Original subtitles

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BKS Iyengar.

Courage.

What a man.

What a teacher.

Speaking about Iyengar is like speaking about a mountain.

We say that he lived to be this many years old.

He was born in the great influenza outbreak

that his mother was afflicted with while she

was pregnant with him.

But what does that speak to of a man?

First, he was my father.

Later, as I began to understand things, he became a teacher.

And obviously, he is a guru.

And although my teacher in Glasgow talked very--

with great reference about Mr. Iyengar,

that was the first time I heard the term Guruji.

And it was obvious in the way these people talked

and their demeanor the huge influence he had,

the great respect that they had for him,

the love that they had for him.

I was in a bookstore when I was just a 21-year-old man

and was intrigued by the photos that I saw with that book that

we have come to see as the treatise of what yoga really

could be.

And opening the book and watching the pictures,

I was totally amazed that the master was totally keeping

the control of the body.

I was interested as to who is this person and how can he have

the same expression on his face, irrespective of whether the leg

is around his neck or whether he's standing straight.

And when I saw the book Light on Yoga,

I was so enthusiastic to meet this man and to meet him

in person and get teaching from him.

I had heard so much about him,

and I had heard of him in such high esteem.

And I remember holding my breath when I heard his footsteps

and he opened the door and walked in,

chest first, a mighty man in simple white kurta.

So the first time I think that I saw him,

what struck me was how royal he looked--

his immaculately pressed silk dhoti or his silver hair

and bushy eyebrows.

He walked into the room, and suddenly there was this light.

And I just knew, this is the man was

going to teach me everything.

And when he came out into the platform,

his energy filled the room.

He was not a tall man.

He was a short man, but his energy which

very tall and very expansive.

And something inside of me at that moment

knew that my life was forever changed.

It was a moment where from the first moment I knew that

this was something very special that I had encountered

I didn't actually realize that he is something special.

My father is something special.

I could see that he's different than others.

He performs something in a different way.

It was awe and wonder, and it was--

there was something very engaging about it that made me

want to do better, to study the subject more, to practice,

and really get more into it.

He was so inspiring.

I then when I was 16 or 17 years old when I started

catching.

He realized that no more I am taking it as earlier as a child

will do.

Somewhere he found that I'm serious

about it regularly doing.

And then, my father understood that I'm really keen about it,

and he started instructing me the right way

of doing what has to be done--

how I have to lift myself, what has to be--

what has to happen in that asana,

if I'm straightening myself.

Whether it's straightening of limbs or lifting of the spine.

We were fortunate in Pune when we were here to see Guruji

not just be the guru--

a guru.

We saw him when he was teaching, how he taught.

And he taught in a way which was amazing.

It was masterful the way he taught.

In the classroom, he was formidable.

We were all in awe, slightly scared.

Absolutely fearful and really wondering whatever was going

to happen.

From the first time he walked into the room,

into that yoga hall, was, for me,

was just like a lightning bolt. He was so relentless,

and he was so challenging, and he was so confronting,

but he was also entirely captivating.

We would just whisper amongst ourselves that the prowler has

entered the class, because he really was like a lion.

And he would prowl around the class

with these leonine strides and basically strike fear in your--

in anybody's heart.

Like most many students, we were very, very afraid of him.

The Guruji came into our classes and stood near us.

We would actually go running to the prop room

and stay there for some time until we were hauled out of it.

To an outsider who did not know Guruji,

you would think that he was sometimes very angry with

the students.

But as teachers, we realized that it was not

the anger towards these students,

but it was an anger towards something which is not correct.

So there was no such tolerance there for mistakes.

Sorry all are listening.

Not one adjusted.

I will not teach.

I will go back to India today alone if you do not

listen to what I say.

A lot of people used to say that he's too strict.

But when you do something, when you learn something,

so Guruji was the best.

Guruji used to say, it is not tip of the fingers,

top of the tip of the fingers.

I was surprised.

How can it be?

Tip of the finger itself is as a top.

How can it be top of the tip of the fingers?

Then he said, see, this is what the sensitiveness.

The top of the tip of the finger means it is so sensitive,

delicate, if you touch the nose, the moment the finger goes

to the nose, you should know that.

You should feel it.

There was already an air of excitement in the room,

because we knew that the Mr. Iyengar had come in and was

beginning his daily practice inside.

But after a while, we forgot about him,

and we were focusing on what the teacher was saying.

Until suddenly, there was this roar from the back of the room.

No one is doing much she said.

And he marched up to the front and took over,

and it was marvelous.

It was terrifying, but it was marvelous.

He committed a mask to discipline people rather than

to spread fear.

When he was hitting, shouting,

we knew that he was right inside, outside.

There was no doubt that to remove

this wrong state of mind, he had to drink in some manner

these wrong feelings, wrong way of doing.

I was trying to do Bakasana time after time after time,

and falling off, and slipping off,

and just getting frustrated.

And I was getting tired.

And Rya had came walking across the room up to me.

And he said to me, Guruji sent me over to tell you

that you can't expect him to come over to you if you

want help with your pose.

I looked up at Rya and said, OK, I'll come over.

And I walked over to Guruji, and then he

proceeded to put me through my paces

for another 20 minutes of Bakasana practice,

until I didn't even realize that my arms were

numb from the elbow down, until I fell out of the pose.

And I tried to break my fall, and I couldn't even

move my hands.

And he said, that's enough for today.

Did you learn something?

And he wiggled his eyebrows.

And we laughed.

Oh, and then, the next day, in the practice hall--

the numbness-- that's right, the numbers didn't go away.

And so I was a little worried, but I

didn't want to bother him.

And I was over by the ropes.

I was trying to hold the rope, but my hand wouldn't work.

And so he came over to me, and he was so tender and sweet.

He took his kerchief out of his pocket, and he wrapped my palm.

He said, this one's worse, right?

And I said, yes sir.

The left one is worse.

And he wrapped my palm in a very specific way.

And I was so surprised and grateful.

Then he said, now, do Bakasana again.

I'm like, oh, no.

He was generous, but he was relentless.

We were all in Sirsasana--

Salamba Sirsasana, head balance.

And he was walking through the lines of people

standing on their head.

