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Category: Expressions

Power Woman- Gita Gopinath, the woman behind Sundri, a world class salon!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

When we talk about unisex salons, most of us end up thinking it as a new age funda, but not many know that there are women who have been ahead of times, and they did this some 27 odd years ago, yes 27..

Gita Gopinath is one such woman, who not only dared to dream but also fulfilled and nurtured her dream to the extent that today she boasts of a salon that is 27 years old. Gita was married back then when she started all this, she faced some resistance from her family, more so from the husband and in-laws side, but she did not give up. She was one amongst the first batch who was trained by Blossom Kochar, back then. Once she enrolled for the program with Blossom Kochar, there was no looking back. Starting with a small salon, today she has a multistories building to call of her own. Situated in sector 14 market of Faridabad, Sundri by Gita Gopinath is one of the most reputed salons in the city. Here is Gita Gopinath at her salon..

Gita at work

Equipped with the latest technologies and trends, today Sundri is a perfect mix of modern methods and age old experience. The place is a beautiful one indeed and Gita’s personality reflects in each corner of the place. I was so surprised to find a floor place dedicated to a small library having philosophical books, on positive mindset and lifestyle, exclusively for the members of the salon, where in they can sit in peace, read, relax and unwind. Its such a beautiful thought I must say and the credit goes to Gita for thinking and planning all this along with her designer Deepa Devarajan, who helped bringing that serenity to the place. Deepa not only helped on designing this floor, but she is responsible for the overall design of the salon and its a perfect example of one power woman meeting and collaborating with the other.

Gita Gopinath with Tamanna Sing and Deepa Devarajan

Coming back to Gita, she has not just successfully taken Sundri to newer heights, but also passed on the legacy to her younger son. Karthik Gopinath, Gita’s son was a step ahead of his mother, as he not just got inclined to this business of styling at a much younger age, but also added feathers to his cap by winning prestigious competitions into hair styling in his teens itself. He is a shy dude who knows his work well and lets his work speak instead of himself. With the mother son duo putting in all their efforts at the right place, I see the future of Sundri stronger than ever. It was a pleasure meeting both of them and learning so much about their life, their struggles, their perseveration and their devotion towards their work. Its truly inspiring to meet such people who are so clear of their dreams and leave no stone unturned to follow and realise them.

Gita with her team..

I wish them both a great deal of luck, and for all of my readers, all  I urge is that do visit Sundri once, get yourself pampered with their services and you will know how different your experience will be.

The Beard Story…!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

There is a notorious group roaming in Manali. Their guilt: Growing Beard. Meet the people working in an adventure sports channel, 4Play.in. Most of them have nourished a beard, with some beards flowing long enough for others to gaze at them with astonishment. You ask anyone in Manali about the place where bearded men live, and they will point to the 4Play Hoffice.

Is it a company policy to grow a beard?”

Well, it’s a personal choice for everyone. It just somehow happens that all the beard fanatics are working together,” says Sukrit Gupta, co-founder of 4Play Media and Communication, and a proud owner of a bandholz beard. The company cites itself as a beard neutral workplace. No one is judged on the basis of their appearance and keeping a beard falls under the same category. Work is of the utmost priority and if that is not hampered, then everything is poised.

“What’s the biggest hinder it can cause at the work? Get dipped into your coffee? Soak all the caffeine required?

Don’t worry. We have three dogs who make sure to keep our mornings active each day,” jokes Prashant Bhatt, Creative lead at 4Play.in.

They do have a point here. Many corporate offices forbid keeping a beard. This is because, according to them, having a beard emits a laid-back attitude towards the person as well as the organization. You look like a ruffian as compared to a clean shaven person. This sounds very prejudiced and unfair in a world where we try to recognize someone on the basis of merits rather than appearance. Hence, growing a beard in an office environment seems to be another ceiling to break. And it looks like this company has got the right tools and attitude to break it.

They are progressing to become a trendsetter in this regards. Moreover, they challenge each other as to who can grow denser and longer beard.

