Dr. Aditya Sahu in Belagavi – running from Mumbai to Coimbatore to raise funds for Isha Vidhya

The energy and stillness in his personality is a queer contrast you experience when you meet Dr. Aditya Sahu. He is on a stopover at Belagavi on his run from Mumbai to Coimbatore to raise funds for Isha Vidhya, the educational arm of Isha Foundation covering a distance of 1230 kms on road. Aditya Sahu’s friend at Isha Vidhya, Prabhu Loganathan, connected me with him. (Prabhu was part of the Toyota Leadership Training program in 2020 with me).

Interestingly, Aditya Sahu completed his education at KLE College of Dental Sciences in Belagavi which has a special place in his life. He runs two dental clinics in Mumbai. Hailing from a family of doctors with his father being a reputed eye surgeon, medical education was a natural option for him. But destiny had other plans. In his final year of dental science, he slipped into a severe depression which took him a year and much pain to come out of.

Three years after that his father suggested he attend a program by Isha Foundation which Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev was himself addressing at Mumbai and it went on to change his life forever. “You can’t change anybody’s life, so work on changing your life” said the Guru which resonated with him. For well over 12 years now, he has been a devotee of the Sadhguru and Devi and credits the divine energy for everything that has happened to him ever since. Aditya Sahu runs, volunteers for Isha Foundation, and raises funds for Isha Vidhya.

It’s all about the flow of energy in your life, he says, as he remembers those dark days when he felt there was no energy at all. Having turned to the teachings of the Sadhguru and been to the Ashram twice, experiencing for himself how one can transform life without resisting it but by simply going with the flow. It’s all a divine scheme of the universe, he says. There was time, he says, when he returned from Mumbai to Belagavi to overcome his depression, because he was determined to complete his education. It was very difficult on his memory which had been affected with all the treatment for depression, but he persisted.

With help from the college and seniors, he managed to complete his BDS degree. It was also when no one wanted to talk to him. But as his life began to take shape, people who had distanced themselves from him, came back. I can sense the moist eyes as he shows me the pictures taken today at KLE when his old friends, teachers, Principal Dr. Alka Kale and more than anything else, Dr. Preeti Kore showed immense pride and affection for one of their students. The team from KLE felicitated him today and he feels life has come full circle.

Dr. Sahu has always been a runner, having participated in several marathons in Mumbai and elsewhere. He was heavily into gymming too. In 2015, he decided to do the Ultra Marathon of Ladakh at Khardungla. But to prepare for that, he needed practice in sub zero conditions. So he ventured to peak the Stok Kangri of 20,000 feet. At 19,000 feet, he almost passed out and hence decided to return to base camp. That was not meant to happen then, he reasons with a smile. But he covered the 72 km run at the Khardungla challenge to raise funds for Isha Vidhya.

He also completed two Ironman challenges, one in the UK. His aim was to peak Mount Everest, both literally and metaphorically, to be on top of the world, but the pandemic made it impossible at that time. It won’t be long before he overcomes that last frontier in his quest to make this life a journey. We don’t need to go to Nepal to conquer Mt. Everest, we all have an Mt. Everest within us which we need to conquer” he says.

Dr. Aditya Sahu began his long run from Mumbai on 1st Jan 2022. He is in Belagavi today and will leave for Hubli tomorrow morning. He covers a distance of close to 40 kms each day on foot. Those who wish to connect with him can do so on his email [email protected] http://ishaoutreach.org/iv-himalayawithin