And when he was coming close to my place,

I suddenly felt something pushing my chin.

And I didn't realize immediately,

but he was just standing up straight in front of me.

And it was actually his foot correcting my chin

to go a little more deep down to the floor.

He would exactly correct, touching that spot which would

make the person to do everything rightly.

It was a special touch.

For example, let us say, he may touch your shoulders,

or he may touch your dorsal spine somewhere, or somewhere

spine at the lower area--

lumbar spine or sacrum spine.

That touch will be not much for you at that time,

but he will exactly touch there, and the hole posture

will change.

And you will come out of the experience different-- totally

different.

Once I was in a particular pose,

and he came from behind and pushed my tailbone.

The comfort that I felt after that is unimagined.

Some could say that he had kicked me.

I remember one time, I was in Sirsasana during the practice,

and I didn't see him coming.

But what I felt was a kick suddenly just here,

on the ribs.

So I had been sticking my ribs out in Sirsasana.

and he kicked pretty hard, and he just instantly

pushed that part back.

And my back, buttocks, and legs just went up.

I didn't fall.

But he had this way of doing something like that,

and just recently putting you into a better pose.

He knew just how much to kick and where,

and then you would be there in another pose.

It would just shift your reality suddenly like that.

Other people would say, didn't that hurt?

That must have really been awful.

And I said, no, the touch was very, very light.

It was light, but it lasted for a very, very long time.

His ability was to bring something out

in each student to let them have their own personal experience.

It was never a generalized class experience in that way.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Without words, he used to teach me.

He was able to be however he needed to be for different

people, and he was able to just switch instantly.

But the real impact, I found, was in the experience that one

had of oneself when he taught.

When you were in his classes, he opened up

a sort of hidden potential.

He showed you things, or he led you,

brought you to things that you never thought were possible.

There was going to be a mega class,

and I think it was going to be-- the first time,

there was going to be 1,000 students in the mega class.

And he was sitting here in the library, and he says,

I think I can do 1,000 students-- meaning

that all those other mega classes that had like 300, 500,

700, he wouldn't take that mega class

just because 300 people wanted to come,

500 people wanted to come, 700 people wanted to come.

No, he had a kind of ethics that if he couldn't see everyone,

he wouldn't take that.

But he had that ability to see that many people all at once.

And he would correct people in the far back of the room.

He would point out someone's tailbone

in the very back of the room, someone else, thump their thigh

and so forth.

It's like he has as many eyes as many students are there that

day.

If there are 100 students, he has 100 eyes.

And he had penetrative intelligence.

He would go beyond the layers of the body to go to the soul.

He certainly knew all about one as a person.

When you met him, there was no question

of concealing anything.

He knew about you.

So he had seen me in class.

And I was laying upside down, just--

really bhoga, not yoga, I have to admit.

My eyes were closed, and my hands were on the floor.

And I felt a piece of paper being pushed into my hand.

So I opened my eyes.

My hand was on the floor.

And Guruji was kneeling on the floor,

looking up at me in the robes.

And I said, oh, sir.

And he said, give this to Mary Dunn.

Mary Dunn was my wonderful teacher in San Diego.

And I said, of course, sir.

But how did you know that I know Mary Dunn?

And he said, I saw you in class this morning.

You make the same mistakes that she does.

He told me even before Isaac was born that you are going

to-- by the way, you are carrying a male child.

Because many people have said that Guruji

is the man with the x-ray eyes.

So doesn't surprise me that he already knew that.

I remember yawning once in class,

but I had my back of my head to him.

And he said, why are you yawning?

And I said, how do you know I'm yawning?

I've got my head to the back.

He says, your ears move when you yawn.

If there is going something going on in your mind,

he will recognize it.

He would take it jokingly.

Hey, where are you What are you thinking, he may say.

So if you were in the class and you were inattentive

and weren't appreciating that he was talking to you,

then you would certainly know about it.

He will exactly find out what was going on in your mind--

what was your brain doing.

And that was shocking.

How does he know?

This, I think, was the quality of Guruji.

Without having to speak, without having to tell him,

without having to show him anything,

he instinctively or intuitively somehow

knew the problems of each person.

He is exactly make out the defect--

physical defect, physiological defect.

He looked at me and he diagnosed my problem without

looking at my reports, but only looking at my skin of the neck.

He never asked anyone to bring the reports.

He never asked anyone go tested, get pathological report

or radiological report.

If somebody came with it, he'd say--

turn a blind eye.

I don't want to look at all that.

She had his own subjective diagnostics.

As far as the organic body is concerned,

he would be very sure, whether kidneys have gone wrong,

or heart is wrong, or lungs are wrong.

How did he even know about that?

He had no educational background on how cells work.

There are no scientific instruments he had--

no microscopes, nor stethoscopes.

But still he--

I have no idea how he saw all those things.

He had his own scanning eyes.

Before the student would say, Guruji, I've

got this gastric problem or a lung problem,

he would divulge it to the patient.

He would say, this is your problem.

Say if you are tensed, he won't look at your eyes.

He would look at your throat and say you are tensed.

He looked at the gestures.

He looked at the throat.

He looked at the shoulders.

He used to say walk.

And when the person walked before him,

he will know exactly what is the matter with him.

And then, he starts his teaching.

Greeta would ask, because naturally, she

would be surprised.

I asked him, but he said, look,

there is no method for that.

It's not something-- the methodology to say that isn't--

I talked to him in this manner.

But he gave me certain clues.

What clues?

He said, look at his eyes--

when I'm talking to him, where he was looking.

Or the way he talks to me, find out how he is answering.

Look at the posture, how he is sitting.

These are the clues he gave me.

This was a great thing that he had that faculty.

And no student ever bothered how to get that faculty,

rather than depend upon the pathologists and radiologists

to tell us what this person is suffering from.

Some of my closest interactions with BKS Iyengar

were during the remedial classes or the medical classes here

in Pune.

And I think what was most interesting

about those interactions were learning under him

and the way he worked psychologically differently

with different people.

I was watching the medical classes there.

And in those days, we had to sit on stairs

and had a great view of the whole room.

And watching Guruji dart around the room helping everyone,

he just seemed like lightning.