Exhausted with the innumerable questions about their beard, the team decided to respond in a very funny way. By bringing their funny bones into the picture, they made a video explaining their reasons to grow a beard. The reasons are quite humorous and bizarre. This video sends two great messages. One, that they are not shy to make fun of themselves. And secondly, they teach us that there is always a lighter side to tackle trivial issues.

As if this video was not comic enough to circulate among your friends and colleagues for a good laugh, these guys decided to bring our focus to serious health issues regarding men, especially prostate cancer. Hence, for every share and comment on the video, 4Play.in will be sharing Re 1 to Movember Foundation, a foundation tackling men’s health on a global scale, year round. Watching a funny beard video (as rare as it sounds) on a No Shave November was definitely a great and, thanks to this cause, a noble idea.

Wine Hampers for Festive Season

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

On the onset of the festive season, people, thankfully, are shifting from conventional gifting options like from sweet and getting on to more interesting gift items with each passing festive season like Diwali, X-Mas and so on, but the Wine is a wonderful host gift.

The Happy High’s Wine Concierge

The Happy High one of India’s wine and spirit experience co has launched the Wine concierge, a wine selection and gifting service. The Happy High advises clients on wines; based on budgets, preferences and the end recipient. The service can be availed throughout the year, be it advice on a personal collection or for gifting purposes.

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Festivities call for gifts, give and take is the norm, a goodwill exercise, it symbolizes togetherness and gifting companies are waiting to ride on the back of ‘Diwali gifting’ and offer to source everything under the sun.  The Happy High is a specialist in wines and spirits, run by Ajit Balgi a certified wine educator and an S P Jain alumnus they know what it takes to create an impression and also let your loved ones drink good wine!

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“People in India are taking up to wines and want to gift wines. They however get blinded by the fancy packaging, nuts, chia bars,  chocolates et al and wine takes a back seat, ‘House wines’ the sellers call them, usually wines not moving, old or on deals.”

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“We at The Happy High provide options for the discerning wine lovers who are looking to gift good wine and not just for the sake of it. We help corporate houses to pick wines based on their budgets and taste profiles to ensure that the message of quality and wine finesse is communicated to the recipient.”  says Ajit Balgi the Founder and Beverage Consultant.

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To know more about their services you can log onto www.thehappyhigh.com.

What are you gifting this festive season…??

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

With the festive and wedding season approaching, we always are thinking on how to make our gifting experience more unique. We all want to move away from the usual gifts, and make our loved one feels special with something that is different, unique yet inexpensive. So here is our hand picked list of all beautiful gifting options that you can consider for this festive season.

Chocolates and Desserts never really go out of fashion, so how about gifting your loved ones a box of handmade chocolates, or donuts or beautiful dessert jars or cupcakes and many more delightful sweets. Ikreate has been into the business since 10 years and have been gifting partners to brands like Colgate, Marico, Sarda Plywood etc apart from private elite clients. Their chocolates and desserts have not just got rave reviews from the clients, but also repeat orders for years together. The best part about Ikreate is the love and passion that the put into everything they make, maintaining the quality over the years and yet being very very reasonable.

Donuts

Price Rs 400/dozen

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Cupcakes

Price Rs 400/6pcs

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Chocolates

Price Rs 650/kg onwards

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For more, check out their Zomato page

Handikart.co.in, an online handicraft’s store that offers assorted range of genuine and original handicraft products across India, has announced its exquisite range of products across categories to celebrate its first Diwali. These exclusive products are designed by the untouched & rural artisans from various parts of India and showcase the undying spirit of the artisans’ and their creativity.

The mesmerizing range of gifting options from handikart.co.in has you covered this festive season with idols of lord Ganesha, goddess Lakshmi, eye catching puja accessories like diyas, t-light holders and amazingly genuine brass ware products, terracotta, pattachitra, leather lamps, marble products and more.

With array of lamps, lanterns and decorative accessories, Handikart’s latest collection is about dreamy luminescence and shimmering brilliance.

