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Ludhiana farmer gets yoga mechanised
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 9
Lazybones, who do not want to move a limb but do yoga, have a reason to cheer. For the ancient science of keeping fit is going mechanised, thanks to a Ludhiana farmer, who has spent lakhs of rupees on developing these tiny but sophisticated machines that help in asanas.

It took Satnam Singh, a 56-year-old farmer, four visits to Hong Kong, three to Thailand, six to China, three years and three acres of agricultural land to develop a pair of shades, fitted with a gear box to facilitate one of the pranayamas - “Anulom vilom”. Having spent nearly Rs 1 crore on its development, he is ready with the gadget being sold for Rs 600, 900 and 1,200 depending on the quality.

All one needs is to wear the spectacles and switch on the chargeable lithium battery fitted with a radiation filter fixed on its side. The gear box facilitates closing of one nostril and then works in the opposite direction in the same way. One can continue with the pranayam for as long as one wants.

‘‘I consulted Bal Krishan, a yoga exponent, before getting ahead with the machine. He told me pranayamas could be done with machines. The only thing was these should not hinder the flow of oxygen to the body. He approved of my idea, ’’ he says.

Satnam, a matriculate, was a progressive farmer, who diversified to sowing menthol in his fields. One day, he was watching a channel showing Baba Ramdev teaching yoga asanas, who was reprimanding his followers for not being able to do the pranayama for long. ‘‘Even I used to get sick of using my fingers by raising my arm up to the nose for doing the ‘anulom-vilom’. I thought of developing a machine for it. And I started walking on the path of its development,’’ he says.

He conceived the idea of a machine-fitted spectacle. But nobody in India could help him with fitting a small battery-operated gear box that works on two levers on both sides of the nose. ‘‘I had to travel to Japan and Thailand. There companies charged me too much. Then I finally visited China. Chinese engineers helped me in developing the dyes and moulds for preparing fine parts for the machine with low input. I finally developed the yantra I had dreamt of. Now I have set up a research and development unit at Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh to develop more such machines,’’ he adds.

Awaiting patent that he applied for in 2006, Satnam came out with fully developed device two months ago.

Before this, he faced many problems as the machine could not work satisfactorily. ‘‘Now, I have sold off 200 such glasses and people are coming up with results. Many have told me that they have been cured of migraines, have a better control on diabetes and several other diseases,’’ he claims, stating that he himself uses the device while driving, sitting and reading newspapers.

Corroborating his claims, Capt Harjit Singh Aulakh (retd), a resident of Chandigarh, said he had got a lot of relief from migraine.

Now, Satnam Singh, who has announced the machine free from the physically challenged, is in the process of developing another one for Bhrambhri pranayama. This device will control the opening and closing of eyes and ears.