Suryay nam:

 Suryanamskar as a mode of exercise is no longer old-fashioned. In fact, the way surya-namskar is the 'in', the 'done' mode now, it always reminds me of Victor Hugo's perceptive precept "no power on earth can stop the idea whose time has come", made famous in India by Dr. Manmohan Singh, our erstwhile prime minister.

Look up on the search sites "surya namskar". Google it, for instance, and so mind-boggling would be the information that would pour in that but naturally would you perform a surya namskar there and then! 

Actually, it is more like, is closer to the yogasana. It includes both, the bodily exercise and the breath control. Performed in the open air as the sun is rising, a trendy practice in the metro's and the big cities, it would sure provide both Oxygen and the Vitamin D to the practitioner.

Ideally, it involves the soul, the mind and the body as one is supposed to chant the twelve names of the sun deity. They say that the practice improves the  mental health status of the ADHD afflicted children. In many schools hence, it is a form of exercise, a regular one, and not merely circa June 21.

In a way, such eulogies counter the clear divide in our society between the so-called traditional versus the valorised modern. Surya namskar, hence, is no longer performed merely in the wrestlers' dens with the 'langot' or loincloth. When traditional trends, the modern mimics it. So "suryay nam:"  is the chant now, and the more chic your leotard is, the better!

Pratima@Papa used to perform the Surya Namskar's. Given the frequent transfers he suffered due to his honesty and a work ethic full of rigour, his regularity thereof had to dwindle!