THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When he was five, Suresh Kamal Srinivas, now popular as Master Kamal, had a weak constitution. And that was what prompted his father to introduce him to yoga. His constitution improved, and it was not just yoga that caught his attention. After being trained in karate (Shotokan) and taekwondo, he went to the Himalayas to learn yoga. And at 53, he has a bevy of achievements to his credit, from being arguably the first person to introduce yoga into several Asian countries to being instrumental in crafting a plethora of yoga styles. The ‘metabolic yoga’ being the recent addition, one that involves different breathing mechanisms to awaken the metabolism in the body.
Now yoga is finding acceptance in Muslim countries, but back in the initial days, it was a struggle, he tells you. He grew up in Vishakhapatnam, but he wanted to go abroad and make big. Off he went to Singapore. His initial thought was to teach martial arts but soon learned that there were many teaching martial arts in Singapore. So he decided to teach yoga. “But teaching yoga was banned,” he recalls. “I was one of the physical instructors associated with the Singapore Sports Council. So I coaxed the director of the council to spare some time for me to introduce yoga to him. He invited all the fitness managers to the session.
The yoga system I structured was not just centered around stretching but about gaining strength as well. And after that session, I could dispel their misconceptions about yoga. And that was how it started,” he recalls.
The journey of introducing yoga took him to Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, Korea and Thailand. For the past few years, the master yoga teacher is settled in Thailand. The yogi adds that yoga is extremely popular in Thailand. “Yoga makes you very peaceful, very happier. It helps you heal, breathe and connect to people better. Other aerobics don’t help you with that. It is all physical and having studied other sports, I know,” he says.He feels that yoga is not linked to religion. “It is universal. It helps promote peace,” he says.