Andhra IIIT students turn yoga teachers for their alma mater

Andhra IIIT student who teaches yoga at her alma mater says, 'I felt yoga could help young girls like me back home hence I began taking classes for the school students in my village'
Students performing yoga on the campus of Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT-IIIT) in Nuzvid. (Photo | P Ravindra Babu, EPS)
Students performing yoga on the campus of Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT-IIIT) in Nuzvid. (Photo | P Ravindra Babu, EPS)

VIJAYAWADA: There is something about her that makes her stand out among the hundreds of students at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT-IIIT) in Nuzvid.

Athletic, assured and brimming with confidence, 18-year-old Suhasini Challa is a guru too... at her alma mater, the Zilla Parishad High School at Lingalapadu village in Srikakulam district.

Her subject: yoga. She has thus far trained at least 200 girl students.

Daughter of Shankuma Rao, a farm hand, and Aadi Lakshmi, a housewife, Suhasini made it to the IIIT following an outstanding score in SSC.

“I used to think yoga means just a set of asanas. But after coming to the campus, and watching the students perform rhythmic yoga, I was impressed. I desperately wanted to learn it and immediately began practising at the Yoga Shala,” she recalls with the earnestness of a fresher at college. She joined in PUC at the IIIT three years ago.

Now into her second year in engineering (ECE), Suhasini practises yoga for 3-4 hours a day. “It has helped me gain confidence, be fit and focused,” she explains.

But she wasn’t satisfied with her personal development. “I felt yoga could help young girls like me back home. That was the reason why I contacted my alma mater and with their approval, began taking classes for the school students in my village.” She teaches at her school during holidays when she goes home. She has been doing so for the last two years. “It makes me happy when the girls come to me after the class and ask for more,” Suhasini says. The girl not surprisingly wants to be a public servant, not a hot shot engineer. 

Suhasini is not alone as far as the passion for yoga is concerned at the IIIT. 17-year-old Devarapalli Durga Praveen is just as passionate. The boy from Anaparthi in East Godavari district is a yoga guru too. The first-year engineering student (ECE) has been teaching students at his alma mater, the SR Zilla Parishad High School, and the BC Welfare Hostel in Anaparthi, since 2018 and has since trained over 1,200 students. 

“My parents were very strict and never used to send me out even to play! The only time they used to send me, was to get flowers for pooja every morning for about half-an-hour. I used to pluck flowers for 15 minutes and do yoga the remaining time,” he reminisces.

He credits his yoga guru M Achyutha Reddy for training him behind his parents’ back for two years. Praveen’s father D Nookaraju, a clerk at a poultry farm, and mother Kamala Devi, a part-time tailor, are only too happy now to see him in the role of a teacher.

What attracted him to yoga though? Praveen points at Surya Namaskar which he says makes him feel fit, confident and at peace.

After getting into IIIT, his love for yoga took a new turn, once again thanks to the rhythmic yoga. Praveen too practises for about four hours a day and along with Suhasini has participated in various national championships. “I was so surprised after watching my seniors perform rhythmic yoga, which is almost like magic! I decided to learn it and started to attend yoga classes every day,” he recalls.

He decided to teach at his alma mater to help students like him back home. “I always wanted to do something for the students of my school and hostel where I studied. One day, I approached the headmaster at SR ZP High School and sought his permission to teach yoga to the students. He readily agreed. 

Similarly, I approached the BC Welfare Hostel where I studied my class X. I conduct classes for about 10 days during Dasara and Pongal holidays. There were days when I mentored 700 students at one go!” he says, adding that it’s his dream to make Anaparthi village, a destination for yoga.  

The Nuzvid campus has been offering yoga classes to all interested students from 2014. D Suryachandra Rao, Director of Nuzvid IIIT, said, “From this academic year, we want to make yoga mandatory. We are also introducing certificate courses for students who want to make yoga as their career option.”

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