The collection is priced between Rs. 100 and Rs. 5000 and will be up for grab from 5th Oct till 30th Oct with home delivery across India.

Over 1000 handcrafted products across 27 categories are available from traditional local artisans across the country. From Gorara Stone’s fine carvings to intricate Zardozi boxes of Old Agra; from Sambhal’s hand-made camel bone jewellery boxes to north east’s eco-friendly bamboo and cane products; from Orissa’s Palm leaf art and Pattachitra art to Bhadohi’s Shikauli baskets, Handikart is truly a place where Indian essence comes alive.

Price – Rs. 770

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Price – Rs. 1,800

leather_lamp

Price – Rs. 1,009

marble_ganesha

 

Price – Rs. 198

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Check more on their website

Surprise Someone.in is another wonderful online portal where you can get beautiful boxes, photo frames, handmade bags and a lot of other gift items, which will help create an element of surprise for your loved ones. The price range is very affordable and a lot of times you will double check the price, because the moment you will look at an item you will assume a higher price, but when you will see the rates surprise someone is charging, you will be amazed. They are so pocket friendly. I have personally used this portal a lot of times to gift my loved ones, on father’s day (check post here), to surprise my son (check post here), on rakhi (check post here) and other occasions (check post here).

Hut Shaped Box

Price- Rs. 499

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Folding Rack Box

Price Rs. 399

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House Warming Green Goodie Box

Price Rs. 100

Get more options on their website 

So make the most of this festive season by gifting your loved ones these beautiful gifts, have a great season ahead!

Mystical Mondays- Shine with Self Love, by Manoj Lekhi

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

“ I love myself and I will do whatever I like”. “”I love myself, whatever I do, I like.” 

There is a huge difference between the two sentences. 

First statement says that happiness comes only after you do what you like to do while the second statement explains that we are already happy and express our happiness in whatever we do. The first one falls under an impression where one’s love is dependent on outside factors and external situations while the latter expresses

Self-Love. Love yourself, don’t wait for outward happenings to feel loved.

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The Majority of people, almost 99% fall under the section where they seek love through various elements in and around their surroundings. Likewise, I feel happy when I have a Coca Cola. If I get a new job or hike in my salary or a new car or bike, then I get a feeling of happiness, then I see love in my life. This way happiness is dependent on an outward situation and is always seen after an event occurs.

This happiness is not self-love this can be called as self-pleasure which we call Happiness.

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This further brings us to what is that fine line between Self-Love and self pleasure? 

We often are mistaken comparing love and pleasure being on the same pitch.

Nothing is wrong with pleasure, in fact, our pleasure enhances when we are joyful, its like icing on the cake. Pleasure is achieved from outside, whereas love is derived from within. There are two phases for this, one where we go after something for fulfillment versus we are already fulfilled and expressing ourselves through that thing.

Lets say, I love a sweet; when I have that sweet I am happy, versus I am happy with or without a sweet, and if I happen to have one, it’s like cherry on the cake.

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There is no harm in experiencing  happiness through different situations or elements, but then that’s temporary. It is when you have happiness from within and the love of self , that is genuine happiness and that stays permanent and forever.

One is going upstream while one is going with the stream, one is flowing against the river, one is flowing with the river. When you are already joyful, you express it through different mediums, be it dance, be it music, sports, studies or cooking. What matters is being joyful!

How to be In Self-Love and in genuine happiness ” no matter, what happens” ?

This is the science of inward journey, science of Meditation which we teach in our SSY program (SSY- SCIENCE OF SILENCE YOGA). When you start living joyfully without a reason you start expressing it through your daily behavior. The action which flows out is the beautiful example that is set in your life. Likewise, when action flows through anger, irritation and frustration it will always hamper one’s journey of discovering Self-Love and happiness.
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Self-love, is a process where one dedicates one’s time for oneself, “the inward-journey”, to catch one’s thoughts, patterns, beliefs. When a person rectifies these patterns, he identifies the blocking factors and uplifting moments and draws out the negative thoughts and welcomes the positive one’s.

