Ali Dashti: in Conversation Julie Anderson Ali Dashti is a Senior teacher who trained at RIMYI and is now based between Switzerland and Pune. Since Covid, he teaches predominantly online and has many international students. Ali has been a regular guest teacher in Scotland since 2000, when Julie Anderson and Carol Nimmo organised his first UK-wide tour. It was a real treat to have him visit again for live classes in June 2022. This interview was recorded prior to this visit and the pictures were taken during it. I came from Pune but my luggage didn’t! I was teaching in Manchester, so Jeanne Maslen helped me. Her husband lent me shorts and I jumped in to teach the class. I am very thankful to her; God rest her soul. So, I started teaching in the big hall, more than 100 people, and when you spoke it used to echo. In those days in Pune, we did not use a microphone. I had suggested that we should, but Geetaji had a strong voice. I would raise my voice and Geeta would say, “Your voice is not good, you have to have a voice,” so I started yelling. This yelling I took to Manchester. The students were terrified. Then one lady came to me and said, “Please don’t shout at me!” It opened my eyes that actually there was no Pune background traffic, no horns in the background.
On First Visiting the UK Julie: We have known each other for quite some time. I first went to RIMYI in 1999 with my friend Carol. We were mostly in classes with Geetaji and she demoed everything on Ali. Whenever she was late or needed a break, Ali would cover. We thought: Ali is a great teacher, we are going to bring him to the UK for a big tour. What do you remember about that, Ali? Ali: When we look back it is many years, but I feel like it was yesterday. I had never taught outside the Institute. When we talked about coming to Edinburgh, I went to Guruji and asked him about making this tour. He gave his blessing, Geetaji too. Even today, teachers who work [at RIMYI] have to get permission. 8 AUTUMN 2022 Iyengar Yoga News No. 41
I taught there for the weekend, staying with Patricia. I was honoured that she gave a room [to me] that Guruji had stayed in too. We had a big dinner with all the Senior teachers of the country. That was very beautiful. I toured the whole country. I took buses, stayed with different people. It was my first time in the UK, in Europe. I went to Edinburgh and Newcastle. I finished in Maida Vale. I went from Nottingham to Glasgow, then to you. In those days there were no websites or such things, it was all phone calls. The experience was a big one for me and it really changed me. Teaching in Pune, you are teaching Guruji’s students. Doing this UK tour, I was out of the shade of the Guru. Indian gurus, poets or philosophers refer to the shade or umbrella of the