Singapore: Bikram Choudhury, the yoga guru who stirred controversy by copyrighting his "hot yoga" style, is known as much for his love of diamond-studded wrist watches and Hollywood clientele as for his supple poses.
Beverly Hills-based Choudhury, 62, founded Bikram Yoga, a series of yoga poses done in a heated room, more than four decades ago, and says his global franchise now reaches 50 million students worldwide.
He has upset yoga traditionalists by aggressively protecting the Bikram Yoga brand through lawsuits, trademarks and copyright.
Critics have denounced his moves as selfish, but Choudhury is unfazed. "When I'm in India I do things like an Indian, when I'm in Japan, I'm a samurai, and when in Hollywood I'm a playboy," he told Reuters in an interview.
Beefy and brash Choudhury, who started practising yoga at the age of three, does not charge for his classes in India, but his classes in the United States go for around $20 per session.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. You have to protect your intellectual property by making copyrights, trademarks and franchising, so I did," he said.
"Whatever people think of me, it doesn't matter. Those who know me, they love me and the world will do anything for me."
Only teachers trained by him and who pay franchising fees can use the name and series of 26 poses in their studios.
Many yoga instructors say that this runs counter to the basic principles of yoga, an ancient Indian practice uniting the mind, body and spirit.
'Louis Vuitton' Yoga
Not shy of appearing materialistic, Choudhury compared other forms of yoga to counterfeit bags and declared Bikram Yoga to be a "Ferrari" experience.
"You go to a Louis Vuitton shop, you pay $3,000 for a bag, but you go to Los Angeles downtown, you can buy a counterfeit for $50 — that's the difference," he said.
"I sell the truth," he said.
"Fire burns, period. Bikram yoga works," said Choudhury, wearing a white t-shirt that hugged rippling muscles.
Choudhury, who also sells CDs, books and tank-tops, claims not to know the size of his wealth. However, he told Reuters that a magazine put it at $3.5 billion.
Born in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), he said he taught the Pope in the 1960s as well as India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, before opening his first yoga studio in the United States in 1973.
He has reportedly taught yoga to Hollywood's glitterati including Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson.
"Oh everybody, you name it," Choudhury said in response to a question on which Hollywood stars he is currently coaching.
While Choudhury maintains that he is in the business of saving lives through yoga, he defends his lavish lifestyle — with a mansion and fleet of restored classic cars — as a necessity in order for him to fit into the world of Hollywood.
"A yogi who has no attachment to material things lives in caves, lives for himself in the Himalayas. We had to come out of caves, go to ugly society and help the society."
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