WB Wellbeing Magazine March 2022

101BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

“What really excites me about leading
change efforts is the potential end
state where something significant
has been achieved while ensuring

the success of people involved in the
process”

How did your wellbeing journey start and what of Conviviality. What underpins this vision is a strong
does it mean to you? ambition to be the number one Wine & Spirits compa-
On the personal front, I would like to advocate and ny. This ambition is supported by leveraging existing
actively contribute towards climate change efforts. I strengths such as a strong distribution channel, ability to
feel that even though corporates, public bodies, etc. are grow & attract the right talent etc. The real growth and
starting to play their part, it is individual behaviours that momentum is gained when these strengths are coupled
will bring more meaningful change on the ground. with business accelerators such as digital transforma-
tion, launch of innovative products, etc. Also, a very
Where do you see yourself 20 years from now? strong sense of ethics, trust among the people and
In 20 years, I see myself moving closer to my vision and empowerment of frontline teams makes Pernod Ricard a
mission where I step into an important leadership posi- very successful and responsible business.
tion. Additionally, as I navigate through my professional
journey, I would like to gain exposure of varied business Who is your favourite person in the wellbeing
verticals within the same or different industries since
leadership is not merely about wearing the functional space other than yourself?
hat but being able to add value across the board. This At PRI, I had the privilege to be under the tutelage of our
developmental aspect becomes even more important ex-CHRO, Shrikant Lonikar. He envisioned Ananda keep-
in a world where organisation prefer generalists over ing employees at the very center of everything that we
specialists when it comes to key leadership positions. do at PRI. He guided the team to develop our employee
wellness charter and painted a clear picture of what
Tell us about your business model. wellness should mean. Furthermore, the way our entire
Pernod Ricard has a compelling vision, “Créateurs de engagement program evolved under his leadership is
Convivialité” – a French phrase which means Creators exemplary. As part of the program, numerous initiatives
and wellness policies have been rolled out in the last
three to four years. Today, I can proudly say that Ananda
has become a way of life at Pernod Ricard.

What is your definition of wellbeing?
I think wellbeing at its fundamental level is about human
elements of care, respect and trust. If an organisation
can successfully weave these basic elements in the
fabric of its culture, wellness follows. For example, at
PRI the way I interact with my immediate team and the
larger organisation enable me to feel these fundamen-
tal elements and that’s where I get a sense of personal
wellbeing. Also, the very presence of these elements is
the only reason we as an organisation have navigated
the Covid crises so effectively. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

102 INTERVIEW SAKSHI PATIL

“WELLBEING How did your wellbeing journey start and what does
IS WHEN YOUR
it mean to you?
ECOSYSTEM Looking back, I see two key life experiences that were the
REFLECTS foundation of my wellbeing journey. It started when as a
INNATE travel entrepreneur, I would look at people who would go
for breaks in retreat yet would be back to their routines
HAPPINESS” without a sustained change until something drastic
happened to their lives. Then I saw my grandmother
Sakshi Patil,ManagingPartner,Excellence recover from mild paralysis. And a bedridden patient,
Installations Education, Antano & Harini, paralysed for years, going back home within days. This
change was brought about by my attempts to bring in large
with an ambition to bring a consistent shift muscular movements through play.
in the life of people and their health and
Two aspects of my life were simultaneously talking to me,
productivity, is working towards empowering that there is more to it that I had started to understand,
and accelerating the Excellence Installations a sense of possibilities as I searched for articles, stories,
programs where I could learn. I came across a video of a
Technology (EIT) education for people 23-year-old CTO, Antano Solar John, talking about the
outside of the wellness field to integrate journey of Phani Kumar’s recovery from paralysis. Phani
Kumar had met with a fatal accident in the USA that had
holistic development with Excellence paralyzed his entire body and doctors weren’t sure if he
Installations. In an insightful conversation would ever have any movements in his body. Looking at the
video, I saw how Antano had attuned his eyes to notice the
with BW Wellbeing World, Patil speaks minor toe movements distinctly different from the usual
about her journey in this field and her future spasms that he saw in Phani Kumar’s toe. The fact that he
could be having an eye on a significant micro-muscular
prospects. movement that could lead to accelerated recovery led me
to join Antano & Harini.

To add value in such a way that could enhance people’s
lives is a meaningful intent that has developed in my life. It
means the world to me, to see more people achieve their
deep desire to impact others meaningfully and become
the contributors to generations of excellence – saving
years, equipping and evolving with Excellence Installation
technology.

