The Art of Yoga
25 Sep 2009 3 Comments
in Artistic Yoga Tags: Bharat Thakur, Bipasha Basu, gym, Kareena Kapoor, Lord Shiva, Patanjali, Rani Mukherjee, Shahid Kapoor, Uma Gautam, Yoga
When you talk working out, you mean sweat, blood, tears and a fee paid through your nose – all put into a couple of hours of furious huffing and puffing everyday. And this pursuit continues for months on end. One not-so-fine day, when you resort to the mirror-on-the-wall to play the impartial judge, and the mirror only but exaggerates the naked truth in front of you – right there in your face, you cant help but pull an awfully long face, exasperated that your hardwork hardly paid! The damn flab is still there, promising its sincere, all-round committment to you every single minute of your beautiful life! Atleast in most cases, this is the result… Atleast in my case, I had lost hope.
And then, there was light. I met a flambouyant, ultra slim, super glamourous young-looking woman. She – Uma Gautam, disciple of Bharat Thakur led me right out of a tunnel of darkness in which I sat so disillusioned. She gushed: “Imagine losing all the ugly flab, attaining radiant skin and bouncy hair that the best brands may fail to offer. All these benefits have indeed been accrued by people before – all thanks to Bharat Thakur’s Artistic Yoga, the enlightened lot claim.”
Kareena Kapoor swears by it, Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherji and now, Shahid Kapoor can’t do without it and we are witness to their perfect ten results. “Bharat Thakur has adapted Patanjali’s yoga to suit modern day people, while maintaining the prime goal of Yoga, by combining the five elements of flexibility, strength, endurance, agility and balance,” she said. She has been training under Bharat Thakur for ten years and is a senior trainer of artistic Yoga today. Bharat Thakur has employed all the traditional elements of Yoga which includes Bandhas, Kriyas and Suryanamaskar, aiming to break the monotony and thereby design a scientific programme for every session, she explained. The USP of artistic yoga is that it challenges all parts of the body and leaves it with no other option but to stay alert. Besides, the weight lost does not come back to traumatise you again. No lesser than a minute, I dreamed of enrolling into these magical sessions immediately to look bright, radiant and feel powerful very soon … but that exhorbitant gym membership snapped into my reverie and nagged the hell out of me.
“There is no need to go on a diet because that would mean controlling a symptom. Yoga goes to the core of the body and retrains it, fine-tuning the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR),” she explained and how beautiful she was, how graceful, how deceptively young Yoga had made her look, I looked at her admiringly, getting enraptured by her soothing voice and graceful, dramatic movements and many a time, fascinated by her funny demonstrations of how people reacted to Artistic Yoga. And is this form any better or different from the others? “Yoga singularly steps up the Agni or the fire element in the body besides strengthening the ether body. Hot Yoga may be unnecessary because it further increases the fire element in the body and causes dehydration. Other forms such as Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga or Iyengar Yoga are only various approaches, with the same purpose,” she proceeded.
Yoga has gained more popularity than the gym these days. The determination to become like Kareena Kapoor or even better – with a more beautiful face most often, youngsters, including me(the youngest of the lot) believe that this is achievable. She explained, it works for everyone because it plays on the mind, body and soul. Her conviction had become mine as her words were playing on my mind, body and soul!
Lord Shiva, who we pray to and worship, was a human being, like you, me, your neighbour. Yes, the very same hunk of a God who drank poison, whose third eye can destroy the world, who adorns himself with serpents and ash – who we worship in our architechted temples all over the world. He was only an enlightened Yogi of this pragmatic world. He was a vagabond seer, who took shelter in the Himalayas and meditated for numerous years. It was he, who gave the Shiva Samhitha that we, today meditate on. His wife Parvathi was his ardent devotee. He married her, who alone understood his outlandish thoughts and coped with his unearthly behaviour. He was a ‘wise-crack,’ that a common man could not get along with or even understand. He was an intellectual outcast because his visions were unfathomable, unheard of. He had Yogic visions and thoughts that he went on to describe in his Shiva Samhita. None could make much of it, to a large extent, not even Parvathi. He went away to the Himalayas, for good, never to return again, to explore the enigmas of the human mind. He thus became God. Someone who disappeared into the clouds and into the sky – into Kailasa. He became the invincible God who initiated the people of our country into Yoga and Bharatnatyam. The Yoga sutra and the Natya Shastra were interpretations of the complex verbosity of Shiva.
Thus I was transported into atleast a million years ago, when Shiva lorded over the Himalayas. How sensuous an image and how logical a conclusion, I thought. It is all about believing in the power of the mind, isnt it? – she smiled, while I sat transfixed. I made up my mind, frantically took numbers from her and headed out feeling one with the universe. What was that interaction, man! Would Kareena Kapoor too be able to talk on those same lines? Can Yoga tweak the mind too?
A week later, after tucking my assignments in the cupboard, I headed for a session early in the morning. One hour later, I thought – wow, if I CAN do it, I MUST do it. And tomorrow, I AM starting it.
I caught up with a few at the session and the interaction was, to put it simply, mind boggling. 25-year-old Rahul Jaisinghani, a full time trainer of Bharat Thakur’s Artistic Yoga in Bangalore, is a trained mechanical engineer, who was earlier employed with Bosch. He took a U-turn, pledging to take to Artistic Yoga as a way of life. “As expected, my family resisted initially but gradually there was acceptance and now, they are all interested,” he enthused. Pumping iron at the gym, he said was alright but Yoga approaches every individual who is a unique amalgam of the four dimensions of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, paying attention to each one’s individuality. “One burns about 100 to 600 calories in a single session of Artistic Yoga. There have been cases where 16kgs in 6 months have been shed off,” he said. Interestingly, he also added, “I wouldn’t instruct anyone to stop drinking and smoking. Remember, we are not using them, they, are using us. And dieting is only for discipline, nothing more to it. Don’t let cravings overtake you. Go on and indulge but be cautious to strike a balance.”
