| K.B.Madhavan, Dubai |
He is not a yoga guru but a businessman. And unlike many ‘businessmen’, he doesn’t charge any fee for his instruction of yoga for health. And so perhaps, K.B.Madhavan and his Friends of Yoga have found wide acceptance in the Gulf countries.
16 years ago, he started modestly by practicing in the open ground near his house in Dubai. Soon people started joining him and the numbers kept increasing day by day. As the practitioners increased, he was forced to formalize the association by forming Friends of Yoga with a set of rules.
Their first rule is free service. “We don’t take any money. And we don’t spend any money,” he says.
Madhavan, who took to learning yoga on his own and was later guided by his guru K.B.Rai from Delhi says he was apprehensive initially when he went to the open ground near his home to practice. “The Government agencies monitored our activities intensely. These agencies now ensure that we do not have any problem,” he says about the attitude of the Gulf governments about a practice perceived to be rooted in Indian philosophy.
Madhavan, who hails from Mamalassery near Kochi, has been in Dubai for the last 30 years. He was a working partner in a company from 1976 to 1994 and then went on to set up his own trading business.
The Friends of Yoga has slowly spread to 8 countries. And Madhavan is now yoga advisor to many corporates too.
Courtesy:
Shyama Rajagopal, The Hindu, August 13, 2006
Contributed by: Administrator
