Yogacharya BKS Iyengar says he has one crore students all over the world. SHILPA SHET finds out what makes his form of yoga so popular.

At 85, most people give away their best belongings, look forward to playing with their grandchildren and indulge in very little physical exertions.

Yogacharya BKS Iyengar begs to differ. Age is no deterrent for this yoga practitioner to practice and teach at least four hours in a day.

Fondly called Guruji, Iyengar, unabashedly lays claim for popularizing yoga all over the world. His list of who’s who students is endless – right from erstwhile political leaders Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyutrao Patwardhan, GS Pathak (vice president of India), BD Jatti (acting president of India), General Nagesh and many eminent per-sonalities all over the world.

His institution has been visited by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once and he also visited a camp organized by one of Guruji’s students.

The awards adorning his office tell their own tales. Today, his students have opened up centers in different parts of the world, carrying forward the message of yoga. The number of foreign visitors streaming in and out of the institute speaks of the worldwide popularity of the institute.

With a face, beaming with content, Iyengar says, "People say I am arrogant. But I know that when I started off in 1930s, yoga was not popular at all. I have toiled endlessly all these years to make it popular."

Iyengar says he had to actually perform like an artiste for people to notice him. "I would do all these unusual acts and people would watch. I had to be an artiste like a dancer or an actor. Some people even called me mad, because they thought only mad men did things I did."

Ensconced in the basement library of the Ramamani Iyengar Institute, surrounded by his pupils, from all parts of the world, Guruji discusses the various aspects of yoga and yoga practitioners.

For him every movement is a rhythm. Stephanie Quirk from Australia, who learnt yoga from Iyengar and now teaches the same in Australia says, "Guruji is conscious of each and every move. He goes into the details of an asana because he wants it the right way. His body is so flexible even now."

Iyengar says that that is because for him yoga is not just hathayoga (physical yoga) or karma yoga (yoga of actions), rajayoga (yoga of the mind) or any other form. "Yoga is yoga," he explains, "Just as in medicine one person takes up a subject of his choice and specializes in it…Everyone believes in some form of yoga and teaches the same."

He believes that one’s knowledge of yoga is complete when it descends from the bahiranga (external) to the antaranga (the inner). In that way, every part of ones body is in tune with the mind. "As I sit here in front of you, I say my toe is alive too. Your toe is dead, but mine is not. I call this absolute oneness. There is no difference in my soul and sole," explains Guruji.

But to come to this stage of popularity and awareness, Iyengar had to strive hard. Originally from Karnataka, he traveled first to Maharashtra and then to the rest of the world to create awareness. He set up his institute in Pune. "There was a time when I would hardly earn any money. But it didn’t matter. I wanted people to know about this wonderful way of life," he says passionately. The only one regret that he has is the wayward proliferation of yoga.

"Charlatans are everywhere. How can I stop them? There is a great Kurukshetra in the field of art. I did my best to correct it," he adds. He has stopped going for his foreign visits but not because of any health reasons but because he doesn’t need to go. "Millions of my students all over the world take care of that."

His daughter, Geeta Iyengar, who is also a yoga teacher at the institute says, "Guruji is more vibrant that most of us. He has no health problems and even now starts his day at 5 am."

There is no retirement for Guruji. "I shall never stop doing this. This is all I have ever done. I don’t know what I shall do if I stop doing this," he says with utter candidness.

How does yoga help a person?

• Yoga is the most economical way to gain health and health is wealth.
• Yoga also gives peace in the head.
• Yoga keeps the body fit. Body is the temple. God is your soul. If the temple is unclean, God cannot enter such a place.
• Yoga makes one physiologically and physically fit.
• Yoga makes one psychologically, emotionally and mentally complete. And it gives benevolent intelligence to live a life of glory, says Guruji.

Are there separate exercises for men and women?

Geeta Iyengar says that Iyengar does not promote different exercises for men and women. He makes women aware of certain aspects like avoiding wrong pressures on the reproductive system. Women have different functions and physiological needs during important phases of life like adolescence, menstruation, motherhood and menopause. Exercises are tailored to maintain the balance and bring out maximum productivity in each phase .