What is your vision and mission?
To reach every nook and corner of the planet, to develop
the next rung of people who in their heart want to make a
difference – educationists, doctors, healthcare workers,
administrators and CXOs, to equip them with capabilities
that can have greater impact leading to creating
generations and generations of EIT specialists, to making
mental health and wellness accessible, affordable and
available to the 7 billion people on this planet.
Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?
In the next 20 years, I see myself taking EIT education to
revolutionary thinkers from around the world. I see people,
who in their heart want to serve others, are empowered,

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

103BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

“In the next equipped with this powerful technology and are creating
20 years, I meaningful, worldwide impact in different sectors. I am
see myself helping create generations and generations of EIT.
taking EIT
education to Tell us about your business model.
revolutionary Imagine if mental health was not just in the hands of a few
thinkers from people out of 7 billion. What if there was a next rung of
around the people so equipped and with cross- and inter-disciplinary
world. I see expertise? With EIT, I empower teachers, doctors, medical
people, who experts, engineers and administrators with capabilities
in their heart that can positively impact more people. The beauty of this
want to serve approach and EIT is that you don’t have to be a mental
others, are expert from the beginning, as long as in your heart, you
empowered, are the kind of person who wants to make a difference.
equipped with There are 7 billion people on this planet who need mental
this powerful health support and I empower this second rung of people,
technology and enabled with EIT education and making it reach the remote
are creating locations of the planet.
meaningful,
worldwide Who is your favourite person in the wellbeing space
impact in other than yourself?
different The creators of Excellence Installations Technology –
sectors” Antano Solar John and Harini Ramachandran. They are
two genius minds who know the definition of ‘real change’
in people. The thing that’s so striking about them is their
research and their unremitting drive to impact people
with this technology. This has led them to saving lives and
creating over 50,000 breakthroughs in the process.

What’s so unique about these breakthrou ghs is the unique
strategic trajectory shifts through excellence installations.
These very precise and targeted shifts have equipped
people with capabilities and states to live in uncertain
times.

It is their mentoring that has led me to know that there is a
way out here that is so complete, holistic, all-encompassing
and yet, time-compressed. I am still awestruck by the
ingenuity of the design and how Antano & Harini have built
a community, who while pursuing EIT education with Antano
& Harini, can save lives, install superior capabilities and see
others liberated, equipped, ready to take that big leap in
their life and impact many more on this planet.

What is your definition of wellbeing?
Wellbeing is when your ecosystem reflects innate
happiness in their eyes, demonstrates deeper meaningful
relationships with others and generates in you the drive to
empower more people to a place where there is no room
for limitations or problems. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

104 SPOTLIGHT SARVESH SHASHI

For Sarvesh LIFMEYAOSKTGYIANLGAE
Shashi, CEO
and Founder T o me, wellness is a fit body, a stable mind, a nourishing meal and the feeling
of Sarva Yoga, that I changed the lives of at least one person in my day today, said Shashi, in
the definition an interaction with BW Wellbeing magazine.
of wellbeing
is being in Shashi recalled how Yoga played an important part in his life which ultimately
a balanced laid the foundation for his wellbeing journey. “My journey of wellbeing started at the age of 6,
physical, when I took my first Yoga class. Hailing from a family of Yoga practitioners, I have always had
mental, an affinity towards it. Wellness in my opinion is harmony. It’s the harmony of all activities in
emotional and life. Whether it’s the work you do, the food you eat, the exercise you practice, the people you
spiritual state meet, it all culminates in the need for harmony. It means different things to different people.
and happy Some people enjoy being busy and staying up to date with every event in the world and
place. others enjoy switching off,” Shashi said.

Sarva Yoga’s vision is to connect 7 billion breaths through the practice of Yoga and to enrich
their lives by bringing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance in their lives, Shashi
said while talking about his vision and mission for the coming times.

In the present world, each and every organisation needs a business model that describes
how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value in economic, social, cultural or
other contexts. Apart from that, a business model is also a requirement because it helps the
company to sustain itself in the competitive world, so it can serve people in a better way.

During the interaction, Shashi also talked about his business model. He said, “Sarva was
officially formed into a company in 2016 March and it started with a handful of brick and
mortar studios in Chennai with a vision to connect 7 billion breaths. We eventually grew
into one of the largest physical Yoga studio chains in the country. In 2020 April, Sarva
made a complete digital transformation and launched live online group classes, one on
one live personal training along with an application which has over 1500 hours of Yoga and
meditation on-demand content.”

