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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Contents Wildlife
& Adventure
Feature Environment Lifestyle Feature Chef Manish
Chef Vivek Singh Chef Vikram Sunderam
People
Health
Book Reviews In Memoriam
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The
Exceptional & Beloved Yoga Guru
“There’s perhaps no man alive who has taught humanity as much about inner
peace and its many dimensions - peace as a physical science, peace as a
state of self-awareness and power - as the great Indian yoga master B.K.S.
Iyengar.”
– Novelist Chandrahas Choudhury, in Bloomberg View
Fondly known as ‘Guru Ji’, Bellur Krishnamachar
Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar, the innovative, creative, and disciplined yoga
master, passed on in August 2014 in the city of Pune.
He was 95. He is remembered not only for
introducing and popularising yoga in the western world (there are Iyengar
yoga schools in 72 countries on six continents) but also for making yoga
accessible to millions of people of every age, by encouraging them to
counter their physical or mental challenges through the practice of yoga.
Among his students were the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin and many other
musicians, author Aldous Huxley, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, (who learnt the
headstand at the age of 85), cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, and other
celebrities. Mr Iyengar was named one of the world’s 100 most influential
people by Time magazine in 2004. His book “Light on Yoga,” part of a
trilogy, is an international best seller. It has been translated into 18
languages. Iyengar was born on Dec.
14, 1918, into a poor family in the southern state of Karnataka.
The
11th of 13 children, he suffered from multiple illnesses during his
childhood, and lost his father when he was 9 years old.
A
frail child, he was unable to complete his schooling and began studying
yoga, at 16, under the tutelage of his brother-in-law at the Jaganmohan
Palace, where he became the youngest member of the Maharaja of Mysore’s
entourage. At 18 he was already teaching yoga. A brilliant teacher, Iyengar gave enormous attention
to the practices of asana and made Yoga a safer practice through the
introduction of props such as blocks, blankets and ropes. The use of such
props also made yoga accessible to all especially those with disabilities.
Having dedicated almost eight decades to the practice and promotion of Yoga,
Mr Iyengar acquired a huge global following – he was a mega pop star of
sorts of yoga. Novelist Chandrahas Choudhury, writing in Bloomberg View
earlier this year, made a strong case for his nomination to the Nobel Peace
Prize. Mr Iyengar is survived by his six children - a son and five daughters
– and grandchildren. A few months before he passed on, SALT had the
privilege of a Q & A with Mr Iyengar. We are proud to share the hitherto
unpublished Q & A with our readers.
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