I am sure there are a lot of people who would be
writing their own dedications to this great teacher.
I also have to add mine; all these and more are due to him. He had mastered the art and science of
teaching. This is the essence I get from
all that his direct students say. Sri.
T.K.V Desikachar, son of Shri. Krishnamacarya, and teacher to many of my
seniors and teachers, passed away in the wee hours of the morning today. I have never met him or learnt from him. But he looms large in my world and learning
just because of the impact he has made on my teachers. None of them ever fail to mention him or his
teaching regularly. All my teachers and
colleagues who studied with him or learnt from him, attribute much to him. They have one story or the other that they
just have to relate. And I have never
heard of students talking of another teacher with so much reverence, and so much love, at the same time. I have always wondered what it was in him
that made him so dear to all his students.
My first introduction to him was through my
teacher, Smt. Lakshmi Ranganathan, when she spoke of him with such regard and
gave me the book he had written, “The Heart of Yoga”. The book touched me and inspired in me such a
fire to study more. It was such a simple
book, and yet so comprehensive and thorough as Introductions go. ‘Much like the teacher himself’, Smt. Jyotsna
Narayan, another of his students, and my teacher, would say. As I wrote this, I realised that each of his
students imbibed so much of all that they describe of him.
The teacher who introduced me to asana and
pranayama and yoga and laid the unshakeable foundation, Smt. Lakshmi Ranganathan, who holds his knowledge, dignity and
thoroughness with work in great love and esteem is filled with all of that
herself. The teacher who introduced and
sowed in me a such a love of chanting, and stories, Smt, Jyotsna Narayan, talks
much more of his loving nature and his storytelling ability than anything
else. You just have got to spend half an
hour with her to be bathed in her loving warmth and her stories. For another one of my mentors and colleague, Saraswathy
Vasudevan, it is his devotion and commitment to teaching itself that is
moving. Anyone who has even a passing association
with YogaVahini will tell you that Saras is first and last, an inspiring
teacher, holding such a passion for teaching and empowering students and
lives. Typical of her, her response this
morning in the Sangha’s whatsapp group when asked whether there would be group
classes today (owing to Sir’s demise), was “All classes are on, he taught us to
teach.” I am certain that each student
of his would carry something of him.
This seems to have been a teacher who held
numerous roles and angles and all of them with ease and love. Each one had a perspective of him, which they
have taken and become seasoned with it.
I cannot but wonder what strength and depth such a teacher would have
come from. I do and yet cannot regret that I never
got to meet with him, because he seems to have left behind so many
manifestations of himself whom I have the opportunities to study with.
In conclusion, I am going to quote here some words
of Smt. Jyotsna Narayan from a talk she gave about her beloved ‘Vaathiyaar’:
“… the
idea of a shrethrika, farmer. But he
would constantly say, if we plant a seed, then we have to water it, we have to
clear things around it, and if it is a mango seed, then you need some water,
then unseasonal rains, and if there is frost, then? And if there is rain in Feb, then there would
be no mangoes in May. Then the goats may
come and eat away… and I will be listening to this whole story… then it becomes
a big tree, but the fruit is not for you.
It is for everybody. To me that
is the greatest teacher. He would ask,
how much can a farmer eat anyway?? What
do you want from your student, beyond this?
You have sown the seed, you have taken care, and that’s all. Also, a mango seed can only become a mango
tree, not an apple tree. So nurture them
in their own nature, don’t try to change people was something also that I
learnt from him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment