First Conference and Drop Back with Pattabi Jois

We had our first conference yesterday with Guruji. The conference is scheduled on Sundays at 4:30pm. The first one was canceled since he went out of town. The second one last Sunday was canceled because of the distribution of "i.d." cards. So, yesterday was the first one for the year.

We marched to the Shala at 4pm and it was already PACKED. The shala was noisy with everyone talking. But as soon as Guruji entered, it instantly quieted down.

Someone said that this is the first time he saw Guruji so talkative. It brought him back to the 1980s where Guruji was in a lecture mode. Just imagine Guruji non-stop talking for one hour! He kept quoting from Pantajali, Pradipika, etc. and laughing too.

Norwegian yoga instructor Alex Medin (teaches at Pure Yoga HKG) opened the conference by asking if one can achieve yama and niyamas thru asanas. Guruji said "only asana when we practice asanas". Sharath would butt in also. Note that his sister, who teaches in Bangalore, was also onstage about 3 feet away from Sharath.

After the conference, we saw Guruji in his office and asked his permission to take his photo. He said that he'll just run upstairs and be back in 10-mins. Mita (from Los Angeles) doubted that he'd come back since he locked the room and turned off the lights in his office. Liana said that he'll be back but since he's 92, not sure if he'll remember. So, we asked Alex and he said that Guruji practices Satya. And lo and behold, we saw him coming down the stairs and posed for us.

Well, today, he was the one who did my drop back. All of them - Manju, Saraswati, Guruji - have different styles. It was disaster for me because all I could hear was "wat wat wat" which meant "walk". I figured it out after. His energy was something else. I had to HUG him after and non stop thanking him.