This content is designed and delivered by authentic yogis from Rishikesh who have
completed their education (pertaining to yogic sciences, emotional, physical, mental and

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

105BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

“Sarva Yoga’s spiritual healing) from reputed Yoga institutes in
vision is to India. Sarva has grown multi-fold in the last few
years and has launched digital Yoga sessions which
connect 7 billion are conducted online and an app that allows you
breaths through to practise all forms of Yoga in the intensity of your
choice even while being offline, Shashi added.
the practice
of Yoga and “Presently, Sarva has seen over 900,000 plus
to enrich their downloads through the offerings of authentic Yoga
lives by bringing based routines, with a wellness coach available for
physical, mental, virtual consultations in 97 countries across the world.
emotional and Our business model is to provide goal based, guided,
spiritual balance step by step, holistic transformational journeys for our
in their lives” user that gets them to achieve long lasting results”,
he shared.

When asked about who inspires him the most, or the
person he looks up to in the wellbeing space, Shashi
said, “There is no particular individual who I look up to.
There are several people in India and internationally
who are doing a fantastic job in the space of wellbeing,
thus singling out someone would be an unfair
assessment.”

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the last two
years have been the years of transition. The upcoming
normal is going to be different and the future
generations are going to discuss the pre- and post-
Covid-19 eras. Except for any sudden fiascoes, people,
organisation and society can begin to anticipate
forming their prospects rather than simply cruising
through the present.

“I think 20 years from now, I see myself still
spearheading efforts to make Yoga a lifestyle. For me,
this is a lifelong endeavour. We intend to become the
number one player in the US, UK and India markets
in the next five years, offering purely Yoga-centric
solutions for wellness goals. Who knows where 20
years will take
us? It’s a long time to foresee,” Shashi said while
explaining his plans for the next 20 years.

He also said that he managed to see a lot of growth
in the mindfulness and Yoga industry. For the
development, Shashi gives credit to the newborn
outage, burn out, anxiety, pain, obesity, depression
and several other challenges that can be spotted early
on and resolved with small but effective techniques
that in fact don’t need anything more than a 3 feet by
6 feet mat. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

106 INTERVIEW SAUMYA SHARMA

“We will be ‘MY WELLBEING
collaborating JOURNEY HAS
in coming times BEEN ABOUT
with partners
to take this at HOMECOMING’
the education
level – where we How did your wellbeing journey start and what does it mean to you?
would work with My wellbeing journey has been about homecoming, accepting and embracing all parts of me,
teachers and giving up the need to be like anyone else and fit in. This is the most precious blessing in my
parents on how life. The journey has roots in my childhood where in the midst of bullying and abuse, a part of
to help children me still held on to hope. In the year 2000, I remember starting to question who I am and the
build a healthy purposefulness of my life. These questions began to stir up a storm in my already turbulent
self-concept, on mind. My late grandfather had a strong influence in helping me turn within for the answers.
them becoming
a conscious The questions led me to study Psychology and then move away from traditional Psychology
positive when I got disillusioned with what I perceived to be a restricted approach. Change needed to
influence in be deeper, more human, (w)holistic and individualized, I felt. These questions led me to cor-
shaping lives of porate life, which again added more insights and a further direction to where I was being led.
the generations
they are I started my work in December 2009 while working in my corporate job and finally started an
interacting with,” independent practice in December 2011. The inner journey still continues to go deeper and
says Saumya deeper and shall go on till the end of my life.
Sharma,
Emotional- What is your vision and mission?
Mental Wellbeing My vision is to help people to come home to and express their wholeness to acknowledge
Therapist and their uniqueness and inner potential and express it fully in all spheres of their lives. For this, I
Coach, The endeavour to normalise emotional mental wellbeing for all by demystifying, de-demonizing,
Butterfly Effect. simplifying it for people and helping them see how it underlies all roles and all aspects of life.

Tell us about your business model.
Presently, we have three primary forms of engagement:
One on one therapy or coaching sessions: Our clients are primarily adult working profes-
sionals coming to address personal challenges of stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem
challenges, addictions, relationship breakdowns, time management etc.

Leadership effectiveness coaching: Our clients include mid to senior leadership incor-
porates and business owners, with whom we explore areas such as leadership effectiveness,
emotional intelligence, building interpersonal relationships, workplace stress management,
communication, executive presence and authentic leadership. We bring a strong focus on

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

107BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

Physical wellbeing: Being physically fit and healthy
and having the stamina to do all that you want to do
with ease. This is not about a number on a weighing
scale, but about the strength and stamina of your
body.

Emotional wellbeing: Being aware of and feeling
one’s emotions with ease, responding appropriately
and authentically to the situation, having self-belief
and confidence.

