ART DIRECTION: ANUJA BAGADE, PHOTO COURTESY: JAL YOGAMY STORY, MY CALLING
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I vaguely remember the beautiful
pastures and my grandfather riding
his horse through the thick green
grass and disappearing into the
sunset while chasing a pack of blue
bulls that had been damaging the
crops. I was only three when my
father’s job made us move to the
city of Gurgaon, near New Delhi.Six years later, it was the summer
of 1996, I was almost nine, and
a typical city boy piling dreams
over dreams, life was wonderful.
But my grandfather passed away
that summer from a terminal
illness. Let’s just say he was the
strongest man I knew. For all of us
children, he embodied all things
superman, although he was known
as Berryman. Every year, he had
the habit of camping out in the
farmlands so that he could collect
enough berries for us. He did this
right to the end of his days. I can just
imagine his predicament—he made
sure that none of his children knew
of his ailment and continued to carry
the 30-pound berry sack and catch
the early morning bus to Gurgaon.
All this knowing that these were the
last memories that he would get
to create. He didn’t wish for things,
he didn’t wish to travel to see the
world—he simply wanted to give
love.PARDEEP FOGAT,
Founder of Jal Yoga
“Action is movement with intelligence,
the world is filled with movement,
what the world needs is more
conscious movement, more action,”
said B.K.S. Iyengar.78
june / july 2018yogajournal.com.sg