I wouldn't even see him move.

He would just be somewhere, and then he

was somewhere else, and somewhere else,

and seemed to be helping everyone at the same time.

The rhythm that he would always get into.

And that was magnificent.

It's just the exuberance of energy

that was just magnificent.

And at one point, he came to help a woman who was pretty

close to where we were sitting on the stairs.

And he was helping her to do drop backs.

And she was a fairly young woman.

She had long braids on either side.

And he was giving her directions to get

her to be able to drop back, but she was nervous, of course,

and seemed afraid.

She was very flexible, but she seemed scared to drop back.

So he was helping her, but she had couldn't really

take the directions that he was saying to her.

So all of a sudden, he grabbed her two braids

and pulled them down and forward and up.

And she went right back and did the drop back.

And she let out a squeal and was so happy.

And then he turned to her and turned to us

and said, see how she can open her chest now?

I tell you, he was handling the patient with his own hands.

Helping each individual into the asanas.

Many times, he used to use his own head.

Like for example, you're lying down in Supta Padangusthasana,

where one leg up and you're lying down on the floor.

And he used to be standing there behind

and his head hitting out towards the person's calves

and with his hands pulling in.

Arms, legs, head, neck, chest, back--

everything he would make use of to support it.

Not just standing nearby and saying, do do, I will help you.

No.

He knows exactly.

So he used to actually make me sit in Baddha Konasana

and fully himself used to climb on my knees.

So entire Tata on standing on top of me.

And I used to be really scared in those initial days, but--

it used to actually-- he actually creeped open

my groins like that, to give that freedom

and life over there.

I had streptococcus infection in my throat,

and it affected my all small joints.

So rheumatoid arthritis like that.

So I could not hold my pen.

I could not open the lock.

I could not hold the cooker.

Nothing I could do.

Then, when I came in June to Pune,

he made me to do many postures.

And especially full arm balance, it

was really-- my doctors were surprised.

He put the slanting plank and kept my palm on it.

And I used to do full arm balance.

And slowly, my pain was gone.

And when I went back to Chennai, the doctor say it is amazing,

because this is cannot be cured.

Your father has done something which is really--

medical science tells me it was surprising.

He's given life to many people with medical issues,

health issues.

I had a lot of trust in him and I believed him.

And this finger-- he treated me.

I'm telling you, this was tough for me, you know?

Especially for a wicket keeper, the index finger

is very, very important to collect the ball.

Everything come here.

And this finger was treated by him totally.

And I still cry, literally.

And he used to push me so hard.

He was hanging on both fingers, like this.

And it's not only one minute, two-- but it used to be there

were five minutes, four minutes.

Push me hard.

Now you will be amazed.

He used to put me in some poses.

where I could actually palpitate my own kidney.

Very difficult to believe.

And nobody, of course, today knows those

poses or remembers those poses.

But til I was with him, my blood pressure, kidney function,

and everything else continued to remain absolutely normal.

Then there were quite a few who used to come with weakness

in the arms, legs.

Standing itself was difficult. There

were physically challenged.

He could not be stipulating the classical postures

and actions of yoga.

So therefore, he thought that they should

be given some assistance.

Suppose person having a heart problem, blood pressure,

this kind of patient.

So how to make them to bend on the backside?

So he understood that if the asanas are to work,

one must be in the position.

And therefore, the props were developed.

So you know you will be surprised that he used to have

whatever in the house is small like bed.

And in those days, cotton bed because you could roll it.

So cotton bed he will use.

The chapati roller, simple thing, he will use it.

We had a stick--

a simple wooden stick.

He will use that, and will make that area to work.

I have left the pain over here.

And he gave me a stick like this.

He picked up a stick, which was laying there.

And this is what you do.

And you do it a few times, and your pain will be gone.

Now, this pose is not given in any yoga book

anywhere in the world.

Only Guruji could innovate it.

Only he could teach you this.

Things that I could not even imagine could be used would

prove to be such a valuable aid in enlightening or showing

something.

A couple of thing, it came accidentally.

So there was a one belt lying in the institute.

Then he just took the belt, put it on the backside of his hand.

Then he would do Sarvangasana.

And he said, oh, my god.

Rather than telling to people go on Sarvangasana

and take your elbow back, better lock his elbow now only

in the belt and let him go.

So something should sustain so that posture can work

for remedy.

If you are sustaining your body, the posture

won't be really working to disseminate the effects.

So that's why he developed props for yoga to work on you.

If yoga doesn't work on you, how will you get remedy?

He observed and he incorporated props.

So did he invent props?

I think he would probably challenge that.

He would say, I observe nature and do repeat something.

So is that invention?

It certainly is.

It certainly is in some perspective.

There are many people that started call it as prop yoga.

So they have kind of bought all the props.

They own it, but they don't know how

to use it, what to do, or reach out to the cord.

And these days, I keep on telling them,

you don't know what hardship he had to make--

to create these props, because it has to suite the human body.

Guruji used to say, this is a chumbal.

This is the Guruji's last research of the prop.

In 2011, when he went to China at the age of 93,

in front of the audience, which was around 1,200 students from

China, he said, look.

Look at me.

I've been teaching for such a long time.

And till that time, when I was doing Baddha Konasana,

I used to put the wooden brick, which was like a block.

I should have realized that the bucket is shaped--

it's curved and it's rounded in shape.

And the chumbal is what-- it is taking that shape and giving

you that support.

So I have been--

this is what I've invented now, and that's

what I've realized now-- how stupid I've

been to use a wooden block.

So small things that he did, actually,

have touched me much more, especially his simplicity,

and humility, and his ability to say, you know,

I'm still learning at the age of 95, and the whole world--

and to say it in public.

He was always ready to say, I do not know.

In spite of the fact that he knew so much, if he did not

know, he said he did not know.

Or he may-- there's a problem which came up

while he was teaching class.

And he, in his younger days, and if he did not have the answer.

So he says, OK, I'll tell you.

Then he would practice at home to find out

what is the real answer to the question which

has been posed to me.

So it's not just he's going to try one thing

and that's going to work.

Maybe even putting himself in harm's way,

trying all different things.

If he was going to prescribe something to somebody,

he wanted to know what are the things

that work, what doesn't work.

