 Ghosh's Yoga College - Kolkata  Peary Charan Girls School - Kolkata We recently took the new book Strong Woman Reba Rakshit to places and people connected with Reba's life in North Kolkata. Of course, we brought a copy of the book to Ghosh's College! This is where Reba learned yoga and practiced for much of her career. In 2023, Ghosh's College celebrated 100 years! What an iconic piece of North Kolkata's history. We also traveled to Peary Charan Girls' School, which is just down the road from Ghosh's College. This was where Reba studied as a young girl. It is one of the oldest schools for girls in India, and still in operation today. It is also thanks to the current Principal of Peary Charan, for finding the old school records of Reba and her sister in the registrar. We were excited to learn that the school has now named one of the groups of students after Reba! We gave a few extra copies of the book to be stored in the school library. We also visited Das Gupta booksellers, a personal favorite shop. Over the years, this bookstore has helped us tremendously by finding books for research or pointing us in the right direction. We are ever grateful for the human connections and had a blast bringing Reba's story (at least in book form) back to her home.  Das Gupta booksellers, College Street - Kolkata
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  84 Yoga Asanas by Gouri Shankar Mukerji, pg 72 This asana is the same in shape as what many people call Spider. However, this posture is more accurately named as Crocodile because "Makara" means crocodile. The posture is named after Makar, the mythological sea-creature ridden by Ganga Ma, the goddess of the Ganges River. On the list of what is known as "the 84", the name has been written incorrectly in English. The reason for this is mistranslation but it brings up the difficulty of transliteration. So, what is transliteration?! TRANSLITERATION Transliteration refers to the process of translating from one alphabet to another. In English, we use the symbols you are reading now. But in another alphabet, a totally different set of symbols is used. Sanskrit, the language asanas are most often written in, uses Devanagari. Because these symbols are unrecognizable to a non-Devanagari reader, a process of transliteration takes place. This means that we approximate the sounds of one alphabet using the characters of another alphabet. Let's take the simple example of Corpse Pose. In English this is written as Shavasana or śavāsana. However in Devanagari this would be written as शवासन. In another language and script, Bangla for example, it would be written as শবাসন. While the symbols look different script to script, the words are essentially the same. This brings us to the asana pictured above. What is it called? SPIDER & CROCODILE If the asana were to be "Spider Pose" it would have to named as Markaka. However, the posture is named मकर which is Makara, or Crocodile. The posture is therefore written as मकरासन, or Makarasana. This name also has historical significance in the Ghosh lineage. For example, Gouri Shankar Mukerji names it as Crocodile in his 1962 manual. On the list of 84, the transliteration is written correctly as Makarasana. However, the English is then written as Spider. This is incorrect. It's a very understandable mistake as the words are similar and even more importantly, very few people (including us!!) understand Sanskrit to a deep degree. It also begs the question, does it matter? We are of the opinion that names are only valuable if they communicate information clearly. If someone understands what you mean, it does not matter what words you use. However, it is also useful to be accurate. If we are simply mistaken in our knowledge, we can correct this and be more precise. It's not useful to repeat something that is incorrect. It is pretty clear that this posture should be named Crocodile.    Source for Images: https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/
The List of 84 Asanas, via Bikram Choudhury, Esak Garcia, Tony Sanchez and many others... Mukerji, GS. 84 Yoga Asanas.  Ida at DAV Festival Mumbai, with author Manisha Melwani  Here are a few images from DAV Festival Mumbai! DAV United Festival is a two-day spectacle, which invites students, teachers, parents and alumni from schools, colleges, universities, and communities in Navi Mumbai for a fusion of arts and entertainment. Ida promoted Strong Woman Reba Rakshit by discussing spirituality for youth, alongside author Manisha Melwani. A highlight was leading the audience through a few rounds of Even Count breathing! What better for managing anxiety and calming the mind?! We would like to thank all the teachers at the event and the fantastic organizers. They hosted us so warmly and made us feel so welcome. We hope to visit again!  from L to R: OM Books author Kainaz Jussawalla, journalist and children's book expert Chintan Girish Modi, Ida, Scott, Anuppam Shaqti  Here are a few photos from press events for Strong Woman Reba Rakshit! We had a great time in Delhi, exploring book shops and cafes. Alongside book signings, Ida recorded several interviews about the themes in the book and the process of research and writing. Stay tuned for these. The book has also been in the press! Read the clips here: Telegraph India: https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/lifestyle/of-courage-and-conviction-lifes-a-circus-for-her/cid/1993918 Scroll.In: https://scroll.in/article/1061792/the-true-story-of-a-circus-beauty-queen-who-lifted-an-elephant-on-her-chest The book will be available from Ghosh Yoga within the week. Details to come...
 Ida at Om Books - Delhi, India  Ida with Shantanu Chaudhuri - Editor In Chief, Om Books We have just arrived in India to promote the new book Strong Woman Reba Rakshit! For those of you new to this project, it has been the works since 2018. Today, finally, we saw the book for the first time! Who is this story about? You may have not yet heard her name, but Reba was a star in her time. She was a circus performer, stunt woman, yogi, and disciple of Bishnu Charan Ghosh. As a professional woman in the 1940-1950s, she faced a lot of hardships in order to stand center stage and entertain audiences across India. However, Bishnu Ghosh and circus companies such as MV Shankaran's legendary Bombay Circus, realized that she was the star people flocked to see. She was able to lift an elephant on her chest through yogic breath control and concentration. Without her, the show was not the same. She was one of the first prominent female yogis in India, and a true star of the Ghosh lineage. This is the first biography written about her life. After so many years of holding this project close, I am excited for it to be out in the world. It is currently available only in India, but will be available in more countries soon. There are many book events coming up. In the next few weeks we'll be in Delhi, then in Mumbai and Kolkata. If you're interested, you can stay tuned at www.strongwomanreba.com, on Ghosh Yoga social media and here for future blogs.  |
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Scott & Ida are Yoga Acharyas (Masters of Yoga). They are scholars as well as practitioners of yogic postures, breath control and meditation. They are the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga.
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