By P.V. Anuradha

“Breath is the king of mind.” —BKS Iyengar, Founder of Iyengar Yoga

This inspirational quote has truly inspired Srihari, a resident of J.P. Nagar of our city. The second son of Srikanth and Hemamalini, 27-year-old Hari, as he is known among his friends, was suffering from breathing problems from his childhood. 

Many doctors were consulted who were of the opinion that he should undergo a surgery before the age of 18 failing which he would have severe breathing problems. But owing to financial difficulties and with no help from anyone including family members, Hari’s parents left it to the will of God. 

Hari, a 13-year-old young boy then, would watch his mother Hemamalini practice yoga daily. He then took interest in yoga and started practicing along with his mother. As he started practising yoga, his parents started noticing improvement in his health condition. And slowly, Hari started pursuing yoga with more dedication and determination. He pursued yoga training under the tutelage of Yoga gurus K.R. Naveen Kumar of Kadur, Shivaprakash of Mysuru and Satish Ramachandran of Tamil Nadu.

When he consulted his doctors after few years, surgery was ruled out as his health had improved significantly and his breathing problems had completely disappeared.  As yoga had completely healed him, he started pursuing yoga with more seriousness. 

A BCA graduate, Hari has completed his Diploma in Yoga from Vivekananda Yoga Kendra, Kanyakumari, thanks to a generous financial assistance by a good soul. And from then on, there has been no looking back.

In the recently held 3rd National-level Youth Federation Yoga Championship 2021, supported by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI, at Madgoan, Goa, Hari has won the 1st place and Gold medal. He has now qualified to participate in the upcoming International Yoga Competition to be held in Nepal.

The number of awards are many to his credit. He is currently working as a Yoga instructor at Paramahamsa Yoga Mahavidyalaya in Ramakrishnanagar, Mysuru, for the past 2 years.