His body was like a laboratory.

He would practice on it.

He was severe with himself, not that he pampered his body.

He was a dedicated practitioner himself.

And he was severe with his body to experiment.

Therefore, he has often said, when I teach, I am a scientist.

Actually, if you are teaching, you should be a teacher.

But then, he never had that opportunity.

He said, when I teach, I am a scientist,

because I have to evolve person to person,

what are the requirements.

If this person requires this chair,

somebody requires a taller chair.

So he had to work that way.

He said that his students, in a sense, were his teachers,

because he saw what mistakes they were making,

or something that they were doing right,

which he probably had not realized.

But he would meet them and say, oh, this

is something which is new I am learning.

He was never a one way street that means I know it all.

So he was, in that sense, very scientific.

Just like in science, there's always an inquisitiveness

to know more about more things.

That kind of inquisitiveness was certainly there, I can say.

His intelligence and the way he introduced yoga,

the way he studied every day in the library the yoga texts,

his explanations.

And he was amazing, that a man who

had had no academic education had such a lot of knowledge

about this line.

So when he was writing the Yoga Sutra Patanjali,

the text was ready, but he was telling me that there are lots

of things that he would like to experience before being sure

and to put them on the page.

Finally, we reached it in '92 to the final editing of the work.

In the same place in this library,

almost on the same table, I was doing the editing work,

and one of my friends I was entering them in the computer,

and Guruji was supervising the whole work.

When we reached Yoga Sutra, that the meaning was not very clear,

and his explanations, also, we were trying to write.

And it was not really corresponding.

It was not very convincing.

We were working day and night.

And one night-- it was around 4:00 in the morning-- somebody

knocked on my door, because I was living upstairs

in the institute.

And then, I opened the door.

It was Guruji himself.

And he goes, can I enter?

I told, of course you can enter, but I am sorry.

I am just coming out.

No, no, no.

Go back to your bed.

He pushed me back to my bed.

My friend also was in his bed.

And he sat on the side of my bed.

And he explained, amazingly, very clearly,

like a really crystal clear, the Sutra.

Then he told, now is it understood?

And we told, yes, you can write it like that.

Yes.

Then he walked away and we watched ourselves.

And we knew that it was just coming from his own practice

in that very morning.

There was one practice where he had his leg up on the tall

stool, and I was just there next to him,

just literally this far away from him.

And I was watching him.

And over two minutes, every two seconds,

he would shift and do something a little different,

catch the imprint of that, and then do

another thing for two seconds, then catch the imprint of that.

So if you count that up over two minutes--

30 seconds one minute, 30 seconds the other minute--

he did like 60 different trials within two minutes.

He had that speed of being able to catch what was happening,

record it, and then just go on to the next thing.

Just an incredible speed.

Even well into his 90s, he would be discovering new

things.

He would be discussing this with Geeta aunty or Prashantji.

Yesterday, I was trying this for the last two days.

In Sirsasana, I was doing this particular variation.

And I spent 10 extra minutes.

And this is what I felt. There's a relief in a certain thing

that I felt.

He never stopped practicing.

He never stopped learning.

He never stopped exploring and experimenting.

He made this voyage from the outside in.

And he did that while having a loving marriage.

If he has any success, it was because that [INAUDIBLE] that

energy, that Shakti was Ramamani, his wife, behind him.

She's a light in my life.

She never demanded anything from me.

She could definitely make out that he has something different

in him.

So she gave full support, full freedom,

to him whatever he wants to do.

Always together used to practice.

She never objected.

Early mornings is to get up at 4:00 to do the practice.

She never objected.

She would help.

After marry, my progress on yoga is on account of her.

I use her as a mirror.

They had a really good understanding of each other.

He respected my mother as a householder,

looking after everything-- looking after the house,

children, kitchen, everything.

He used to take her for shopping.

You see, every Sunday, my father used to come from Bombay.

And he used to reach Pune by 3:30.

By 4:35, my father used to take my mother for shopping.

Many times Sunday, he used to go to Dadar and bring betel

leaves, because my mother used to like it.

On Sunday night, we used to go for for the walking.

And my mother, by walking, she used to make veeda for him.

And they used to have-- on the road, also,

so she used to have on one finger, [INAUDIBLE]

and another finger leaves.

We used to wash everything-- clean it, everything.

And while going, they used to eat it.

Never they fought with each other.

Never there was a quarrel or fight, in front of us,

especially.

It never happened.

It at all, they had spoken to each other so differently.

But there are not quarrel, as such.

No argument, as such.

She was really wonderful lady-- very tolerant lady,

very helpful lady.

And looking after everyone with kind heartedness.

Both of us lived very happily for 30 years.

But after passing of my mother,

he was both mother and father.

He use to play with us, especially myself.

I'm being the eldest daughter of Guruji, of my father.

I think I enjoyed a lot.

We used to play on his body when he used to do practices

in different asanas, like Halasana.

We use to play slide.

When he used to do Yoganidrasana,

we used to play like see-saw on his body.

You won't believe it, even at this-- as a three years child,

I was always doing in front of him something like toppling.

Sometimes, I'd touch my toes.

When he jumped, I will jump.

Well, I was a classical dancer,

so I was supposed to give my first performance.

So, in front of him, I used to do the practice all the time.

So when he used to correct me during these yoga postures

and all, he used to correct me.

But even when I used to have a bath,

he used to come after having a bath

and tell me that, Savita, come on.

Do this.

So even during the bath, he was thinking about my--

how I had to improve my dance with their expressions,

with the gestures, with the hand movements.

Hand movements, palm movements.

He was graceful, actually.

He wanted to learn, actually, dance.

He was thinking about actually becoming a classical

dancer rather than practitioner of yoga at some stage in life.

And that's why he once saw Uday Shankar in a ballet.

And he was so fascinated.

Then he said, why not find out the way

that I will teach him yoga, and he will teach me dance.

But Uday Shankar was not interested in yoga, it seems.

So he could not continue.

But music, he was very much interested.

Both my parents were interested in music to the point that

the interest was in everybody's-- all the siblings.

And I used to play sitar for my another sister Sunita.

Prashant and Vanita, they used to play violin.