There are a number of practices for one to discover the path of self-love. One such practice  towards discovering the treasure of Self-Love is known as LiYA 1 HOUR where you spend one hour for yourself, every day, by cutting yourself off from the outer world and spending that joyous time in doing something you like and enjoy.

As we are trapped in outer worldly issues, we often reap fruits of depression, frustration, irritation, anger and even sometimes revenge. But when we spend our time on our Self, we reap the fruits of hopefulness, joyfulness, peacefulness, blissfulness and godliness.

Start to live life by loving Your Self!

A person who is in Self-Love is fulfilled within and life is all joy!

Rise in Self-Love and shine to a beautiful life!

About the Author

Manoj Lekhi is a truth seeker at heart and a guide to thousands Indians all over the world. At the age of 25, he met Guruji Shree Rishi Prabhakarji, creator of the Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) program. Under Guruji’s guidance and as his key disciple, Manoj Lekhi himself has blossomed into a Business and Life coach.

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He is a passionate trainer in areas like management and leadership development. He has been teaching management mantras to many corporate honchos for business expansion for over a decade. In the last two years he has conducted 250 programs across 11 cities and touched the lives of 15000 fellow Indians in India and abroad. His passion for meditation and SSY has inspired him to adopt an entire village near the foothills of Pune. He has also started a school there inspired by the Gurukul structure. The Gurukul encourages community living and inspires everyone to become a contributing member of the society. The entire community stays, works, meditates, serves and plays together amongst the rustic dwellings and wide expanse of sprawling greens. Apart from this he is also the author of the books; ‘Your Child is your Parent’ and ‘ Money Wealth and Abundance’. Manoj Lekhi’s love for Silence and Solitude makes him an obvious nature-lover. He loves trekking and loves taking a walk in the mountains and forests. Apart from this he also enjoys listening to the modern day Western spiritual and professional Gurus like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer on one hand to ZigZiglar and Brian Tracy on the other.

To Know More Log On To: http://www.manojjlekhi.in/

 

Mystical Mondays- The Joy is in Details, By Manoj Lekhi

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Knowledge and Awareness:

Why is it so that knowledge is given so much of importance all over the world? Why is it that Goddess Saraswati is given so much of respect and importance?

Increase in Knowledge may not necessarily mean Increase in Awareness

BUT

Increase in Awareness definitely means Increase in Knowledge.

Further, Awareness can be divided into two types:

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Outside Awareness :

An expert mountaineer is aware of each and every minute change of climate from heat to rains to snow. Likewise an expert Musician is aware of every sound he uses in singing and making of a song.

An expert artist is aware of the different shades of color that can describe his idea best through his painting, similarly a successful businessman knows all in and outs of his business and that is one of the major reasons he is a great Micro-Manager (also known as Micro-Management).

Be it any field you are part of, mastering whatever you do is one of the key aspect that makes you an expert or experienced person in your field.

An expert cricketer is aware of the field placements and his players, this allows him to play shots in between the gaps. A practiced dancer is extremely aware of small minute steps and hand movements which makes a beautiful performance in front of an audience. The same goes for a skillful actor and director, the actor is aware of each and every angle and pose he needs  to shoot in front of the camera while the director is fully aware of his cinematography.

This way we have thousands of fields where people will give great importance to details and end up being highly successful in terms of money, fame or expertise. Some may end being famous like Amitabh Bachan or maybe one like Sachin Tendulkar or a famous actor or cricketer or Musician. When you do, whatever you do, do in depth, it makes you happy, confident and creates an eagerness to achieve more and more. They enjoy the small joys of detailing. There is a different blissfulness that you receive when you master your respective field. Any person who goes into  learning every minute detail, he enjoys his life to the fullest. Success may or may not happen, but they enjoy and are passionate about their work/professional life because joy lies in the details.

