For B. Sirisha, yoga happened by chance. As a schoolgirl, becoming a yoga instructor was not even part of her wildest of dreams.
Yet, as destiny would have it, Ms. Sirisha today has not just become a well-known Yoga instructor in Vijayawada but also an award-winning performer in national and international championships.
Hailing from a middle-class family in Bhimavaram in the West Godavari district, Ms. Sirisha, recalls how it all started: “One day in 2010, when I was in my degree first year, my father nudged me and other relatives to join him in his daily Yoga sessions being held nearby. Since I was loathe to wake up early, I joined him unwillingly. I grew interested in it very soon. Since I was doing well, I caught the attention of the instructor who then encouraged me to practise more.”
But except for a few months of training under her three instructors in Bhimavaram, Satyanarayana Raju, G. Seetharamaiah and M. Ankhamma Rao in the initial days, Ms. Sirisha practised asanas (Yoga poses) on her own till now, unlike her other competitors in the tournaments who have been trained in famous academies.
Ms. Sirisha took part in a national championship for the first time in 2012. She could not make a mark then. The next big event that she took part in was in 2017. In the six years of gap, she got married and became a mother. “Performing yoga post pregnancy was difficult. But, I took it as a challenge,” she said.
Since 2017, Ms. Sirisha has won a medal (one bronze, two silver and two gold) in national-level events every year conducted by the Yoga Federation of India. She won a bronze in the national contest conducted by the National Yogasana Sports Championship, which was launched in 2022. Last week, she won gold in the Asian Pacific Yoga Sports Championship, organised by the Universal Yoga Sports Federation, in Bangkok. She received many other certificates and awards, including a Special Appreciation Award from the State government.
One point that she has noticed is that not many from the Telugu States make it to the national levels. It is always her rivals from West Bengal, Haryana or Maharashtra who take away the prizes.
“Then, a girl from Nellore, Joshnavi, bucked the trend by bagging medals in these competitions back during the TDP’s rule. Former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met her, and the Sports Authority of A.P. (SAAP) gave her an incentive of ₹5 lakh,” she said.
But Ms. Sirisha is yet to receive any incentives from the State government. While she is grateful to the SAAP officials for lending her all the support, she expresses disappointment that not once did Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy meet her personally.
G. Venkateswara Rao, former Incentives Sports Officer at SAAP, says a gold medalist is eligible to receive ₹5 lakh, a silver medalist ₹3 lakh and a bronze medalist ₹2 lakh. But it is a time-consuming process, he admitted. “We need to get a nod from higher-ups to speed up the process. There are only a couple of female Yoga performers in Andhra Pradesh like Ms. Sirisha, who has practised on her own,” said Mr. Rao, who at present is Chief Coach of Guntur.
Ms. Sirisha, who has a diploma, PG diploma, and MPhil in Yoga, teaches the subject in 11 schools in Vijayawada. Aside from this, she also teaches Yoga to interested students from economically backwards communities for free, just like her instructors who taught her Yoga for free.
“So far, I have taught around 300 students. Some of them have participated in contests too,” she said with pride. In March this year, one of her students won bronze in a national-level competition.
Now, having represented the State at national contests, all that she wishes is an acknowledgement from the government. “I do not have enough funds to start an academy of my own,” Ms. Sirisha said.
At present, she teaches students on the school premises or sometimes in open spaces and she herself practises in the gallery of Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.
