Aarthi VK sat in position to practise the balasana, or the child’s pose. As she bent forward on the mat, a two-month-old Indie pup jumped onto her back. Before she could realise what was happening, Aarthi was slobbered by countless kisses and licks all over her face. Soon she was practising savasana or the corpse pose with her new friend—a white and tan pup—relaxing on her stomach. Welcome to Pawga, yoga with ‘paw’some friends.
Subhashree Madhavan, Swathi Renugopal and Sinduja Krishnakumar—three friends from Chennai—came together to start Pawga in 2020 in association with Blue Cross of India, which is involved in animal rescue operations. Their idea was to organise beginners’ yoga sessions with pups and sometimes even kittens that would help with their adoption too. The initiative recently organised its first session in Hyderabad from January 27 to 29. Pawga ties up with local shelters and animal NGOs for each session. For instance, the puppies at the Hyderabad session came from the People for Animals.
Her pet obsession dawned on Renugopal while she was travelling in the UK before the pandemic. She came across people practising yoga with goats in Suffolk. It was supposed to minimise stress by touching baby goats. Renugopal contacted her college buddies—Madhavan and Krishnakumar—and discussed doing something similar with puppies in India. The three had, in the course of their work-related travels, volunteered at many shelters. “Animal welfare has been something very close to our hearts,” say the three 28-year-olds.
Since theirs was a western derivative concept, they weren’t sure if Indians were ready to experiment with yoga. But the friends persevered. They realised that through this novel initiative they would be able to get people interested in adopting rescued dogs and Indie pups. “The comfort level and rapport people develop with these pups during the hour-long sessions might translate ultimately into adoption,” hopes Krishnakumar, adding that today Pawga has a community of more than 30,000.
Bengaluru-based Monisha Thakur had always wanted to adopt a dog. One day, while browsing the internet, she stumbled upon an upcoming Pawga session. She and her husband ended up at the centre on the designated date armed with yoga mats. What followed was a session all right—but nothing to do with yoga. “We spent the entire time playing with the puppies and by the time we came home, we had Yoshi, the pup—the new member of our family,” she says.
A weekend-only initiative, the sessions are priced at Rs 1,199 per head. Participants are welcome to come early and stay back after the session to spend time with the pups. A volunteer of Blue Cross India is present to conduct the adoption process. A part of the proceeds goes towards nurturing the four-legged babies till they find a forever home. Each session is led by an instructor, or ‘pawgi’, as they are called. Pawga is now active in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, and is soon to enter Delhi, Pune and Coimbatore. “The initiative has actually seen acceleration in adoptions. Each time we see a pup getting its forever home, we go to bed a little happier,” says Madhavan.