 Inside Awareness:

However the above set of people who are into detailing may enjoy their professional place but might end up disturbed, unhappy and dissatisfied, if their planned goals  aren’t achieved. Let’s say it as their inner awareness. Where a person who is aware of his inner-self and he is fully contained, satisfied and successful. For him, what matters is knowing everything inside- outside rather than just the outer world.  Aware of his body movements, more aware about his breath, even more aware of his thoughts, even more subtly aware of his feelings and emotions and more aware of his intentions before he takes any action. This person enjoys the detailing of his inward self. He does not need any goal, nor does he target any destination, detailing itself is the destination. His or her joy is in the process of discovering the inner-self, inner-intentions, feelings,  thoughts, words, which designs his actions for any responses. His behavior is an outcome of his words which is an outcome of his thoughts, feelings, intentions, understanding details. For example, the person who is aware of inner-self is aware of every single thing he does, for instance drinking water and feeling fully satiated. 

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The one who can comprehend the inner-self is automatically the one who can solve the outside world’s puzzle. The one who rises in inner consciousness rises in the level of outer consciousness too. He is master of his own universe. But the reverse need not be true.

A person who is very alert in his inward journey puts his complete attention also in his outward journey. His inside vibrations transmit to outside.

Both ways are wonderful, when you go from inside to outside, it becomes much easier, because it is not dependent on outside factors, while in outside awareness the person is dependent on various other factors. He does not need an outward goal or outward validation, target, destination. His/her Joy is in the inner self- understanding. Go the inward to outward journey which is simpler, easier, joyful and guaranteed success. Outward to in is long, tedious, hardworking and cannot be guaranteed to be joyful. Go for subtle inwards and express it outwards.

Little Things = Great Joy

It is self fulfilling to know each and every pulse and breath of work or things you are into. The joy lies in the details. When you know inside- outside, you enjoy everything you do. This understanding is a medicine that can solve various issues in your life. From simple tasks like cooking to holding a big time business, when one is involved in every minute aspect of the task one’s joy multiplies manifold

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Know this. Practice this. Experience this.

The joy is in the details.

 

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About the Author

Manoj Lekhi is a truth seeker at heart and a guide to thousands Indians all over the world. At the age of 25, he met Guruji Shree Rishi Prabhakarji, creator of the Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) program. Under Guruji’s guidance and as his key disciple, Manoj Lekhi himself has blossomed into a Business and Life coach.

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He is a passionate trainer in areas like management and leadership development. He has been teaching management mantras to many corporate honchos for business expansion for over a decade. In the last two years he has conducted 250 programs across 11 cities and touched the lives of 15000 fellow Indians in India and abroad. His passion for meditation and SSY has inspired him to adopt an entire village near the foothills of Pune. He has also started a school there inspired by the Gurukul structure. The Gurukul encourages community living and inspires everyone to become a contributing member of the society. The entire community stays, works, meditates, serves and plays together amongst the rustic dwellings and wide expanse of sprawling greens. Apart from this he is also the author of the books; ‘Your Child is your Parent’ and ‘ Money Wealth and Abundance’. Manoj Lekhi’s love for Silence and Solitude makes him an obvious nature-lover. He loves trekking and loves taking a walk in the mountains and forests. Apart from this he also enjoys listening to the modern day Western spiritual and professional Gurus like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer on one hand to ZigZiglar and Brian Tracy on the other.

To Know More Log On To: http://www.manojjlekhi.in/

 

Mystical Mondays-Short Term Pleasures or Long Term Joy.. What Do You Choose…? By Manoj Lekhi

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Our Life is a result of the choices we make! When we look around in the world and observe people, we notice most people go after immediate pleasures for instant happiness which often does not endure for long. They indulge in short-term pleasures and in due course experience long-term discomfort in their life! You must be familiar with the adage SHORT TERM GAIN = LONG TERM PAIN!

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For example anytime we take a shortcut we may get instant results , but the pain we experience later is very disturbing. Take the example of a robber or a criminal who robs/cheats people. The gain is immediate but when he is caught and put behind the bars he is marred for life and that pain is very distressing! A short-term gain BUT a long-term pain!

