IN CONVERSATION - T.K.V. DESIKACHAR

T.K.V. Desikachar was a prominent Indian yoga teacher. Renowned for his emphasis on personalized and therapeutic approaches to yoga, he founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Desikachar played a pivotal role in advancing modern yoga and its global recognition.
Rajiv Mehrotra has been a pioneering Television anchor & reporter in India. Over several decades from the early1970s into the 2000’s, he was host to various programmes on India’s public service television channel - Doordarshan. This included a series of in-depth Conversations in many avatars that featured the best Indian minds and several global personalities. It was the most watched programme of its genre. Many of them are now available online.
His documentary films won more than three hundred global awards, including thirty-three since 1986 from five Indian Presidents. His books have been published globally in 50+ languages and editions. He was elected a Judge of the Templeton Prize for Scientific & Spiritual Curiosity and a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum at Davos. Rajiv was educated at the Universities of Delhi, Oxford & Columbia.
Today Rajiv serves as the Secretary & Trustee of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH The Dalai Lama, established with the Nobel Peace Prize. He has been a student of His Holiness for more than forty years.

[@Aurawellnesscenter]

Sincere thanks to Rajiv Mehrotra for this interview with T.K.V. Desikachar. This man is honest and a great representation of a true Yoga Guru. Yet, he does not need any titles for all he has given to this world.

[@GuillemCasan]

Thank you Rajiv Mehrotra for your interview and thank you TKV Desikachar for your teaching.
I liked this interview a lot. These are some picks from it:
GURU AND MONEY
1. "The word guru has become a doubtful expression. Why is that? Because everybody calls [himself] a guru. If you have the word guru, it will be good for business"
MASS YOGA VERSUS PERSONALiZED YOGA
2. "There are two tracks: one is information, the other is transformation. With information, we can communicate with thousands of people." "When it comes to transformation there is a need to one to one contact"
3. "For transformation to happen, there should be an intimate relation between the aspirant [student] and the provider [teacher]"
4. The way he devpelops the idea of personal yoga against mass yoga: "There are thousands of people with different backgrounds, different ages, different structures, and they're taught the same thing."
THE AIM OF YOGA
5. Yoga is not just asanas or postures According to Patanjali's definition of yoga, "Body is like an instrument, but the focus must be... we must discipline the mind. We must have a quiet mind, so that any tools that help us quiet the mind, any tools that help reduce the agitated mind, must be tried. Unfortunately, today, yoga has been confused to posture."
TEACHER AND STUDENT
6. The first step in the practice of yoga: the student must like the teacher. "Yoga is relationship. Without relatonship, transformation cannot happen." "The teacher should like the students. The teacher should not abuse the student." "I always treat them as my friends, I never say he's my student" "Good relationship is more effective than right technology"
CHANTING
7. "Any chanting, not just Hindu chanting, has such an effect"
8. "Chanting gives [inner] silence." and from there arises clarity.
9. "In the beginning, we have to chant loudly. Then, when you have chanted properly loudly, you chant softly" "Then, chant mentally".
10. "Chanting should not be done like a parrot chanting. We have to have a feeling of what is the chanting. When we chant, we should understand what it means." "We should chant with a feeling of what we are chanting about. It shouldn't be a mechanical chanting."
A SECULAR CHANT
11. "Lead us from ignorance to correct perception.
Lead us from darkness to light.
Lead us from fear to total confidence"

[@acidcrashguy]

Great interview - great man. Thank you for being a great guru for India, Sir ! May you merge with eternal consciousness from today.