On a sun-drenched morning on the banks of the Ganga, yoga instructor Natwar Sikhwal gives instructions to a motley group of foreigners perfecting their stretches, bends and breathing.
Mr. Sikhwal from Rajasthan had travelled for years from place to place in search of a job as a yoga instructor. But he found luck only in this holy town, where he now works for the Rishikesh Yog Peeth, a yoga school close to Lakshman Jhula, the town’s landmark iron suspension bridge over the Ganga.
Mr. Sikhwal is among the many for whom yoga has opened up job or economic opportunities in Rishikesh. Aneeshkrishna Bisht from Chamoli in Uttarakhand has now made this town his second home after he opened a yoga school.
Ditto Sanjeev Bhatt, who worked as a cook in Japan, but returned to his hometown in 2011 to set up a restaurant.
“People who visit Rishikesh to learn yoga also travel around the town, eat at restaurants and buy from stores here,” Mr. Bhatt said.
What the diamond industry is to Surat, yoga is to Rishikesh. With nearly 150 ashrams and yoga schools, the town is widely regarded as the unofficial yoga capital of the world. The charges range from Rs. 500 to 1,000 a day and the courses last a week to six months.
Rishikesh and yoga insinuated themselves into popular culture worldwide when the iconic British band, The Beatles, visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in 1968. The ashram, now in a decrepit state, is better known as the “Beatles ashram”.
After the United Nations declared June 21 International Day of Yoga in December, yoga schools and ashrams here have got a huge leg-up.
“We have got over 15 per cent more bookings for our yoga classes. In fact, we are already full for the year. We can take fresh bookings only next year now,” said Vishal Kukreti, founder member of the Rishikesh Yog Peeth.
For Mr. Sikhwal, the new awareness about yoga has instilled more pride in his profession.
Published - June 21, 2015 02:40 am IST