Savita danced.

Geeta learned vocal music, then sitar, also.

So he used to teach us the technique, how to play--

fingering work, wrist work, and everything he used to tell.

And it used to make a lot of difference in the technique.

Renowned and famous and a great teacher as he was,

but when it came to normal family life,

he was just like any ordinary man-- like a very common man.

And that was very endearing about him.

In the house, as a father, he was very much lovable.

At the same time, he was very strict.

He was not at all strict whatsoever to me.

Actually, when his classes were going on and while he used

to practice, it should be pin drop silence.

We children never used to make any noise.

He never used to like that.

But when and children were playing, he used to practice.

They used to play cricket.

And he was also sometimes laughing, playing with them.

Used to play with him a lot.

And he used to practice as you go--

He would be practicing in the hallway.

I used to go in the hall, trouble him.

If he's sleeping, stand on his legs or whatever.

Just play with him.

He had this thing he used to say--

OK, I'll make you fly like an aeroplane.

So he used to lay down on his back and hold us like--

so we are kids, right?

So we are on-- so his legs up, and we

are laying flat on his legs and holding his hands.

And he is making us fly like an aeroplane.

Sometimes in the morning, when we would be sleeping late

and we would not wake up, suddenly we would be woken up,

because he would be walking on our legs.

So yes.

Then he would just laugh, and he would walk off.

He was like a child--

full of life, full of fun, his eyes

twinkling with mischief, with that mischievous

smile on his face.

He was ready for an adventure.

So there are times when we would have done

some crazy things with him.

And he would be ready for a game of cricket, or sit on a swing,

or be ready to stand on his head in Sirsasana

on the edge of a cliff--

challenge us to do things which he did.

So if we were at the top of the hill,

he used to like to go to the edge and to sort of do

the adventurous thing.

And he used to take us along.

And our parents, my father, was scared.

Hey, don't go there.

You'll fall down.

So I remember once, we had been to the Nandi Hills.

And there is this place called Tipu Drop.

So that's where Tipu Sultan, he used to push down his enemies.

So there is like a very steep fall and there is a wall.

And the wall doesn't even like--

the comparable kind of a wall, it doesn't have a flat surface.

It was a curved surface on top of it.

And so that does--

so he got up on the wall.

But there's a steep fall on the other side.

He's wearing his [INAUDIBLE] and was sort

of walking like a king.

And we are all scared, because it's very windy

and the other side is totally steep.

And he's laughing.

So he's enjoying walking like that.

And he's calling us-- you also come.

You also climb.

And we had once gone on a family picnic to Mulshi during

the monsoon.

So Guruji stopped the car and said--

he said, stop the car.

This will be our picnic spot.

So there was a mild waterfall.

There was some slippery rocks.

And we all just sat there, opened up

what we'd got for eating, and laughing, playing in the water.

And he called out to me.

And he said, hey, do Sirsasana her.

And I was so terrified.

He said, do.

I said, I can not do, because I can not balance.

He said, somebody will hold you.

So what if you can no balance?

Just do the pose.

And I am fighting with my grandfather at that time,

trying to convince my grandfather

that this granddaughter can balance in Sirsasana.

And that's when the teacher in him came out.

And he said, if you don't do it now--

and he said, I will do it.

So I got doubly terrified that it's so slippery, [INAUDIBLE]

and, you know, water.

But Guruji is saying, I will do it.

If something happens, what will my family think?

What will-- they'll point fingers at me.

So the stress-- that stress made me do Sirsasana.

And he taught me something in that Sirsasana, also.

At home, this used to happen very often,

where suddenly he'd say, [INAUDIBLE] come here.

Do this.

Let me show you something.

And he's teaching us.

So if you're doing--

like say you're doing Urdva Dhanurasana.

So you'll fall and you come up.

So he had this way of-- he used to just hold us out

of the tip of the [INAUDIBLE] there.

And then, when we had to come up, he'd just do a small tug,

and we were able to come up very fast.

It's almost like he would just say, see,

I have magic in my hand.

I just pull, and you're able to come up.

Even in the family lunch occasion,

sometimes after lunch he would say, hey, come do Sirsasana.

And I would tell him, no, grandfather.

I just ate.

And he said, nothing will happen.

Do.

So that kind of yoga anytime, laughter anytime,

teasing me anytime.

So that always was on.

He used to be always excited like a child when his

grandchildren and great grandchildren were around,

especially.

I couldn't resist taking Guruji's car.

It was an Ambassador at that point in time.

And I'd take it out, and he used--

I used to ask him, Tata, are you coming?

And he would not bat an eyelid.

He would say, yes, let's go.

Let's have fun.

The man loved life.

He was full of life.

And that time, I didn't realize.

I used to just take him.

He would just wear his slippers and we would just

go and come back after an hour, going around

on hills around Pune.

That point, I didn't realize.

At the age of 18 and 19, I didn't realize.

Oh, I asked my Tata.

He came.

What's the big deal?

You take it for granted.

Now, you realize the amount of trust he had in my driving--

the amount implicit trust.

The fact that he would take his time out.

Nowadays, at the age of 38, and I work,

and I help around the institute.

And I have a kid and I know how busy it is.

An hour is a big deal in my life.

But at that time, for Guruji to spend an hour of his life

every Saturday, Sunday, just so that I can have my fancy

and drive around Pune, that's unbelievable.

Nowadays, we find it very difficult. One thing,

if we do it.

Another thing, we say [INAUDIBLE] I can't come.

But he used to practice, take the classes, come to the shops,

and we used to dine together always.

Those Small Pleasures in life, you know?

That he used to be in one day and he

was to participate very enthusiastically.

He used to watch television-- cricket matches.

He used to come with us on long drives or picnics.

He used to play games with us.

All games he used to enjoy--

football, hockey, cricket.

And Gilli Danda, you know?

That Gilli Danda.

He used to play with us when we were young.

He was always a sportsman.

Basically, he was a sportsman in that way--

the yoga he took.

Actually, nobody guided him to play any sports or anything.

He was very fond of cricket.

That is why the radio came to our house to list

to the commentaries.

I remember it was the Champion's Trophy final,

I guess--

India versus England.

