Pragya Bhatt | yogawithpragya

Books Travels

Ross Island : Walking Through the Setting of “Death in the Andamans”

April 8, 2026
Ross Island from the 15 minute ferry from Port Blair.

On the ferry to Ross Island, don’t sit in the front, and don’t wear cotton shorts. That’s what I was wearing when we hit a particularly angry wave, and got drenched. I spent the rest of the 15 minute ride perched on the edge of the boat, in a kind of malasana, thankful to my yoga practice.

Ross Island

Ross Island is an important part of most tourist itineraries to the Andamans. What makes this island interesting is that the ruins of the British cantonment are now engulfed in the humongous roots of trees growing across the island.

The overgrown roots that now overrun the British ruins at Ross Island.

The overgrown roots that now overrun the British ruins at Ross Island.

Although it was scorching in the Andamans, I was about to explore Ross Island, one of the most fascinating historical sites there. I was excited because I was also finally going to do the kind of thing book dreams are made out of – I was going to explore a location I had read about in a book I had loved. A book that had all the ingredients of a thriller – an isolated island bathed in fog, a few murders, good looking officers and intelligent women.

Death in the Andamans

My copy of "Death in the Andamans"

My copy of “Death in the Andamans”

“Death in the Andamans” is a book by MM Kaye, written in 1960. Since I’d read and loved this book, a visit to Ross Island was the most anticipated part of the trip for me. As MM Kaye wrote, “It was a disturbingly creepy place. What my Scottish grandfather would have termed ‘unchancy.'” I had to see for myself….

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Travels

2 Undiscovered Cafes in Morjim, Goa You Won’t Find in Travel Guides

March 16, 2026
Happy to see Kalindi appreciate fresh, healthy food.

With Kalindi’s arrival into our lives, things have become a bit more special. We feel like celebrating everything – first steps, to first words, complete sentences, and of course birthdays. For Animesh’s birthday this year we decided to head to Goa for a quick getaway. Kalindi loves sun, sand and sea, and we found a new Greek-style property in Morjim Beach. Over the next few days we also dined at two undiscovered cafes in Morjim, Goa that ended up becoming the highlight of our trip.

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Books

My Top 5 Books of 2025

December 30, 2025

After Kalindi my reading habits have changed. Life has been busier, and I try to find time wherever and whenever possible. So between classes, in the auto, when I can’t sleep, on a floaty in the pool. This has worked well for me because in the last two years I’ve been able to spend a lot more time reading than I had pre-Kalindi.

This year I read 19 books, and here are my top 5 books of 2025.

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Postpartum

My First Weekend Alone With Kalindi

December 25, 2025
Weekends alone with toddlers can be fun if you have support.

My first weekend alone with Kalindi was only recently, when she was a year and eight months old.

As a parent living in India, I’m so blessed to be able to afford lots and lots of help. We’ve had help with Kalindi from day 1, and I feel like I’m a more peaceful and relaxed mother because of that. I’ve had enough time to heal, have been able to balance my life with motherhood and have assimilated a lot of tidbits about child rearing, culture and even boundaries.

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Books

Yoga: A Gem for Women (Book Review)

November 19, 2025
Supta Baddhakonasana from Yoga: A Gem for Women

If you’re a yoga practitioner, chances are you’ve come across Yoga: A Gem for Women.  It’s a book that most women yoga practitioners turn to, even if they are from other lineages.

There’s no single comprehensive resource that helps women understand how yoga can support fertility, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and beyond. Reading this book when I was exploring my own health and trying to find solutions changed this book for me. It gave me a softer view of a woman’s health and taught me to  gave me a holistic view of how yoga nurtures women through all of it.

If you’ve followed my fitness journey, you know the long story of my unexplained infertility. I’ve spoken extensively about how yoga and other alternative healing methodologies helped me during that time. That’s when I turned to Yoga: A Gem for Women again, hoping to find a solution and some solace.

When Agi Wittich started a book club to read Gem again, I decided this was the perfect time to read the book cover to cover, something I hadn’t done before. Agi, herself a yoga practitioner, has also been influenced deeply by Geeta Iyengar’s teachings. You can watch our conversation about her pregnancy and postpartum experience, and the influence of yoga on her life.

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RIMYI Experiences

Reclaiming the Teacher Within

November 8, 2025
Iyengar yoga reflections.

 

This is the last night of the workshop. As always, I feel like I’m taking a lot back with me – things I may not even be aware of yet, but that will manifest themselves in my practice, my studies and in my life.

Something I really like about classes at RIMYI is that they aren’t so much about learning asanas, but about the wisdom woven into the teachings. Students often ask

How do I practice?

How do I know I’m doing it right?

How do I sequence?

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Pregnancy/Parenting Notes Postpartum RIMYI Experiences Wellness

The Pigeon

November 7, 2025
A pigeon, symbolizing motherhood and calm reflection.

There’s a pigeon who has laid eggs outside the window of my bathroom. Every time I open the door of the bathroom, no matter how quietly, she gets disturbed. I feel bad, acutely. When I was shown into this room Dheeraj told me they noticed the eggs for the first time when they came back from Diwali break, and they didn’t have the heart to push them out. Every time the pigeon flutters in alarm and walks away from her eggs I feel an ache in my heart. I know how the pigeon feels. I don’t want to be responsible for its fear, I want it to know her eggs are safe.

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RIMYI Experiences Books Postpartum

Back to the Mothership – RIMYI After 7 Years

November 6, 2025

Back to the Source

In 2019, on my last trip to the Iyengar Yoga institute in Pune, I would have never thought it would take me 6 years to come back to the Iyengar institute in Pune. Over the years many visitors I was in touch with have told me about the changes – there’s a new entrance, even a waiting area. The old order (Pandurang Sir), has given way to the new.

A pandemic and a baby later, here I am, back in Pune’s verdant climes awaiting the commencement of the weekend workshop at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune.

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Travels Temple Tours

Shri Mahaveerji Jain Temple: A Family Pilgrimage

November 6, 2025
Shri Mahaveerji Jain Temple in Karauli, Rajasthan in the evening.

I’ve visited very few Jain religious sites, the most notable being my visit to Shravanbelagola.  A few months ago I also got the chance to visit the Shri Mahaveerji temple in the Karauli district of Rajasthan, another important Jain pilgrimage site.

The temple is regarded as a Digambar Jain Atishaya Kshetra, which means signifying a miraculous site within the Digambar Jain tradition. Lord Mahaveer, the 24th tirthankara (an enlightened spiritual teacher who has conquered the cycle of birth and death), is the principal deity here.

The Road to Mahaveerji

…began with a plan.

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