Bollywood’s Yogini

Mumbai: Deepika Mehta has a super hectic life in Mumbai where she teaches Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and has an impressive clientele of Bollywood stars. And that’s why it took a year before she found time to hold a five-day yoga workshop, which began on Saturday in her hometown, Hyderabad.

Deepika studied at Hyderabad Public School for six years till Class X, before moving to Dehradun to join Welham Girls’ School. She later studied Economics (Honours) in Delhi.

The yoga practitioner says, “My family stays in Jubilee Hills. In Mumbai, I have an intense social life, I party a lot, and I dance for four-five hours at a stretch on weekends. So when I am here, I like to chill out, do my yoga, have green tea with my parents, go out for dinners, but mostly stay indoors.”

Over the years, she has trained Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Vidya Balan, Alia Bhatt, Jacqueline Fernandes and many more. She says, “You know, actors are simple people. They love to be around their family. They just want some time off from the craziness of films, promotions, flying in and out and meeting fans. I worked with actors who had come to me burnt-out after 18 hours of work. Their lives are difficult. I am thankful I am not in their shoes.”

Their erratic schedules affect hers as well. The 37-year-old says, “I privately train some of them. So I need to work my time around theirs. And, this doesn’t leave time for me to practice yoga. That’s why I am not taking up many celeb routines.”

And she is very particular about her yoga routine. After all, it was yoga that helped reclaim her life. In 1998, Deepika fell from a 40 ft-high cliff in the Himalayas, where the adventure buff had gone rock climbing. The accident left her with multiple fractures in her left arm and left ankle. She could hardly walk. She then went to Mysore in 2000 and started training in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga under Guru K. Pattabhi Jois.

Today, she is spreading the message of hope and willpower, like at the TED talks in New York. She was also recently named as one of the new physical beauty ideals by a top magazine. She also has her own TV show, Yoga City.

Globetrotting has influenced Deepika’s sense of fashion as well. And she hopes to launch a gypsy clothing line one of these days. “Every city, country has its own culture. But when I go to Paris, Spain or Amsterdam these days, everybody dresses alike. The sense of individual style is missing. And, I like to put my stamp on clothes that I wear. I cut or chip my clothes here and there with scissors. I like to put my looks together. So, the gypsy clothing line will promote the nomadic look,” says Deepika, who is gearing up for her annual retreat in Goa next month.