This IITian Quit a Stable Career to Teach Yoga.; Today, His Classes Have 7.5 Lakh People Joining Live

Imagine this: your IIT-graduate child earning nothing for six years after completing one of the most prestigious degrees in India. That’s exactly what Saurabh Bothra’s parents went through. But their patience paid off in ways they could never have imagined.

Today, their son isn’t just an engineer; he’s a six-time world record holder in yoga, with over 1.26 million students across 169 countries learning from his methods.

The path sounds extraordinary, but when you ask Saurabh about the challenges behind it, he simply smiles and says he’s never really faced any. Perhaps that comes from the simplicity his parents taught him — a life rooted in minimalism — or from the quiet inspiration of his grandfather, whose footsteps he still strives to follow.

A legacy of service that began in a tiny village

Born in the small village of Dhanaj in Maharashtra’s Washim district, Saurabh traces his roots to Rajasthan. His grandfather, Dr Laxmichand Ji Bothra, completed his MBBS from Nagpur Medical College in 1955. He could have chosen a comfortable life in the city, yet he decided instead to move to a remote village with no roads, schools, or doctors, determined to serve where help was needed most.

Over time, he became more than a physician; the villagers elected him sarpanch, and he worked tirelessly to transform their lives, building roads, opening a government health centre, and starting a school.

Growing up on these stories, inspired by his grandfather’s selflessness and the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, Saurabh found his purpose, not in engineering success, but in the art of transformation through yoga.

“I was very fascinated with Swami Vivekananda. I just wanted to be like him. As a child, I dreamt of a moment where one morning I would wake up and say ‘brothers and sisters’ to a huge crowd,” says Saurabh.

From scarcity to discipline: Lessons from a one-bedroom home

In 1996, when Saurabh was just four years old, his father made a life-changing decision. Having grown up in poverty and been unable to pursue his own dream of becoming a doctor due to financial constraints, he chose a different path to serve people.

Along with his elder brother, he moved to Nagpur to start a business, not merely to earn a living, but to create livelihoods. His goal was clear and selfless: to employ at least a hundred people.

That vision left a lasting impression on young Saurabh. Even as a child, he dreamed of running a business that would offer jobs to a hundred others, continuing his father’s mission in his own way.

The early years, however, were far from easy.

Saurabh and his sister Trishala grew up in a cramped one-bedroom home in Nagpur, sharing it with two cousins, their parents, and their uncle and aunt. Yet, Saurabh looks back on those modest beginnings with gratitude. Living in close quarters, he says, taught him discipline, resilience, and the quiet strength that would later guide his journey.

“We were eight people staying in a one hall, bedroom, kitchen, so we all would wake up really early. The entire house was up by 5 am. This habit stayed with me all my life,” he tells us while cherishing those childhood moments.

Over the years, Saurabh’s parents worked tirelessly to build the life they had once only dreamed of. Their determination paid off, and their children followed in their footsteps.

Both Saurabh and his sister, Trishala, earned coveted spots at India’s top institutes: IIT-BHU and IIT Bombay, respectively. After graduating, Trishala went on to pursue an MBA in London, eventually settling there.

But for Saurabh, the path ahead wasn’t as straightforward.

An IITian who chose introspection over income

During his second year of college, a book gifted by his grandfather, a spiritual text, stirred something deep within him. It sparked questions he couldn’t ignore, and answers he couldn’t find in equations or lectures.

One day, while travelling from Banaras to Nagpur, he happened to meet a group from a local meditation centre. That encounter would change the course of his life entirely. He smiles as he recalls, “I bought food for them from Nagpur’s famous Haldiram, and in return, they gifted me a free meditation session.”

This session was the turning point.

Saurabh started meditating regularly and saw relief in his childhood asthma for the first time. By the time he graduated in 2014, he was sure that he wanted to teach this to more people. He returned to his family business, but he still felt the urge to help others.

Hence, after three months, he left the business, volunteered with a meditation group, and started travelling all over India to teach Yoga.

“You can’t imagine the joy. To just wake up every day and think about how I can teach this amazing practice to more people who can benefit. I enjoyed each day like a party,” he says.

For Saurabh, the dream of giving employment to 100 people became the dream of healing 100 people.

When passion meets parental pragmatism

But while Saurabh found joy in teaching, his parents couldn’t hide their concern. Even as the world shut down during the COVID-19 lockdown, he continued conducting free online yoga sessions, sometimes for hours a day, without earning a single rupee.

On 22 March 2020, the first day of India’s lockdown, only three people logged in for his online class. It could have been disheartening, but Saurabh persisted. Still, his parents sat him down for a heartfelt conversation.

“They were never against my passion,” Saurabh recalls. “They just didn’t want me to be dependent. The only thing they asked me to do was to earn enough to survive, no matter what profession I chose. It made complete sense to me.”

That conversation became a turning point. “I also realised that since my classes were free, students didn’t take them seriously. Apart from earning for myself, I also needed to create a sense of commitment for them. I started charging Rs 100 per month.”

What began as a small class of three slowly grew into a hundred. For Saurabh, that was enough, until the second wave of COVID-19 changed everything.

