On a cool morning during the weekend, a large group of people have gathered at a Bandra garden for a routine that is relatively new and unconventional. It is not yoga, aerobics, or dancing. The wellness idea, pioneered by a guru, called Param Alay by his followers, combines breathing techniques, exercises, and clapping and slaps on the skull and face to activate the nerves in the body. The practice ended with a breakfast that featured a colourful array of foods, including fruits and soaked nuts.
The practitioners do not rely on books and discourses, but follow the phrase ‘Pravachan nahi, Prayog’ which means ‘practice, not advice’. They follow the ideas of Guru Param Alay, a former businessman who named the organisation after the sun to acknowledge its link to all life on earth. Practitioners follow an 80-minute session in the morning that includes techniques to ‘activate the third eye’, clapping; activation of the body’s ‘magnetic aura’; chanting, and a prayer to the sun, among other things. They do a 48-minute session that includes prayer to the moon in the evening.
For followers of Param Alay’s philosophy, the teachings go beyond the practice sessions in the morning and evening. “It is a concept of right food, right exercise, and right dhyan (consciousness),” said Sanjeev Khandelwal, a businessman and resident of Bandra, who added that the daily practice has helped him to break his habit of drinking between 12 and 14 cups of tea a day.
Food is an important component in the practice and there is a stress on alkaline foods and a mix of tastes, including sweet, sour, salty, astringent and bitter. “What you eat for breakfast after a workout is very important. We do not stress so much on lunch and dinner,” said Mridula Khandelwal who had guided the group through the morning’s practice.
Suresh Jain, a businessman and resident of Santacruz, said, “Guru Param Alay had started his sadhana and one of the experiments that he did was with food. He researched food and its relationship to life. He believes that food should be easily digestible. The idea is similar to that of intermittent fasting - when there is a maximum gap between the first meal and that of the last meal on the earlier day. This gives the body enough time to detoxify,” said Jain.
Shrichand Manglani, a businessman from Khar, said that the practice has done wonders to his health, bringing him benefits that two decades of yoga and walks did not. He says that he has been able to reduce his weight by 25kg after following the rules for food, exercise, and behaviour. “It has changed my life,” said Manglani.
Practitioners like Manglani now gather in gardens in Juhu, Borivali, Malad, Kandivali and other places to practice the technique. Many visit the organisation’s main centre in Sejwani, a village near Indore for 15-day-long sessions that are available to everyone at a very small fee.
