Since I did graduate from The London School of Economics with a BSc in Economics, I shall put that to some use to give you an idea of how Ashtanga Yoga has stimulated the local economy in Mysore.
In general Mysore has boomed. This is mainly due to its promixity to Bangalore, India’s IT hub, which has expanded faster than its infrastructure. The spillover effect means that Mysore has flourished. A domestic airport is supposed to be opened next January (in India time, that’ll probably be 2 years from then).
When Guruji started classes in Lakshmipuram (an older part of Mysore town), he only had space for 12 students. Then he started getting popular and people had to line-up on the stairs outside, waiting for their turn.
In 2003, he moved to Gokulam (a newer residential suburb), with space for 60+ people at a time. Now, if you can imagine what 100-200 foreigners would need in terms of housing, food, banking, transport, travel arrangement, sightseeing, telecommunications etc, any enterprising local could make some money by offering the appropriate services.
Shiva, who lives across the street from the shala, was the first ‘Anything’ man. You could go to him for just about anything … housing, changing money, hiring a scooter, renting a car for day trips, arranging for wireless internet access in your house. You name it, he’ll get it!
Down the street from the shala, Geeta sells homemade chocolate. To put things in context, you could not get decent chocolate in Mysore up till recently. Sudha rents garage space for her shop selling clothes, jewellery, bags, shawls, yoga bags and rugs. Meena, on the next street, sells silver jewellery out of her home.
Anu & Ganesh serve lunch and dinner in their house. Their garage has been converted to a high-speed internet café. There are printer facilities and headsets for Skyping. You can order drinks whilst you go online or bring your own laptops to enjoy wireless access whilst having your meal.
A number of homes in the neighbourhood offer home-cooked lunches. Shaila is one such woman and a pro-active entrepreneur as well. She actually approached me on the train from Bangalore to Mysore, asking if I was a yoga student. She told me she had a room to rent. “No thank you”, I said, “I already have accommodation”. Oh, then how about home-cooked lunch or cooking classes then, here’s my card. Tell your friends about me she said.
Some people even moved to Gokulam because their business revolved around the shala. Krishna, the tailor, moved his shop from Lakshmipuram. Tina & Sanjiv hired a house near the shala and serve breakfast every morning. In fact, Sanjiv had to quit his full-time job to help out because business was so good. They have also recently opened a café for lunch and dinner.
Beck, the other coconut man, drives his van from Lakshmipuram every morning. Apparently a few of the older yoga students bought him his little truck so he could drive to Gokalum every morning!
Sitting next to him outside the shala every morning are Prabah and Manju. Prabah sells homemade peanut, almond & cashew butter, fresh juice, homemade bread and tofu. Manju is a tailor. Customers have their fittings in Guruji’s garage, behind a held-up sarong.
2 aryuvedic spas have opened up within 5 minutes walk of the shala. Kerala is renowned as the aryuvedic centre of India. These 2 spas offer the same treatments that you would get in Kerala. They are definitely targeting yoga students. Gokalum is a residential estate with 1 main ‘high street’. Locals alone wouldn’t form sufficient clientele.
Gokulam being a middle-class suburb, has become more western in recent years. I’d say that the yoga shala probably has a more than a significant influence though. New coffee and gelato places have opened up … even an Austrian cafe! You can get Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Subway sandwiches. There’s even a bar called High Octane with dancing on Friday nights!!
Every Sunday, there is a green market selling organic produce and clothes. Of course it’s mainly foreigners who frequent the market. Supermarkets have popped up everywhere and sell things you could never get a few years ago eg. olive oil, soya milk and gouda cheese. Local shops on the high street, whether they’re selling luggage or fabric, now sell yoga mats and rugs. When I was planning my first trip here, I was told to handcarry my yoga mat because if I lost it, I could not find one anywhere in Mysore. Not anymore!
Whenever the family travels and the shala closes, people have to live on their savings because there is no business. Sharath is supposed to be taking 1-2 years off teaching, starting next April. It will be interesting to see what effect that has on the local economy.
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