OBITUARY: A purist till the end.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: The man who brought Yoga to the west is no more. But aficionados of this ancient Indian system of well-being and much more could feel satisfied that this Michelangelo of Yoga, Bellur Krishnamachari Sundararaja or simply BKS Iyengar had an unsurpassable innings credited of popularizing this doctrine of exercises even in fitness (read Tai-Chi) mad China.
And for a boy who took to yoga to surmount childhood illness and later went on to form a highly popular variant of this 2000 year-old practice which won him such fans ranging from Aldous Huxley, Yehudi Menuhin to Sachin Tendulkar and who clocked a majestic 95-years of age, the feat is nothing less than stunning.
And to those millions who have imbibed the nuances of his style at the Iyengar yoga schools in 72 countries and have read his Bible on the subject – ‘The Light of Yoga’ – will never forget this Brahmin who was generally found in a flimsy kurta and veshti who always insisted on perfecting the poses rather than blindly going in for power yoga which had once become a billion dollar business.
Iyengar had a very unique style. It was different from many of those professionally-run yoga centers mushrooming all over. At his Pune center, the Ramamani Iyengar Yoga Institute, the guru could be seen strutting around admonishing students and several teachers alike for the slightest flaws. He called himself an exponent of this discipline, a ‘’sadhak’ ’who till the last was practicing for 2-3 hours each day and doing a head–stand -‘’Sirsasana’ – for half an hour !
He was a strict vegetarian, enjoying his Sāmbhar, rice, veggies and curd without any substantial change in that menu throughout that long life.
Till the end, Iyengar was a purist. The Yoga that he imparted was of a solid variety where he emphasized on correct form, something that would eventually have a bearing on the inner peace of the practitioner. There was this underlying philosophy in his actions that if one does not have peace within himself, how would states, nations and countries be peaceful? His Yoga studio in Pune was totally different from the kind of ubiquitous centers that you may see almost anywhere.
So deeply ingrained was Yoga into Iyengar that he bounced back at 80 years after a massive cardiac attack and went on teaching for another 15-years, no mean task for a maestro who was well past his prime. But finally, his kidneys had stopped functioning efficiently and that once again led to another heart attack from which he never recovered.
His website carried a picture of Iyengar’s smiling face beside a message that read: “I always tell people, ‘Live happily and die majestically.’ 14 Dec 1918 – 20 Aug 2014.”