Last time, India won the Champion's Trophy in England.

So we were watching it in Pune.

And everybody had gone to sleep.

We were the only peoples awake.

The match went on til 12:30 or 1:00 our time.

India won the match and we were watching that.

Not only cricket-- football, especially.

Local football is something we used to watch together.

And the last finals one month ago

was the first finals that in around--

after five straight finals, I did not watch with Guruji--

'98 to 2018.

So it was a little emotional watching the match alone.

Watching Investigative detective shows on TV

on a Friday or Saturday night, accompanied by cold coffee

is something he used to love.

Every Friday night, it's going to be a cold coffee

night.

So myself and Hadid, my husband, we used to make cold coffee.

We give him, and he would say, oh, it's too strong,

Da, It's too light, Da.

Little less sugar.

Little more sugar.

The blend is a little less.

You should do this more.

You should take this kind of a vessel.

Many multiple instructions.

He had this thing about creating your dishes.

Put honey in this, and mix this with that,

and see how it tastes.

So that was a lot of fun.

Simple things like festivals he used to enjoy a lot.

So we used to prepare this [INAUDIBLE],,

like the Diwali snacks.

He was to enjoy all of it.

He used to eat heartily.

He used to make us also eat heartily.

At the end of the course, there would always be a big

meal essentially sponsored by the family.

All my aunts, my mother, all of them would cook.

We didn't have any kitchen.

The highlight would be that there is some fruit salad.

Fruit salad was like an specialty.

And we'd all sit in the hall downstairs.

And Guruji would insist on us serving everybody.

He would make sure everybody took a second helping,

third helping.

And I remember that he gave me so many jalebis to eat.

I kept putting them on my plate.

I really had a hard time finishing them.

But because Guruji had given them, it was like Prasad,

you have to eat them.

So I really ate all of it.

And it was-- my stomach was probably also hurting.

So he smiled.

I told him that's too much for me.

So he just smiled and said, go out to the hall

and do some [INAUDIBLE],, and everything will be fine.

And I did it.

And believe me, actually, it helped.

It really helped me digest all those jalebis.

So in him I found this father figure-- very caring,

very generous, very, very warm--

full of love, full of affection.

So I was amazed to see how this man could be at the same

time a guru, a yogi, a [INAUDIBLE],,

a father for his children, a grandfather for his

grandchildren, a teacher for his students,

and an amazing friend.

He was my very good friend.

He was my guru.

He was my everything.

He was for me like father.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

She's like my daughter, so you have to look after her.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

You felt such a deep connection with him.

It was surprising how many people

said this over and over again.

I don't know anybody else who connects with people like that.

I've never met anyone who has that ability.

Because one of hi main quality is that he was not

at all selfish.

Not at all.

What's not to like about him?

I really don't understand.

He focused things very easily.

The moment you fight with him, the next moment he just

forgets.

We had a heated argument, myself and Guruji,

regarding our trust activities only.

I was travelling from Bellur and he called me over phone.

I was in the car only.

We both had a heated argument over the phone.

And in the family, everybody was [INAUDIBLE] Pone

what will happen?

[INAUDIBLE] argue over phone itself.

Then after five minutes, he had called me

again laughing and enjoying.

I have not seen anybody like that.

My ego comes into my way.

I tell you, you fought with me, right?

So let me be angry for some time,

and I'm not going to talk to you for some time.

Let me be.

It's not-- it's never the same with him.

Even in his most angry moments,

he would waggle his eyebrows a little bit at you,

and there would be that twinkle in his eye,

even while he was reprimanding.

It can happen even when he's calling you in a class,

or it can happen when he's pulling your leg.

But, he used to have a twinkle on the side of his glance.

And he was just--

and used to smile a certain way.

He saw one of his students, Dr. [INAUDIBLE],,

sort of walk into the hallway.

Then he said, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]..

That means, I'm going to have some fun.

So now, [INAUDIBLE] is a student of Guruji.

And he take everything that Guruji says seriously.

So Guruji called him and says, oh,

do you know that you are leaning on one side?

So whether he was leaning or not,

he thought that if Guruji's saying something,

then it must be true.

So he says, yes sir.

So he says, OK, you know why?

He says, no sir, expecting Guruji to tell him

how he was-- his weight was going

on to one side or something like that.

And then he says, see when you were shaving,

you have cut your mustache at one end.

It is cut more than the other, and that's why you are leaning.

I can guarantee you that his sense of humor was

unbelievable.

His zest for life, living life to the fullest,

was unbelievable and you can see some good photographers

have captured that--

the sheer openness.

He's just in the moment laughing.

Guruji's laugh was beautiful.

It was like a child.

He would love wholeheartedly.

No doubt.

He used to crack jokes, play pranks.

And those jokes were cutting.

They were timely, they're apt.

[INAUDIBLE] was taking a class,

and what we did was we had like a prank planned, essentially.

So in the beginning of the class, there were--

prayers were there, looking on.

All the prayers-- probably, we're saying the prayers.

And while he was doing that, one of us

just went and kept a water balloon behind him.

And we thought he'd get up and he'd get all wet,

and it'd be a lot of fun.

For some reason, that was a very funny thing at the time.

And he didn't.

He just didn't move far enough or whatever.

The balloon was in its place.

And we hadn't notice Guruji had just entered the class

and he had seen this.

We had no idea.

We were sitting in the class.

We were saying our prayers.

And he saw that the prank hadn't worked,

so he walked all the way to Pandu.

He said, hey, Pandu, what is this?

And he pushed him back.

And that was hilarious.

And I remembered Guruji on his veranda,

on his own little terrace.

And it was [INAUDIBLE].

And he was waiting for the kids to come out of the class.

So the kids come out of the class,

and Guruji threw the water and drenched them.

And the shrieks and laughter.

And Guruji was laughing, like real laughter.

So that was one of the first kind of interaction,

seeing him with kids.

He could gel with people of any age.

So with my baby, or with any baby, he would play with them,

bring a smile on their faces, or make them--

even when the baby couldn't speak, the baby would respond.

In his hands [INAUDIBLE].

Yeah.

He held you as a wee baby.

And he just picked [INAUDIBLE] up.

And his hands were so sure and so steady.

