The caption of this column may serve as an example for the figure of speech oxymoron, meditation requiring one to be physically stationary and motion to mean movement. Prescribing meditation for achieving tranquil mind under stressful conditions and recommending brisk walk for a healthy heart seem to be gaining ground on an unprecedented scale among people in different sections of society nowadays. Even as the pace of these virtually cashless means for enjoying a state of well-being was picking up, intruder as it were has appeared all over the world in general and India in particular, now familiar to all as yogasana, with Mysuru having emerged as the yoga hub. Legend has it that the erstwhile king of the former Princely State of Mysore regularly practised yogasana under the watchful eyes of Krishnamachar, spiritual guru of the king. The fact that his progeny B.K.S. Iyengar, who was prescribed practice of yogasanas to recover from failing health, promoted the art with unmatched zeal across the world portrays the saga of yoga as a global activity cutting across religious, political, regional, social, ethnic and economic differences that otherwise divide human populations.
Saint Adi Shankara of eighth century and philosopher-social reformer Ramanujacharya of eleventh century whose thoughts and writings have guided their millions of disciples over centuries and have endured to this day are known to have walked in untenanted terrains with no roads to tread and transport to cover distances in different regions of the land.
