Published Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News

PAWAN KUMAR

AGE: 63

HEIGHT: 5-foot-8

WEIGHT: 141 pounds

PERSONAL: Kumar and his wife, Usha Rani, have been married 34 years, and live in Uttar Pradesh, India. They are visiting their two sons in San Jose and Sunnyvale and awaiting the arrival of their third grandchild in March.

OCCUPATION: Kumar supervises his 10-acre mango orchard.

BACKGROUND: ``In India, 80 percent of the population is poor farmers,'' Kumar says. ``They are the healthy ones because they perform physical work.'' He didn't fall into that category. Kumar indulged in high-fat foods and very little exercise, paying the price in 1984 when he suffered a heart attack. His health deteriorated further. Barely able to walk, he refused a much-needed heart bypass in 1995, opting instead to treat his heart problems with yoga, ayurvedic medicine and diet control.

REGIMEN: Kumar's early-morning routine includes the practice of Kapalbhati pranayam (deep breathing) in Vajarasana position for 30 minutes, five minutes each of Pawanmukta and Uttanpad asanas, rolling exercises, then 30 minutes of prayer and meditation. He walks for an hour every day and adheres to a low-fat vegetarian diet. A year after starting the exercise program, an angiography revealed the same blockage -- plus new arteries that have increased the overall blood supply to his heart.

RESULTS: ``My father is healthier than I am,'' says his oldest son, Anurag. ``Every day I think that I should start doing yoga. I've been thinking that for the last two years.''

OBSTACLES: Trips to the United States, he says. ``I can't practice on a plane.''

TIPS AND COMMENTS: ``Yoga has changed my life,'' Kumar says. He avoided bypass surgery -- a very desirable accomplishment in a developing Third World country where the procedure is unaffordable, he says. Instead of relying on conventional medicine and doctors, yoga has created an environment that allows the body to heal itself.