And he looked into the small baby's face,

and he just said, yes sir, you have seen many lifetimes.

And which one are you in now?

When I look back at photographs of Guruji with

my daughter, it does something to me.

I don't know.

I can't pick think of a word to say what.

So I still remember the day that I walked home

with the baby in my hand from the hospital.

And Guruji was sitting, and he was the first person

I handed out the baby to.

And Guruji fondling the baby, still I vividly remember that.

So after she grew up a little bit,

my father would bring her every day

to the institute, where Guruji was either in the class

or in the practice.

So Guruji would very playfully would love, cajole her, or put

her on some prop and make her slide down the prop.

As my children grew up, I think they grew up to think

they had three grandfathers--

two were their biological grandfathers,

and the other was Guruji, who they would look forward

to coming and meeting on occasions.

And you know, he would be kind of fooling around with them,

chuckling away, asking them little questions.

So they were very happy to interact with him,

and they didn't think that he was a big man, or even

a grown man.

I remember times when my children would put their--

my son, he would put his arms around his neck and swing

on his back.

I remember, I have memories of playing with him outside

in the courtyard of the Institute.

And we'd be jumping on him, and he'd play with us.

And I remember him smiling and laughing.

Guruji, as far as I remember, was the most lovable older man

that we knew.

When I was 11 and I had joined the institute

in the children's class, which my mom, Kathy,

was taking and teaching with [INAUDIBLE]..

So this was essentially the first children's class that

they had in Pune.

And Guruji would come into our classes on a Sunday

morning.

I think he enjoyed being in the children's classes.

We didn't recognize him to be our guru at the time.

He was just someone who was fun, who would come into our class

and bounce us about.

We used to often be bribed with five star chocolates

to do certain asanas.

And he said, you think you're a five star, huh?

You think you're a five star.

And he gave me this chocolate.

So I think we had a very relaxed relationship with Guruji

in those days.

It was so much fun.

Different, because Guruji was different with the kids.

And there was a lot of laughter and nonsense.

And also, Guruji knew that if you--

children, there's a different mindset.

You can't [INAUDIBLE] to stay in a pose for 10 minutes.

They're just going to get bored.

So he devised a new set of--

and a new way of teaching.

It was more dynamic, more active,

to keep kids like us more interested and not get bored.

We had other teachers taking the classes,

but when Guruji used to come, it was always a special day.

And often, when he used to come, he didn't really

announce his coming.

He'd sort of sneakily come in the back, hiding.

And slowly, some boy would see that Guruji is in the class,

in the hall.

And slowly, the whisper used to go around.

Guruji's here.

Guruji's here.

And suddenly, everybody's poses are 100 times better,

because they all know that he is there.

Oftentimes, even if somebody else was taking it,

if Pandu was taking it, he would just come in, halfway through

the class, and be standing in the corner.

And as soon as he entered the class, all of us

knew that, OK, now this was going to be fun.

As soon as he would take over-- immediately,

he would take over.

He would let Pandu or whoever teach,

and he would say, hey, that's not the way to teach.

That's not the way to do it.

Come, I'll show you.

And then onwards, it was tremendous fun.

Very, very-- he would be two steps ahead of us.

He would ask-- he would do things.

He would say names of asanas, or he would do it,

and we had to follow.

And it was extremely fast and a lot of fun.

We would always enjoy these classes.

I give full credit to Guruji for highlighting that fact,

that teaching is almost--

it's a science, and one needs to have many tools, many methods,

to be able to communicate with people who are all different.

The thing that Guruji always taught us is not to teach

anything that you don't understand.

And so, one of the things that he gave us, as well as practice

for just our life, is practice for our teaching.

When I was not really a teacher,

my teacher in San Diego had asked me to substitute classes

for another teacher who was pregnant and not feeling well

at that time.

So I had taught two classes, maybe.

And it was at this time that Guruji

was in San Diego after a convention.

And he came to our center.

And it was so funny, because he asked all of the teachers

to teach in front of him.

And if you have any memory of teaching in front of Guruji,

sometimes you could get four or five words out

before he'd stop you and make a correction.

So he went through all the teachers in San Diego.

And he put his hands on his hips,

and he turned to my teacher and said,

don't you have anybody else?

And my teacher turned to me and said, well, there's Mary.

So Guruji said, teach.

Teach something.

So I taught [INAUDIBLE] asana.

And the students, they weren't putting their heels

down on their back leg.

I'm saying, put your heel down.

Press your heel down.

Stamp your heel down.

And inside my head, I was saying, please, please, please

put your heel down, because Guruji is watching me.

And Guruji interrupted and said, do you

want me to tell you how to tell them?

I said, yes sir.

Thank god.

And he turned around very quickly,

and he said, unlatch your heel to the floor.

There was a thud in the room as 50 heels went down

to the floor.

And he turned to me and he said, [INAUDIBLE]..

When Patricia Walden and I went to Pune to ask Guruji what

we're going to do when he is no more, he said,

when you practice, practice with honesty and integrity.

And when you're teaching, observe your students.

The way I teach, what I teach,

how I teach is directly influenced by Guruji.

Guruji really gave us a way of communicating the subject

to other people.

He had such a profound effect on our senior teachers,

who since the early '70s trained with him.

He was not able to come to South Africa because

of political reasons, but they went

to Mauritius to train with him, to Swaziland to train with him.

And they had such a close relationship with him.

To watch him teach from country to country,

which I was lucky enough to do several times.

He would even change his very mode or perspective

to reach the audience that was in front of him.

Not so much to draw them to him, because he was belief,

I honestly think, was not in his own abilities,

but in his belief in the subject which

he had given his life over to.

Even if you don't know about Iyengar Yoga,

you're doing Iyengar Yoga, because it has spread around

the world everywhere.

And no matter where I go and who teaches,

I find that the Iyengar method is so rooted in tradition

and discipline that instructions remain constant and simple

and precise.

I remember a time we're in a sort tiny little--

a small town in North Carolina, in the deep south in America.

And I happened to know a Iyengar studio--

a studio with one of the teachers in Iyengar's class,

and I went to it.

And it was the same thing.

You know, same thing you do in Pune, same thing you

do in London, same thing you do in Cambridge.