Shamira, from Pune, training to be a Yoga trainer in Bangalore had dabbled with several career options, until she settled with Bharat Thakur’s Artistic Yoga for a career. “I have been shifting careers, trying to seek something I wouldn’t be bored of. I know I have arrived now.”
Satish, a designer who has been practising artistic yoga for 6 months claimed that his life has changed altogether and he is able to embrace happiness. “I am not only physically fitter now but Pranayam has relieved me of unwanted baggage, making me an optimistic person,” he said, a tad emotional.
If time and resources permitted, I swear, I would have tossed queries to Kareena Kapoor and learnt about her effects on her doting beau. As of now, I want it all. I am going for it . . . Especially after those mind-balsting revelations. Will keep you posted on the mostly mental metamorphosis on my part very soon, (physical will be reported 10 years later – I am a hungry wolf, remember? ) watch out 
Rich dreams, none too farfetched
30 Aug 2009 3 Comments
in Music Tags: dreams, Hindustani classical music, Jaipur Atrauli gharana, Lord Shiva, Pt Rajshekhar Mansur
Once upon a time, there lived two musicians. Both were, the greatest that human kind had ever seen or listened to. One always outdid the other. They both scaled great heights and set revolutionary standards. They explored the myriad dimensions of music and reveled in it. Their talent was a matter of pride for the people of the land, who rejoiced in it. It was a sheer treat to the senses, when they both performed one after another, one with the other, complementing each other, letting music conquer them. All was so fine as long as they let music conquer them. But that dastardly fatalistic facet of life showed up. It perhaps happened all too soon. It was time to determine the better between the two. The world had all the while hailed them the greatest but they desperately urged for evaluation. They yearned for recognition individually, believing their talent was not combined, but one was certainly superior than the other – even when the world had given in to their superiority of existence. The singers appealed to the people of the land. Alas, were they all too inadequate to judge? Ill-equipped to gauge these stalwarts? Even the most erudite resigned to the all-empowering greatness of these singers. They begged to be spared of committing the sin of judging what they perceived to be God’s own best insight into divinity. Left with no option and steadfast to their purpose, the musicians set foot into Lord Shiva’s Kailasam. Pleading with the Lord, they begged to be heard so that He may pass the final judgement. When lesser mortals had failed, their faith in the Almighty became ever more unshakeable. Smiling, the Lord acceded. The divine feat commenced. The two rendered their best, with all the fervour they could muster, which seemed colossal to the Lord Almighty Himself. Thus, several eons passed by, as the Lord revelled in divinity Himself, flummoxed with intoxication. He heaved a deep sigh, smiled gently, and asked each of the singers to sit in each of his ears, and continue singing… while He would let His inner senses decide, if the need arises… thus he passed His judgement, and resumed His eternal tapas… as He lived His dream forever – never to be de-mesmerised from this tapas.
Dreams come true. They really do. I wished for this one from the bottom of my heart, from the core of my soul, my prayers were sincere and the dream was serious enough. Yes, the category of ‘fulfilled dreams’ have that commercial star shining at the top right corner that intends to ‘but’ in a disclaimer. You can’t wish you suffer a stomach ache the day you have to make a presentation before your boss, lets say. Not so mundane, never that lame. It cant be so trivial a wish at all, for heaven’s sake. It needs to be a gigantic, massive dream. So big that it captures the Lord Almighty’s fancy, makes Him sit up, shakes Him off His meditation to gasp – Wow! …. Yeah, that needs attention dude!
Now, I have always, always, for the last 6 years or so (seems like since forever actually), wanted to meet the stalwart, the grand, the god-like, the less celebrated, the less known but the most divine, the most revered musician – Pt Rajshekhar Mansur. I completely lost my senses for a good 5 seconds when I saw him for the very first time, in person, at his door step, as he smiled gently and opened the door to me while I stood completely frozen. The four raags – Godhan Gouri, Lachcha Saakh, Miyan ki Todi and Baraari that I had compulsively-obsessively listened to, medidated to, suddenly pulsated with all their vibrancy all at once. I was levitating, it seemed, what with the guru of Jaipur Atrauli gharana before me, whose aura had captivated me, putting me into a trance. Now, I had graded this moment so high in my head all these few years that I thought I would never ever be blessed to experience it. Things graded too high vapourise into thin air and become one with the celestial world. One requires fortune coupled with eligibility to meet people of his stature, you know. And here I was, neither qualified nor fortunate (going by my track record of misfortune). I mustered wakefulness to mutter a hello sir, I hope I am on time. I was desperate to not pull an Ally Mc Beal in all my desperation and nervousness. I give into hallucinations when I am in sheer nervousness and despair. Rather, I try very hard to relish that moment of truth in all its vitality, lest it ceases to exist. But I also hallucinate when caught in situations that I wanna escape from. Horribly enough, I equally wish the culprit making me indulge in wishful thinking empathised with my predicament, understood that I am vulnerable to hallucinations and forgave, but remember the siamese connection between hard luck and me? Even as I was in the midst of the most divine aura, my mind was monkeying around to check on all the corners of my mind, vaccuming it clean off everything else, making ample room to accomodate this memory for many lifetimes to come, if possible, to fully satiate the thirst of this soul. Now, settling down with a the nicest cup of tea and the crispiest couple of cookies, what I had for the next 45 minutes that was actually intended to be a brief 15 minute interaction, became the greatest rendezvous in my life, with this giant of a scholar. What of satiation, when this turned out to be a raging, furious appetiser!
Not quite sure how to start, I thought for a while too little. Just then, he initiated. “What do you know about music?”
They say..