Take an example of a business enterprise. Lot of people use shortcuts to climb up faster on the corporate ladder. The faster they rise for short term comfort, the faster they fall to an unpleasant long term pain. When we use incorrect ways to reach the top we do experience , short term gain that results into long term pain. There are many actors that reach overnight stardom with sheer luck. They are tremendously happy & joyous at the time. But when the fame disappears they are unable to face that. This of course does not apply to actors who have spent years and years in practice and gradually come to fame. One such actor that comes to my minds is Hrithik Roshan who put in a lot of effort in bagging his first hit.When interviewed he was asked, ‘How do you feel, becoming an overnight celebrity?’ He replied saying that this is not an overnight dream come true.What you see is just the outcome of years and years of practice which has made me famous today!

Life is not about shortcuts! Life is about taking the long route consistently with hard work and perseverance. It maybe painful and disquieting at the beginning but you will undoubtedly find peace and high divinity at the end. Lets take food for an example – people love to eat fried and junk food. It is very palatable and pleasurable but over a period of time it gives numerous problems to the digestive system resulting in ill health. Everybody desires the instant coffee!They consume considerable amounts for momentary enjoyment. Take drinking and smoking for instance. They give instantaneous pleasure but the damaging consequences to the body is known by all!. Now about Exercise. No one loves to exercise early in the morning. But many people take that effort of consistent exercise every day, realizing that the long term results is worth hundredfold.

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Many people ask me “What is the pleasure in getting up early every morning?”. But they later on realize its value as age catches up on them. I was one of those in the first 30 years of my life. I used to think why trouble the body so much? Reminiscing my foolishness at that time, I realize, I am now compensating for it. If we go the quick and shortcut way, we have to pay the price later on. If we go gradually day by day it will pay reap benefits in the long term.

With this experience and understanding we have developed a disciplined habit called – LiYA 1 hour. This includes vision book reading, setting your dreams and goals, being in gratitude , meditating and planning your day on a daily one to one basis. It is a very disciplined way which will pay rich dividends in the long run. But many people don’t follow it out of just sheer laziness or procrastination. The ones who follow it experience short term discomfort for long term comfort and fulfillment.

Take relationships also in this context. People want love instantly, but relationships is a process. It requires attention, energy and care. Just like the plant requires day to day water, manure, sunlight the same goes for the relationship which requires day to day nurturing. Anyone who wants a healthy relationship between two people need to work on it consistently. The same goes in the case of a marriage between the husband and wife both have to work on it consistently on a day to day, month to year basis.

About the Author:

Manoj Lekhi is a truth seeker at heart and a guide to thousands Indians all over the world. At the age of 25, he met Guruji Shree Rishi Prabhakarji, creator of the Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) program. Under Guruji’s guidance and as his key disciple, Manoj Lekhi himself has blossomed into a Business and Life coach.

maxresdefault

He is a passionate trainer in areas like management and leadership development. He has been teaching management mantras to many corporate honchos for business expansion for over a decade. In the last two years he has conducted 250 programs across 11 cities and touched the lives of 15000 fellow Indians in India and abroad.

His passion for meditation and SSY has inspired him to adopt an entire village near the foothills of Pune. He has also started a school there inspired by the Gurukul structure. The Gurukul encourages community living and inspires everyone to become a contributing member of the society. The entire community stays, works, meditates, serves and plays together amongst the rustic dwellings and wide expanse of sprawling greens. Apart from this he is also the author of the books; ‘Your Child is your Parent’ and ‘ Money Wealth and Abundance’.

Manoj Lekhi’s love for Silence and Solitude makes him an obvious nature-lover. He loves trekking and loves taking a walk in the mountains and forests. Apart from this he also enjoys listening to the modern day Western spiritual and professional Gurus like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer on one hand to ZigZiglar and Brian Tracy on the other.

To Know More Log On To: http://www.manojjlekhi.in/

Thought for the Day

Posted on by Sunil Malhotra

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