It's everywhere.

It's like, in England when I go, it's in America.

I know studios that I can just walk in,

and it feels like home.

We are worldwide.

We are renowned for the healing capacity of Iyengar Yoga.

So even in Germany, where I am from,

there are two big university hospitals.

They just do research work on yoga.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Six years ago, I was able to open my own Iyengar Yoga center

in San Marcos, the community where I live.

I opened the Iyengar Yoga institutes of Birmingham

in 2002.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

In 1988, the Japanese Iyengar Yoga Association was found with

only seven members.

Now, there are about 120 Iyengar Yoga teachers in Japan.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Our studio was dedicated to Iyengar Yoga.

And we started building up quite a few student base.

And that little studio became a hub

of Iyengar Yoga [INAUDIBLE].

The yoga community in Glasgow is growing all the time.

So we now have some new teachers.

We now have a far bigger pool of people

who are studding all the time there.

I don't know that Guruji intended to unite the world

in that way when she started practicing as a young boy.

But when you practice Iyengar Yoga,

you never feel lonely or lost, because you know that wherever

you go, there is a Iyengar Yoga teacher and other

practitioners.

And you meet people who share the same values

and have the same views.

I feel Guruji's art has brought people together,

not only in Birmingham, but all over the world.

And sometimes Guruji calls us my children in the field

of yoga.

So I know I have beautiful sisters and brothers

all around the world.

Everyone is like a branch and flower and leaves from all over

the world to spread Iyengar Yoga knowledge all over the world.

And another joy has been to be part of that community,

to be part of these like minded people--

what we share in common.

And the complete sense of devastation and loss

that community felt when Mr. Iyengar died, when Guruji died,

was just so overwhelming.

It was almost curious that somebody who lived so far away

could have that influence in people.

And everyone felt entirely bereft.

He has helped millions of people,

and people who have different lives.

He was open to expand and pass his knowledge

to everybody.

He didn't make difference at all who you were.

He love everybody.

He never had any discrimination about anybody's

social background, economic background.

And then he said, I welcome every student of yoga.

And I feel that every person needs

to make a beginning somewhere.

Guruji's yoga has taught me how to be--

how to sit, how just stand, how to walk,

how to run, how to eat, how to sleep, how to observe,

and how to absorb.

It satisfies me creatively-- the joy of exploring,

and learning new things, and trying new things.

And the reason I can continue to be a photographer,

carry those heavy backpacks, and movement is because I do

Iyengar Yoga.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

It was due to Guruji that I was able to walk.

It was to due to Guruji that I was

able to put off having back surgery for over 40 years.

I'm a different person.

I got new legs.

I got new spine.

Through doing this forward bending, headband wrapping,

slow Iyengar Yoga rehabilitation process,

we've managed to bring these headaches under control within

the first two months of my two brain surgeries.

Today, Iyengar Yoga has become indispensable for me.

With my medical limitations, I have learned to live happily.

This was a type of yoga that I would be able to do

into my golden years.

And since my golden years are right around the corner,

and here I am, still doing Iyengar Yoga.

At the ripe age of 60, I am doing Sirsasana and--

I don't know-- six minutes every day for a long time.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

And if I stick to what he has taught and what he's developed,

I will find my way.

So whatever I am today, or whatever I am doing,

it's only and only because of Guruji.

So about his legacy, is what one is that is his legacy.

What he has made us, that is his legacy.

And that is what we are carrying with us.

And he said, as long as mine students can give

their students a taste of the sensitivity alertness that

I'm giving you all--

as long as that's there, this will live on.

29 years later, I'm grandmother,

and I'm still practicing and learning from the teachings

of this extraordinary man.

His legacy lives on through the generations of my family.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

So he has left behind us a boon for humanity with all his

research and application in the field of yoga to heal the human

body and mind.

So I think it is up to us to use it now.

We also have the responsibility to keep

on spreading his teaching and the values he wanted

to promote.

And to help other people to understand how important it is

to make the proper asanas with guidance, with understanding,

with alignment.

His fantastic success lies now for us as a foundation

to build upon further.

So we must pass on to the next generation for them

to continue Guruji's legacy.

And that's why we continue to teach.

That's why we want to give.

We want to help people the way he helped, the way he taught.

Because this is what we're supposed to do--

to continue, to let go, show.

Plant the seed so that everybody can

see that Guruji is not dead.

Guruji is only, as he said--

I'm only going to change my clothes.

I am not going anywhere.

I'm only going to change my clothes.

Every aspect of my life is linked with him--

whether I sleep, whether I eat, whether I practice yoga.

Everywhere, Guruji is with me.

So I am lucky.

I was very lucky to have been in and around him--

not just in the institute during the classes or during practice,

but also at home, because each-- now that he's no longer there,

each memory that I have of him is a valuable thing for me now.

Guruji is never far from us.

He's certainly never far from me.

He's always there on my mat.

And those lessons and the tools that he gave

continue to evolve.

And for that, I'm eternally grateful.

And he really tuned in and made us understand that his

method wasn't his method--

that he was teaching yoga, and that we

were calling it Iyengar Yoga.

And that it was something greater than him.

And then what he taught us is something so much

greater than all of us.

We can practice, and go on in our life,

and follow the path so that maybe one day his sentence,

may my end be your beginning, may be true.

I always thought of Guruji's teaching as rainfall.

It was a downpour, and whoever was lucky enough

to be in that field, received that.

So he never chose, or he never selected,

that he would teach this person and not that person.

So whoever was there just received it.

So it is the--

the onus is upon each one of us who

was received that rainfall to keep it alive

and to pass it on as [INAUDIBLE]..

If you are practicing yoga, do not get carried away,

but continue.

The light will come on its own.

The fruit will fall to the ground when it is ripe.

Is it not?

We are practicing yoga.

So as we practicing, the fruit has

to come when the body and the mind is right for it to fall.

Then that is known as self-realisation.

Because you have to tend to the tree.

You have to look up to the tree for the fruit to come.

So also, you have to look after the body and the mind, which

are the tree of the soul, which are the branches of the soul.

So they have to be looked after so

that the essence may come out and you

drink the essence of the soul.

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