Saturday, February 28, 2009

Celebrating Yoga in Kuala Lampur


I had the good fortune to visit one of the Maanasa Yoga centers while I was in Malaysia. This is one of the most famous yoga institutes in Malaysia and is run by Manoj Kaimal and his wife Sandhya. Manoj picked up yoga from his grandfather at a very young age and went on to train under BKS Iyengar. He went to Malaysia as a Project Manager. Incidentally Manoj has also represented India for Taikwondo and is a Karate black belt. Still he initially decided to tread the conventional path and cleared the ICWA exam and went to Malaysia as a Project manager. But after awhile he realized that his true calling was yoga and the rest is history. Many famous people including royalty train under him. I was lucky to watch the master at work in one of his studios in Kuala Lampur. I could make out the respect he commands when I spoke to one of his students. He has also brought out a book called the Celebration of Asanas. Manoj is blessed with the perfect partner - Sandhya. Sandhya is a very dynamic person and is a former debating champion. She is a well known Odissi dancer associated with the Temple of Fine arts in KL. You can contact Manoj at mkaimal@gmail.com.
Update: Manoj wrote to me saying that he is not a belt holder of Taikwondo. So rectifying that.

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