Dubai: Neither old age nor the early years of youth have stopped the four generations of an Indian family from practising yoga.
The eldest member of the family, 85-year-old K.N. Singh, all the way down to his great-granddaughter, two-year-old Sia, were the guests of honour at a Dubai school on Wednesday.
The event, which took place on the campus of the 6,000-student Indian High School in Oud Mehta, was to mark International Yoga Day, first held two years ago. Called 3G Yoga, the event saw families from members of multiple generations gather for a mass yoga session.
As preparations got under way in the school’s carpeted auditorium, the Singh family described how they had kept up the practice for decades.
“I come from a traditional family, so yoga was a part of life from the beginning,” said the octogenarian Singh.
He said people often asked him how long he had been practising yoga and he said his response always is, “Since my birth.”
His Dubai-based daughter, Pranita Lele, recalled how her now-retired father, a teacher-turned-geologist, would practise yoga every single day.
“It’s a way of life,” said Lele, who works as a supervisor at the school.
“We grew up looking up at him do yoga.”
These days, due to his advancing years, Singh cannot perform many of the more rigorous stretches in some asanas (postures). But that doesn’t stop him from doing the breathing exercises, also an integral aspect of the ancient practice.
Last week, his granddaughter, Pranshuta Ashar, posted on Twitter a picture of all four generations during a yoga session, to mark the International Yoga Day. She soon received what she saw as the ultimate honour when the photo was retweeted by none other than Narendra Modi, Indian’s Prime Minister.
An avid yoga fan himself, Modi in 2014 announced the naming of the International Yoga Day, calling the practice “a valuable gift of India’s ancient tradition”.
“[Yoga] is about overall well-being, both mental and physical, that helps us keep sane in a busy world,” said Ashar. Her daughter, little Sia, was dressed up in a pink tutu, eagerly looking forward to the upcoming yoga session.
Right now, like her great-grandfather, Sia does not do all of the exercises. But in a couple of years, when she turns four, she will begin doing the Surya Namaskar, a posture of yoga which blends stretching and breathing exercises to offer the mind and body great benefits.
In the auditorium of the five-decade-old school, around 100 pupils and their parents lie barefoot on the cream-coloured carpet. They are assuming the Shavasan, or ‘dead body’ position, where one tries to get into a completely relaxed state.
Soft, mellow notes from the loudspeakers permeate the air.
“With a calm and relaxed mind, focus on your heart beat,” the instructor says through a microphone.
School chief executive Ashok Kumar said that yoga has been practised for a decade on the school’s three campuses in Dubai.
This event was arranged by the school, and held under the patronage of the Indian Consulate General in Dubai.
“Yoga is a way to health and wellness,” Kumar told Gulf News.
“The mindfulness of the students, their well-being comes from yoga. It’s breathing, it’s action.”
“We are encouraging younger generation [to do it] so they lead a healthy and intelligent life.”
