on Saturday prior to the 'Coimbatore Meditates with Gurudev' event. 

The event was organized at CODISSIA Grounds by ‘The Art of Living’, a globally renowned non-profit, educational and humanitarian organization founded by yoga guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

More than 50,000 people, including 20,000 students from 50+ colleges attended the event, and took part in the mega meditation session led by the guru himself.

The event also saw the launch of the Drug Free India campaign in Coimbatore. As 'The Art of Living' has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to work on the Government initiative of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), it is planning on conducting a 2 year long program that will positively impact 2 lakh students from schools to colleges across Coimbatore and various districts in Tamil Nadu. 

Speaking to the press and media at the sidelines of the event, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that mental depression is one of the big problems affecting the world today.

“The rate of suicide is getting higher day by day. 1 in 4 persons is facing depression. Every 40 seconds, a man is committing suicide,” he said referring to a statistic. “People do not know how to handle stress and that gives chance for suicidal thoughts among people. Meditation and Pranayama can help them overcome such thoughts,” he added.

He also said that the usage of drugs is a major threat to the world. “Countries like USA are suffering more because of drugs. Violence because of drugs in the US is rising. Canada’s leniency with drugs has put the country in bad shape,” he said.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar started the Drug Free India campaign in Punjab, and then launched it in Vizag and Kerala where thousands of students took oath that they won’t use drugs, nor will they allow others to take it. Talking about this initiative here, he said that usage of drugs in Tamil Nadu is alarming, hence preventing it is essential to save the people, especially the youngsters. 

The Guru also spoke about the outcomes of the water-body restoration works his organization undertook.

“The ground-water level of a river in Vellore named Naganadhi, which went as low as 300-400 ft.,is now at 30 ft. because of the work our volunteers did there. Works to restore River Kaushika and River Noyyal in Coimbatore have been undertaken,” he said. 

“Tamil Nadu has 85 rivers in revenue record but only a few of those rivers actually run. We believe that if all of these rivers run well, then the climate and water crisis in the State can easily be solved,” he added.

The main event saw good amount of meditation, music and messages needed for spiritual rejuvenation.