Friends from across the country began joining his sessions, including fellow IITian Anshul Agrawal. It was Anshul who challenged him to think bigger — to scale up and set measurable goals. “He told me to aim for 5,000 participants in a year,” says Saurabh.

They set a plan in motion.

The very first large-scale online session broke all expectations — over one lakh people joined live. It was a breakthrough moment that transformed Saurabh’s quiet experiment into a global movement.

From then on, every International Yoga Day became a new milestone. In 2023, Habuild set its first world record for the largest attendance in a virtual yoga class, certified by the World Records Union, with 1,34,057 participants.

The milestones came one after another. In January 2024, Habuild set a Guinness World Record for the most viewers of a yoga live stream on YouTube, an astonishing 2,46,252 participants.

That same year, the platform earned two more World Records Union titles, one for the most live viewers in a single day for a yoga session (5,99,162 participants), and another for the largest virtual meditation class, attended by 2,87,711 people.

By 2025, Saurabh’s dream had reached truly global heights. On International Yoga Day, Habuild hosted the world’s largest synchronised virtual yoga session, with 7,52,074 participants joining live from 169 countries.

In September 2025, they achieved a sixth world record, the longest-running virtual yoga class ever held.

But behind these staggering numbers lay something deeply personal — a quiet shift sparked by one conversation at home.

The real turning point: A lesson from his mother

“This happened because of my mother,” Saurabh says with a smile.

“Most of my students were engineers like me — yoga was something good to know, not need to know. They were irregular, and few promoted it beyond their circle.”

“Then one day, my mother came to me for help with her knee pain. I told her, ‘Don’t do yoga just to relieve pain — do it regularly so your knees become strong enough never to hurt again.’ She became my student, but soon started correcting me!”

“When I first asked Saurabh for help with my knee pain, I didn’t imagine I would end up becoming his student and, in some ways, his teacher too,” she shares.

“I told him that women my age need simpler asanas and easier language to follow, not technical terms meant for youngsters. To my surprise, he really listened and changed his entire approach. Today, when I see him designing yoga sessions especially for women over 40, I feel proud that he’s making it accessible for people like me, women who’ve spent years caring for others, and are now finally learning to care for themselves.”

He laughs, remembering her gentle honesty. “She told me my sessions weren’t meant for her — they were too intense. She also asked me to simplify the language. Words like ‘hamstring’ didn’t make sense to her generation. That was an eye-opener. I realised that women above 40 — especially mothers are the ones who need yoga the most. They work tirelessly and often ignore their own health.”

From that day on, Saurabh shifted his focus to women who managed homes and families, yet rarely found time for themselves. He introduced flexible class timings, simplified asanas, and even free physiotherapy sessions for beginners.

The response was overwhelming. What started as a small effort soon evolved into a nationwide movement. Saurabh realised that the key wasn’t just to teach yoga — it was to help people build lasting habits.

His startup, Habuild, introduced 21-day habit-forming yoga challenges, free for the first round, so that participants could experience the benefits firsthand. Once the routine stuck, most continued as paying members, turning consistency into culture.

One of the biggest reasons for Habuild’s success is Saurabh’s own unwavering consistency. “If I want others to be regular, I have to live by that standard myself,” he says.

Remarkably, he hasn’t missed a single class in five years, not even during major life events like his sister’s wedding, while recovering from COVID and dengue, or even when he broke his leg.

“That’s when Chotu helped me keep up with my consistency,” Saurabh smiles.

“I’ve seen Saurabh bhaiya’s dedication up close — he never misses a single day of practice, no matter what,” says Chotu, whose real name is Pramod Yadav.

“Even when he was unwell or injured, he would still find a way to show up. When he broke his leg, I knew I had to step in and make sure his classes didn’t stop, because his consistency is what inspires everyone around him, including me. That’s when I realised yoga for him isn’t just about teaching — it’s about living what he believes in.”

Anyone who attends his sessions knows Chotu, the quiet yet incredible instructor who performs the most demanding asanas with ease. Chotu has been part of Saurabh’s life since childhood. His father worked in Saurabh’s father’s factory, and his mother was the family cook.

Having lived with Saurabh’s family since he was six, Chotu stepped in to teach when Saurabh was injured — and has been an integral part of Habuild ever since.

From family support to a 300-member force

As Habuild’s reach expanded, Saurabh invited his sister Trishala to join him. Though she had a well-paying corporate job in the UK, she longed for work that felt meaningful. This opportunity brought her back home, to family, to purpose, and to impact.

“When Saurabh asked me to join him, it felt like life had come full circle,” says Trishala Bothra. “I had a well-paying job in the UK, but somewhere I was searching for something more meaningful — something that connected back to my roots. What he was building wasn’t just a venture; it was a revolution in helping people heal, something our family has always believed in since my grandfather’s time. Joining Habuild gave me the chance to come back home, be with my family, and contribute to a purpose that truly matters.”

What began as a four-person initiative has grown into a team of over 300 employees, fulfilling Saurabh’s childhood dream of creating livelihoods for 100 people and then some.

Every morning, Saurabh greets over six lakh participants with a cheerful, “Good morning… let’s start.”

“I can never compare myself to Swami Vivekananda,” he says humbly. “But I guess that dream has come true — for that child who once imagined saying ‘brothers and sisters’ to a sea of people, and now gets to live it every day.”

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com