Bengaluru is a city of dreams and has drawn IT professionals from across the country, with its lucrative career options and salubrious climate. Rupam Sil was one such young man who landed in Bengaluru years ago from Meghalaya for his “dream job”. He worked for one of the top IT companies and was not very happy. He says, “I felt trapped and depressed.”

Rupam quit his job as the stress was “taking its toll” on his health and took solace in music. He taught himself the guitar and soon began teaching music and making a living as a musician.

“Yet, my mind was restless. I was researching on what to do to still your mind and discovered the power of yoga. I attended classes and fell in love with it. My mind was calm now and my health is much better,” says Rupam, who is now also a certified yoga teacher. He reaches yoga at Reboot in Banaswadi.

The speciality about his yoga classes, explains Rupam, is that it combines music and yoga. “I play my guitar compositions, that have given amazing results to my students.”

Rupam tried his technique on a close set of friends and students and after their “positive feedback” uses his music in yoga classes.

“I play the music when the asanas are over. My main focus is to reach out to the corporate sector. “Since I come from that background, I know the immense stress it leads to. After work, we are glued to our mobiles and in the virtual world again, checking if someone liked our posts and so on. That only adds to the stress. Yoga takes care of your mental health, teaches you not to focus on just temporary joys, but what you can do for yourself, that will benefit you in the long run. Getting away from technology for a while also lets you focus inwards,” he says.

This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track