SHOULDERSTANDI got interested in yoga when I was probably fif-
teen years old and spending a couple of days vis-
iting my uncle, who was a lawyer and a very good
man. It was early in the morning, when I was
partly sleeping and partly awake, that I saw my
uncle doing yoga. I saw, Oh, it’s my uncle, standing
on his head.
I grew up in Mumbai, which was “Bombay”
then. When I was first trying to learn yoga, I would
go to a kind of exercise school, like a gym, near
my house. In the courtyard, there was a wooden
pole planted in the ground, and we used to try to
hold the pole with two hands and raise up both
of our feet. This was separate from meditation or
anything like that. It was just a physical exercise.
I came to the United States in 1971. By then
I was already done with medical school, and I
was married. Originally I thought I would come
here for a few years and learn some things, but
then somehow one thing happened, and another
thing, and we continued to stay. I practiced
obstetrics and gynecology; our two daughters
were born here, and the Indian population was
increasing in our neighborhood, so we had com-
fortable surroundings.
I use yoga and meditation for peace of mind,
and to relieve the stresses of life. As soon as a
child is born, they get stress—they cry, right?
So stress always comes to us. Yoga positions
and meditation are a very nice way of relaxing.
They keep our blood pressure down and our mind
much more calm.
I used to be able to do the headstand, but
I haven’t done it for a while; I stopped when
I began to get neck pain. I do Shoulderstand
instead, which is a bit less strenuous. But I have
been thinking: I am going to visit India in a few
months, and I might try the headstand again.