The philosophy

Dr Godhwani is the founder of the School of Meaningful Experiences. He coaches entrepreneurs, promising startups, senior managers in the industry and is an adjunct faculty at IIMB. Rakesh had worked in Wipro, Intel and Qualcomm in various profiles - product marketing, sales and business development - before he took the plunge to pursue his passion for teaching and writing.

Anuja holds a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor's in Education, and her work has mainly involved counselling and teaching. At SoME, she works as a Guide and tutor to teens and pre-teens while also helping out with content creation. In addition to thoroughly loving her work at SoME, she is passionate about theatre, music, and dance, and enjoys reading as well.

Col M K Mandanna (Retd.), SM, is an Army veteran with 33 years of service. An alumnus of NDA and IMA, he got commissioned into the famous Rajputana Rifles Regiment, served in Sri Lanka as part of IPKF and commanded his unit at the Line of Control with Pakistan during the early days of the Kashmir issue. As a Guide, Col Mandanna uses his experience in the army and the corporate sector to mentor executives in communication and leadership skills.

Simran left her successful corporate career 15 years ago to follow her passion for dance and is a renowned Kathak dancer. As a Guide for the Teen Prodigy and Young Orator programmes at SoME, Simran uses her immense experience as an artist to explore connections between non-verbal and verbal communications techniques, providing her learners with a well-rounded learning experience.

Sandya has three-plus decades of experience in the field of Communication. She started her career as a journalist with The Indian Express and later worked in Technical Communication with top IT companies in the banking and IT sectors. After 18+ years at Cisco as Senior Manager leading global teams, her journey brought her to SoME, where she trains executives in leadership and communication skills.

Gayatri Nair lives in Australia, which means some of her meetings last till 11 pm AEST, turning this notoriously early sleeper into a night owl! She spends her days searching for intelligent metaphors and interesting phrases. Some days the words elude her; some days, the punctuations. It is a struggle she enjoys! Gayatri loves reading, writing, watching movies, and - much to the exasperation of her colleagues - communicating in GIFs.

Avantika describes herself as a wandering soul who enjoys exploring nature, and her love for performance and drama led her to the theatre. SoME, she believes, continually pushes her to achieve more. She started in the unfamiliar role of Community Engagement and has now transitioned to a full-time employee engaged in Business Development.

Arun’s background spectrum is wide and varied, spanning from Biotechnology to Global Management. He sees himself as a passionate individual with a drive to do right by everyone. At SoME, he is part of the business team and is involved in all things business. His hobbies include gaming, exploring different cuisines, spending time with his loved ones, and travelling.

An Electronics & Communication engineer with a Master's in Software Systems, Sridevi brings with her significant experience across the technology and edtech sectors. She is adept at blending creativity with structured and logical thinking to design innovative content, making her an integral part of the Instructional and Content Design team at SoME. During her time off from SoME, she loves to travel and dabble in art.

Urmila is a graduate of Jain University, Bangalore, and has five years of experience in personal and home tutoring. She is also a certified makeup and hairstylist. Her journey in tutoring led her to the School of Meaningful Experiences, where she currently works as a Digital Media Executive.

Murari is a devoted disciple of the renowned Pt. Birju Maharaj and an acclaimed artist in his own right. He began his journey in dance very early in life and is today a brilliant performer, creative choreographer and dedicated teacher.

With around 25 plus years of experience in HR and Operations, and having taken VRS from the role of Vice President, Chandrika still had the fire within to mentor other individuals. SoME provided an opportunity to be a mentor to learners and it was a chance she couldn’t let go.

Shruthi is a biotech engineer who quickly discovered her passion for education. Her specialisation in curriculum and pedagogy led her to work closely with the government education system in multiple districts of Karnataka. At SoME, she creates engaging and creative content for teen and pre-teen programmes. She is also a singer and student of Hindustani classical music.

Reuben has a degree in engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and lives on the thrills and lulls of being a back seat entrepreneur at the School of Meaningful Experiences. He is part of the business development team and heads the retail programmes.

Ashok has over four decades of experience leading key business positions in Indian and multinational operations in a range of companies. In his last executive position before retirement, for several years, he was the Managing Director – Asia Pacific at Carrier Transicold, a business unit of Carrier Corporation. He is an Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta Alumnus.

Kavita is a seasoned HR professional with broad experience in recruitment, HR operations, Employee Engagement, and Internal Communications. Along with being a corporate trainer, she is also a certified PoSH, POCSO enabler with expertise in mentoring, coaching and personality development. She believes in experimenting and developing ways to make communication, personality attributes, and language skills better.

Venu has been in the packaging industry for more than 35 years and is also a Visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute of Packaging, Chennai and SIES School of Packaging. He did his Post Graduate Diploma in Printing from JJ School of Arts. In his spare time, he loves reading Akbar and Birbal stories to his naughty but adorable one-year-old grandson.

Sugandha has a teaching experience of 14 years and is also a former teacher at Symbiosis Nursery School. Prior to that, she used to work as a Quality analyst in CVDPL (Champion Voyager Designers Pvt. Ltd.) for four years. In her spare time, she loves playing basketball and cycling.

Shivani was born in Mumbai and lives in Goa - yes, it is as lovely as everyone thinks it is! She has 16+ years of experience in the corporate sector and began as a Personal Banker in HDFC Bank and further excelled in various profiles and became an Intuitive and proactive Trainer-L&D Manager in SBI Life Insurance for the entire Goa. She absolutely loves hanging out with her 16-year-old daughter in her spare time.

Meenal graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, followed by an MBA, and worked as a market researcher in the FMCG industry for over 12 years. She enjoys writing, public speaking and connecting with others, and is currently learning to speak French. In between all these, she is also living and enjoying the process called Life!

With a BSc in Electronics and an MBA in Finance, Brinda come with a work experience of over 13 years in the forex and retail banking sector. Having taken a career break to spend quality time with her children, she has been a part of many social ventures to serve the underprivileged, working in varying capacities. She has also worked with a technology incubator focussing on healthcare startups. Reading, painting, and travelling take up her free time.