As I sit to write the column, my eyes are caught by the lovely little Buddha statue that rests on my side board, flanked by a bright window. This is a rather unusual Buddha statue, which has the little master lying on his side, with the elbow holding his head, eyes closed and face radiating a smile. In full peace, united with himself, this master seems to be the epitome of 'complete poise'. This was a perfect depiction of the statement 'Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam', which means 'Yoga is excellence in action', I felt. Any action that we perform, ranging from waking up, to doing the small or big tasks, taking on difficult challenges, handling crises to being with family or friends and even sleeping needed this equipoise. This poised, yogic way of being really makes us wedded to excellence in every act, big or small, at each moment.

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'If you have a poorly thatched roof in your hut, you catch a cold, fever or even a fatal pneumonia, with rain and wind finding their way in and causing these afflictions. Likewise, passions and greed, fear and anger, too, leak through a poorly thatched mind, wreaking havoc and taking you towards fatality', the compassionate Buddha said. This metaphor, with an antiquity of a few thousand years is supremely relevant, even today. Taking this simple metaphor into our present day, prosperous world, we may replace 'hut' with a penthouse. However, our self likened to this penthouse, surely needs constant maintenance. The walls are our cells, organs and tissues, with the roof reflecting our mind and intellect. Constant maintenance of this 'penthouse' requires us to take care of the body, intellect and mind, carefully and patiently locating and fixing the cracks and crevices in the building, just as we diligently cement the gaps and chinks in the roof. A true regimen of yoga, encompassing our complete self, at every moment would be the constant maintenance that our body, mind and intellect needs.

As I now look at the Buddha, against an orange setting sun, I can see him wink through his closed eyes and ask me if I was in Yoga every moment, or if I lost my poise during a little annoyance or the irritation before that! As you practise to wade through your battles, wins, disagreements or breakthroughs that punctuate the day, yoked and united with your self, you get seasoned in and with Yoga. One, then, deals with trials or triumphs, challenges or ordeals, in the most appropriate way, ranging from ignoring to even engaging in a fierce, battle like Arjuna, the warrior and protagonist of the celestial song, Gita. Yet, one is completely poised and equanimous through all this.

Yoga has now become a household name in almost every part of the world, as people of various cultures, languages and ages practise yoga. A cute little video 'meteored' through whatsapp a few days ago. It showed a tiny baby dressed in a diaper, being mimicked by a whole class of yoga enthusiasts! As the baby got up, pushed a leg, pulled his head, twisted her torso, squat on her feet, knelt down, sat down, lay down, rolled over to again get up, the adults in the class, her students were emulating every move and step. Those adults were at their 'wittiest' wit's end, laughing and frantically trying to keep pace with the ultimate freshness, fluidity, flexibility and resilience of this toddler, who showed no signs of fatigue or distraction. Every child is born with this possibility and gift of being a real yogi, which we can reclaim by our constant and spontaneous efforts on our mind, body and intellect.

In the early hours of Friday, on International Yoga Day, I joined our group of community health officers at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. They are going to champion the cause of health and wellness across Gujarat. Stretching the body and mind, as one practised various postures and Asanas, like the Buddha, I experienced joy and poise, united with every breath, aware of each pull and stretch. Like the Buddha in my room, lets hope Yoga now comes to sweetly storm into every nook of our 'penthouses', silently transforming our body, along with head and heart, making us realise our highest aspiration.

The author is a Harvard-educated civil servant & writer, and has worked in the education sector jayanti.ravi.dna@gmail.com