The rat race to standardize yoga

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Editor's note: Yogi Chetan Mahesh, birth name Mahesh Chand, has plenty to say about the rot in Rishikesh. When he speaks, with a thick Haryanvi accent, words scurry as if relieved to have found an outlet. Mahesh is founder-director of the AYM School of Yoga in Tapovan district. If Rishikesh, in the state of Uttarakhand, is the yoga capital of the world, then Tapovan is its town square. It’s home to Chaurasi Kutiya, known to the world as “the Beatles ashram”. Tapovan was never ready for the mountainous change that came after 1968, the year The Beatles, Mia Farrow and a horde of American cultural cognoscenti descended on the tiny mountain village. Even Chaurasi Kutiya would never be the same. Now derelict, but dotted with striking murals, it looks on as Rishikesh is overrun by yogashalas, gurus, tourists and charlatans. Charlatans are everywhere, but in Rishikesh, Mahesh says, they have an invisible, yet powerful enabler. This enabler has turned yoga into a cottage industry for teacher training. Wherever you go in Rishikesh, you’ll spot the following abbreviations: RYS 200. Registered Yoga School …