90 years young, yoga guru shows the way

The yogacharya, who uses his body as a laboratory and even at this age practises yoga for three hours and pranayam for an hour, inaugurated an exhibition on Wednesday, which flags off the birthday celebrations organised by his students. Commending the effort taken by the students of the Iyengar institute in organising the celebrations, he said, “Yoga is immeasurable and it is beyond human approach to reach the divine state.’”

While he felt that that disciplined teachers of yoga were doing their best, the yogacharya rued that he has still not seen anyone living yoga practitioner who has attained that zenith.

“The dedication may be less,” he felt while advising that anyone who practises any art needs to get absorbed. A certain vibration should emanate within you, the yogacharya says. “Asana is not just physical exercise. Even at this age, it is now my body that has been trained in yoga that guides me. My blood cells send me a message to practise yoga,” Iyengar smiles when asked about the level of his fitness. And while he feels yoga should be made compulsory in schools and colleges, the yogacharya also quips that he is a mere tenant on earth and had worked according to God’s plan.

Recalling his early days as a teacher in Pune, the yogacharya says that it was difficult to popularise yoga in the late 1930s. “People felt that yoga was meant for small groups. I had to convince them that yoga was for all age groups, he says. Even as Dr D B Deodhar, the famous cricketer from Pune is one of the famous names who learnt yoga from Iyengar it is renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin who has been his most high-profile student ever. The two met in 1952 in a Mumbai hotel and after the yogacharya gave him a few lessons that helped free his violin playing arm, the violionist was the yogacharya’s student for life. While the Australian Iyengar Yoga Association has asked all members to perform 90 minutes of yoga on December 14 to commemorate the guru’s birthday, in Pune, a series of events have been organised that include a dance recital, premier of thefilm Leap of Faith and a play by Naseeruddin Shah as Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet.