that good health is the birthright of all human beings, and extends best wishes for a successful yoga camp in the US'. It was when Ramdev was in Chicago that news came from Kankhal. On 14 July 2007, Shankar Dev disappeared. Vanished without a trace. He left that morning for his usual walk and simply did not return. It may have been devastating news for Ramdev. Or maybe it was just inconvenient timing. With the Chicago schedule drawing to a close, Ramdev had to choose: Should he go on'to London, where the House of Commons planned to receive and honour him, or should he send his regrets and rush back to Kankhal to lead the search for his missing guru? Usually once a disciple takes deeksha, or initiation into the sacred, from his guru, he establishes a bond with him. Ramdev had not just taken deeksha from Shankar Dev but also accepted saffron robes from him — that is, he renounced the world. From the moment he took the saffron robes from Shankar Dev, that gurushishya relationship was meant to become the central fulcrum of his life. From that moment onward, Ramdev was supposed to consider his guru as his spiritual and temporal father and mother. There is no way of knowing what Ramdev truly felt when he heard of the disappearance or if he struggled with the decision or for how long, but in the end he decided to carry on with his tour. The day after his aides filed a missing person's report at Kankhal pohce station, on 18 July 2007, Ramdev attended a ceremony at the British House of Commons in his honour. An investigation began in India, but clues were scarce. A cryptic note was found in Shankar Dev's room: ‗I have taken some loan from you for this trust but I cannot repay it. Please forgive me. I am leaving.' He was seventy-seven years old. The note raised more questions than it CS (OS) 27/2019 Page 26 of 76