Bharat Gaurav HR Nagendra- Former Space Scientist & Yog Guru
Dr. Nagendra, a former space scientist at NASA, returned to his native India, changing, as he says, from engineering to human engineering “in search of truth.” According to him, the search for ultimate truth through external means (science) did not take him far enough and that is why he chose to dive deep into his own consciousness in search of reality through yoga. He then proceeded to deal with this subject in the scientific manner he has become accustomed to.
In 1975, Dr Nagendra established the internationally famous Vivekananda Kendra Yoga Research Foundation (or V K YOGAS) which has been renamed Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandana Samsthana (S-VYASA).
Dr Nagendra Born on Jan 1, 1943, Nagendra is at present the President of S-VYASA, Bangalore, S-VYASA, International, VYERTI, Melbourne, and Vice-Chancellor of S-VYASA Deemed University. He has authored and co-authored about 35 books on yoga, nearly 35research papers in engineering, and 60 in yoga. He has awards from the Ministry of Health, a Yoga Sri award from BKS Iyengar, and a senior Citizens award from New Delhi. He is a consultant in Yoga to many Universities in Australia and the USA and a member of several bodies in Govt. India. After graduation, Nagendra got an ME and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in 1965 and 1968, research at the University of British Columbia, Canada, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL as Post Doctoral ResearchAssociate, and at Harvard University Engineering Sciences laboratory as a Consultantbetween 1969 and 72 and Imperial College of S and T, London before he returned to IISc.
He joined Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, a service mission as an honorary director of training in 1975. Developing yoga and yoga therapy programs for the modern youth and ailing sick with Dr. Nagarathna, he spent nearly a decade before shifting his head Quarters to Bangalore, Prashanti Kutiram to translate the vision of Swami Vivekananda to combine the best of the East with the best of the East by combining modern scientific research to examine the efficacy of yoga to solve the challenges of the modern era. As the team developed, the campus Prashanti Kutiram took shape, the research papers started getting published in leading mainstream journals of the world, and S-VYASA started gaining greater momentum with nearly about 70 research publications on yoga, about 200 dissertations by students of Certificate and Diploma Courses, about 65 dissertations of Masters degree in yoga and 6 theses of Ph.D., acquiring accreditation from DST, Ministry of Health and FW, Dept of AYUSH, UGC recognizing it as one of the premier yoga institutes of the country, recognized by Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, and Rajiv Gandhi Universities from 1991 to 2001, the Hindu University of America in 2002 and finally acquiring the status of a Deemed University named Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana(Research Foundation) SVYASA for short, in 2003 offering courses from Certificate to Doctoral programs in Yogic Sciences.
In search of reality, Dr. HR Nagendra found that modern science has only touched the physical and creation has many subtle and causal dimensions which ancient Seers of India had fathomed, realized, documented, and time tested for its usefulness. So he jumped into this wisdom contained in Upanishads of Yoga and spiritual lore. He was fascinated by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda who brought out his great wisdom in modern terminology and urged him to combine the best of the West with the best of the East.
He has been instrumental in coordinating the efforts of several people to bring up a 35 Acres campus of scenic beauty twenty miles from Bangalore and 5kms from Bannerghatta-Jigni-Anekal National Highway. The campus is the developing Head Quarters of S-VYASA with research as the main aim. Prashanti has developed into a 250 bedded in-depth research center of the yoga of international acclaim called Arogyadhama including Surabhi — a Naturopathy and Ayurveda facility .to treat the patients and promote positive health. Prashanti also houses an intensive, holistic 30 beds Cancer CaIre Center.
Bharat Gaurav Major Dhyanchand - Indian Hockey Magician
Major Dhyan Chand was an iconic Indian hockey player who is remembered as a magician of Indian hockey. Major Dhyan Chand is a name that every Indian can say with pride. He was the prime member of the Indian hockey team which brought three Olympic gold medals in field hockey. He had great control over dribbling the ball that no one could ever match. He was honored with Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 1956 for his outstanding contribution to Indian hockey. Major Dhyan Chand’s birthday, August 29, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India. Major sports awards like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, and Dronacharya awards are presented on this occasion to the sportsperson who has shown tremendous commitment to the game and made the country proud. Dhyan Chand scored more than 400 goals during his international career which ended in 1948.
Dhyan Chand was often called ‘The Wizard’ by the legends for his magical control over the ball. In Berlin, Adolf Hitler offered him to join the German forces after watching the final match against Germany. Dhyan Chand mesmerized the Japanese by playing with a walking stick when a woman in the stands asked him to play with it. In some places, opposition team players went on to the extent to break his stick to check whether there was any special thing inside the stick as the ball always tends to kiss his stick. Overall, he scored 1000 goals in a career spanning over two decades. During his era, there was nothing to record the brilliant play of this magician.
Introduction to Hockey
In his younger days, Dhyan was not much interested in sports although he liked wrestling a lot. He started playing Hockey with his friends who used to themselves make Hockey sticks from tree branches and balls from ragged clothes. At the age of 14 years, he visited a Hockey match with his father, where one team was down by 2 goals. He insisted his father play from the losing side, and when an Army Officer let him do so, Dhyan scored 4 goals for the team. Impressed by his skills, the Officer offered him to join the army and at the age of 16 years, Dhyan was inducted into the Punjab Regiment as a Sepoy in the year 1922. Subedar-Major Bhole Tiwari of Brahmin Regiment became Dhyan’s mentor inside the Army and taught him the basics of the game. Pankaj Gupta was the first Coach of Dhyan Singh who predicted that one day he would shine like the Moon, called Chand in Hindi. Hence, Dhyan Singh came to be known as Dhyan Chand after that.
Beginning of Legendary Days
There are many incidents that describe the grandeur of Dhyan Chand’s amazing skills as a wonderful Hockey player. In one of them, he scored 3 goals in the last 4 minutes of a match where his team was losing by 2 goals and got his team the victory in the match. This was the final match of the Punjab Infantry Tournament in Jhelum. After this match, Dhyan Chand was named the “Hockey Wizard”. Dhyan Chand delivered a brilliant performance in the first Inter-Provincial (National) Hockey tournament that was organized in the year 1925. Five teams, viz. United Provinces (UP), Punjab, Bengal, Rajputana, and Central Provinces participated in the tournament. On the basis of his performance in the tournament, he was selected for the International Hockey team of India.
