DNA : chesta wadhwani on a ninety-year-old yoga teacher from andheri who lives to heal : Nov 16,2007
defying the odds of age…
chesta wadhwani on a ninety-year-old yoga teacher from andheri who lives to heal
for nearly five years, srikishna upadhye has been teaching yoga to a number of people every sunday at the shiv temple in andheri. this ninety-year-old social worker from lokhandwala has spent fifty years curing ailments for free. his students include the police force and officials from the mantralaya. upadhye’s frequent health camps are only for those who want to follow the divine path of yoga and lead a healthy and a happy life.
man on a mission”the first step towards learning swastha yoga is to know what you are suffering from, and then to find out the reasons for the occurrence of the particular disease, and the last step is to recover in a slow and steady way,” says upadhye, who in his early years fought for india’s freedom. the man firmly believes in self control and discipline.
despite his old age, he does not suffer from any disease, and can walk and run without the help of any walking stick. his method to heal people is pro-biotic, which moves in sync with the body’s rhythm.
“unlike the ant-biotic method, my treatment is natural and follows five points of the sharir dharm, which are the time table of the body, necessities of the body, the important requirements of the body, the immunity level, and finally the fulfillments of the requirements of the body,” elaborates upadhye.
people with different health problems like backache, diabetes, blood pressure, constipation and others approach him for a speedy recovery.
upadhye has a very erratic schedule, and is out practicing or teaching asanas to middle aged or older people for the better part of the day. when at home, he either rests, browses newspapers, or spends time with his teenaged grandson. a retired jeweller, upadhye at the age of eighty five had worked manually with the adivasis of a village at nashik to help them construct a water tank at chandikapur.
‘i will retire at 100’“age doesn’t matter, i believe in teaching people how to hit a century in the game of life,” says the happy looking old man, who once captained the district cricket team and was very famous for his bowling tricks.
a freedom fighter, a devoted social worker, a yoga teacher, a cricket enthusiast and above all a warm and generous man, srikrishna upadhye has treated innumerable patients since decades, and wants to continue his good deeds till he turns 100.
ask him when he plans to retire, he immediately retorts, “yoga brings me peace. i will heal people through this natural and magical way, till i turn 100.”
w_chesta@dnaindia.net
w_chesta@dnaindia.net