In what could be termed a fitting 90th birthday gift, the newly constituted Indian Yoga Association (IYA) has appointed the Pune based Yoga Guru BKS Iyengar as its first President.

The association which has fifteen of the nation's top yoga centres with their `each with its own in house of identity' would strive to bring in uniformity in their presentation". The first general body meeting of IYA chaired by BKS Iyengar will be held in Mumbai on January 5, 2009.

Yogacharya Iyengar who will complete 90 years of age on December 14 said: "I am indeed honoured to take up this prestigious position and will work hard in bringing the different schools of yoga in India together. Only in unity, can we have the strength to take yoga forward."

On the eve of his momentous birthday, the yoga guru was also categorical that yoga should be made compulsory in all our schools and colleges. "I had begun teaching yoga to school and college students in Pune in 1937. Had only the management of the school realized the importance of yoga, we would have had teachers in yoga spread all over the country by now".

According to the yoga guru, regular practice of yoga can prevent illnesses. "In a poor country like ours, our people are being forced to spend too much money on medication. If the knowledge of yoga is spread across our nation, people can save money on medicine and use it buy food instead," says the guru.

Citing the example of the United Kingdom, the yogacharya stated how the Government of Britain, understood the benefits of yoga way back in 1970 and made it a compulsory subject in British schools. "Yoga is not tried to any religionand if properly taught it can lead to development the culture of body, mind and intellect", yogacharya Iyengar affirmed.

Recalling his early days as a teacher in Pune, yogacharya says, "It was very difficult to popularize yoga in the late 1930s in Pune. People felt that yoga was meant only for small groups. I had to convince them that yoga was for all people. When I started my own classes, the first students sent to me were older citizens with medical problems. For the first 15 years, majority of my students were senior citizens. This is how the word spread."

Undoubtedly, the Deccan Gymkhana sports club has a special place in the yogacharya's heart. As the yogacharya conducted classes in a hall inside the club, it was natural for cricketers of that era to drop in for a session for two.

Those attending the yogacharya's class were famous names like Dr D B Deodhar, arguably the most famous cricketer Pune has produced, former India captain C K Nayadu among others. Says Guru Iyengar, "Dr Deodhar was perhaps my first cricketer-student. After I taught him specific asanas, Deodhar, went on to score several big hundreds."

However, world famous violinist, the late Yehudi Menuhin was arguably the yogacharya's most high profile student ever. The two met in the year 1952 in a Mumbai hotel and after the yogacharya gave a few lessons to Menuhin, which managed to free his violin playing arm considerably, the violinist was the yogacharya's student for life. Menuhin even made the famous statement, "Iyengar is my best violin teacher!"

It was Menuhin, who first invited Guru Iyengar to London and Western Europe and became instrumental in introducing Iyengar to the western world. "In the early days in London, several of my students openly drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes in my presence after class. However after a period of time, as their yoga practice increased, many of them gave up the habit," recalls Iyengar, adding " They were amazed by my frugal life style as a pure vegetarian, living on bread, coffee and cheese".

Today, Iyengar yoga, has spread across the length and breadth of the world. The popular book: 'The Light on Yoga' penned by the yogacharya, has been published in 18 foreign languages. There are Iyengar yoga associations in the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Spain, Russia and China and several countries of the world.

His third most popular autobiographical book `Life On Yoga" is being processed to be published in Chinese language". Just how popular the yogacharya has become can be gauged from the fact that a Chinese magazine recently featured the yoga guru on its cover to commemorate his 90th birthday, while the Australian Iyengar Yoga association has asked all members to perform 90 minutes of yoga on December 14 to commemorate the Guru's birthday!

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