Saraswathi recalls how he attracted every disease from rheumatic fever, bouts of diarrhea, inflammation of the lungs, loss of hemoglobin in his blood, to a serious hernia infection ending with an operation and months in hospital. But Saraswati was always there to support him and helped him get his strength back in his early teens by teaching him Yoga. At first he was very reluctant, but due to the strong influence of his mother, he took up a consistent practice, was even urged to help his grandfather and the rest is history.

After moving back to Mysore in 1971 she started teaching yoga on a regular basis. In 1975 she started teaching at the back portion of the Venkateshwara temple in Vantikopal. She was paid twenty fives rupees a month and a Yoga teacher in those days was treated no different than the cleaners and sweepers of the temple grounds. But Saraswathi persisted due to her love of Yoga and her experiences born out of the practice. For eleven years she would only teach ladies, but then in 1986 she allowed men and women to mix. Many people were criticizing her for making such a radical change to the common norm in India of always keeping the two genders separate. But Saraswathi did not care and decided to teach Yoga in the best way she found proper.

In 1984 she constructed her own house in Gokulam and started teaching out of her own home to the locals. When Guruji moved his Yoga Shala from Laxmipuram to Gokulam in 2002 Saraswati once again started teaching together with her father. Now every morning she is the steady presence in the shala from 5am. After helping her father for two and a half hours she teaches her own class from 8 – 9.30 every day. back