Class market: The yogi Bharat show

Internationally-acclaimed Indian spiritual master and founder of Artistic Yoga, Bharat Thakur sure knows how to market yoga and yet remains indifferent to allegations of turning the ancient art form into a money maker.

Not for the masses

“I have been accused of catering to the high-middle and upper classes only. I don’t deny this. And that’s because I firmly believe that yoga is for the classes, not for the masses. Look around you and you’ll find that invariably it’s people from the high-end of society who suffer from obesity and stress, caused mostly by physical inactivity. The common man who slogs it out everyday to make a living ends up burning a lot of calories anyway. He doesn’t need yoga,” said Thakur, whose repertoire of clients include such A-list celebs like Madonna, Boris Becker, Michael Douglas, Shane Warne and many heads of state.

No saint

A heavy smoker himself, Bharat says he doesn’t believe in telling his disciples to shun bad habits like smoking, drinking and gorging on fatty food. “Let’s be practical. In this age, it’s very difficult to live like a saint by abstaining from these things,” he said.

Bharat was in town recently to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Artistic Yoga in Dubai.

Thakur hits out at fellow gurus for propagating yoga as a cult and acting like godmen.

“I am not like one of those drama kings. I am just a human being who has mastered a powerful process. And I charge money for teaching that process. It’s as simple as that.”

But the road to stardom and riches was no simple highway for the man who has been called the Living Himalayan Master by Time magazine.

Bharat, who married Bollywood actress Bhumika Chawla last year, was uneducated and largely ignorant of the ways of the world until he had crossed his teens.

“I was just four when I went to the Himalayas. For the next 14 years I led an ascetic life learning from different gurus and living in difficult terrain and freezing conditions 18,000 feet above sea level,” he recalled.

“When my guru sent me back to the mainland I found myself out of place. That’s when decided to get literate and started learning the English alphabet. I was already 19 at that time.”

Bharat went on to graduate and master Exercise Physiology and Yoga and obtained a Ph.D in Biometrics and Yoga.

But it wasn’t until a chance meeting with Indian corporate whizkid, the late Rusi Mody that Bharat decided to take yoga to a much wider audience.

“Mody taught me how to use marketing as a tool to propagate the art form. Now, Artisitc Yoga is a multi-million dollar industry. I run it like corporate house. From Moscow to Mumbai, I have yoga studios all over the world. There are over 100,000 disciples and the number is constantly growing.”.

So what’s next?

“The Indian cricket team. I am in negotiations with the Board of Cricket Control in India BCCI and if all goes well, I will be teaching yoga to Indian cricketers.”