meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Witness History

The yoga teacher and the violinist

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.51.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2019

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

To mark world yoga day, how a chance encounter between the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the yoga teacher, BKS Iyengar in 1952 led to a life-long friendship and played a crucial role in bringing the ancient Indian tradition of yoga to the West. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Iyengar teacher and friend of the Iyengar family, Rajvi Mehta, and listening back to archive of BKS Iyengar himself talking about that first meeting.

Picture: BKS Iyengar teaching yoga to Yehudi Menuhin, circa 1954 (Credit:Yehudi Menuhin Saanen Center)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless

0:06.8

searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the

0:11.8

telly we share what we've been watching

0:14.0

Cladie Aide.

0:16.0

Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.

0:19.0

Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.

0:21.0

And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less

0:24.9

searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and

0:37.0

welcome to the Witness History podcast here on the BBC World Service.

0:41.0

I'm Louis Adagno, and today I'm taking you back to the

0:44.1

1950s and a chance encounter between the great violinist Yehudi Menuin and

0:49.1

the yoga teacher Bik S. Ienga. It was a meeting that led to a lifelong friendship and played a crucial role

0:56.1

in bringing the ancient Indian tradition of yoga to the west. I've been speaking to Ienga teacher

1:01.6

Rajvie Metre and listening back through the archive to the master himself talking about that first meeting with Yuhu di Menuen. But for Yavudi Meni and probably the rest would not have no.

1:20.0

Guruji was very close to Menuant and Menuen to Guruji and Menuen played a very important role for the Western world to get introduced to Bikha Sayinger and in yoga going all over the world.

1:32.0

Radfri Meta was a pupil of BKSA Inga, Gourji, to his followers, and he'd show her the letters that

1:38.8

after that first meeting he and Yehudi Menuin used to send one another.

1:43.0

There were handwritten letters from Menuin.

1:45.0

Like a devoted student, okay, this is what I have practiced and I'm sorry, I was traveling,

1:49.0

I haven't been able to practice, but I'll make up for it kind of thing.

1:52.0

And later they turned into typed

1:54.3

and computer printouts.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.