Cognitive wellbeing: This is the ability to think – free
of biases and projections, being fully focused in the
present moment, being goal-focused, feeling motivat-
ed, being adaptable and willing to learn.

managerial and team wellbeing. Without wellbeing, none “My vision is Social wellbeing: This includes forming healthy and
of this will work well. to help people meaningful relationships with others, working with oth-
to come home ers, being empathetic, being able to handle adversities
Group coaching based facilitative training and to and express in a healthy manner and communicating effectively
workshops: In a corporate, this could be on any of the their wholeness across diverse situations.
above topics or our specialized personal development to acknowledge
program called Metamorphosis. Over 90 per cent of our their uniqueness Spiritual wellbeing: Feeling purposeful and under-
clients are referrals of past clients and repeat engage- standing the interlinkages and connectedness with
ments are a norm. and inner others.
potential and All five of these play into all parts of our lives – work,
Whether in one set-up or a group, my and my orga- express it fully family, finances, community, etc.
nization’s focus is to provide unique solutions for the in all spheres of
unique individuals that look at the person as a whole and Though one may be stronger than the other, a healthy
change from the inside out. Templated solutions tend to their lives” balance and steady growth are needed to truly be well.
address only surface aspects of an issue and don’t lead
to sustainable change. Our focus is to help our clients Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?
get aware of, reclaim and express their inner potential We will touch over 5 million lives in our quest to re-
and strengths. move the stigma around mental health and ‘normaliz-
ing’ wellbeing worldwide. In 20 years, we see wellbeing
Who is your favourite person in the wellbeing conversations being more informed, normal and
space other than yourself? acceptable whether in the workplace or with families
There are a few. HWL Poonja Ji, Brandon Bays, Louise and friends.
Hay, Andrew T Austin and Don Clifton.
For this change of this scale to take place, work has to
What is your definition of wellbeing? happen across systems like education, parenting, poli-
To me, wellbeing is a sense of fulfilment in one’s daily life, cies, workplace etc. Addressing the current influencers
while having an optimistic outlook towards the future. of the new generations. Yet, every step matters.
There are five key elements that are interrelated and
interdependent: At present, our work is largely focused on individuals
and the workplace. We would like wellbeing at the
workplace to be beyond just having someone to talk to
when under stress. Instead, build this into the conver-
sations of effective management and leadership. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

108 SPOTLIGHT SHOBHA RANA

SETTING
THE
BASICS
RIGHT

Holistic Wellness & Photographs by Ritesh Sharma
Mindfulness Coach and the
Founder of The Yogini Square, the common physical, mental, emotional and psycholog-
Shobha Ranadelveson ical wellness-related concerns today. Her foundation lies
solutions for the physical, in the ancient science and wisdom of yoga, spirituality
mental, emotional and and mysticism.
psychological wellness in the
uncertain ‘next normal’ Like everyone else, for her this whole journey of studying
about human body, mind and beyond started with
S hobha Rana, a double masters degree trying to be fit. Her curiosity led her to dig deep and
holder software engineer and wellness en- understand the difference between wellness and fitness
thusiast who switched gears to pursue her firsthand. Being healthy is so much more than looking at
passion of being an orator, wear multiple a certain society-approved size. It’s a lot of work-in than
hats. She has hosted over 1800 events across 26 coun- just working out to stay lean.
tries over the last 14 years. She started actively studying
and working in the wellness and alternative holistic She integrates her subject knowledge, strong academic
health services space in 2016 and since then there has foundation in the field of yoga and science of living and
been no looking back. She has conducted wellness and her own learnings to design customised solutions and
mindfulness sessions for people across the globe. workshops. She aspires to share her knowledge with the
world and help people heal and eventually feel better.

Rana has worked with Victoria Care Center, Los Angles, She recently launched her wellness app called, Yoga
Associazione NASO SANO, Italy, Max Hospitals, Wipro, With Shobha and aims to connect with people who are
Axis Bank, Dr. Oatker, Thomas Cook to name a few and earnestly looking for the most effective yet practical
has coached top leaders from prominent organisations. solutions and practices that can help them lead their
healthiest life and unlock their full emotional potential.
She promotes mindfulness integrated lifestyle and prac- She firmly believes that all the answers we are seeking
tical alternate therapies to find well-suited solutions to lie in setting the basics right. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

109BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

bit.ly/NominateDiversityandinclusivity

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

110 INTERVIEW SONIA KARARHA

CREATING A
POWERHOUSE OF
POSITIVE ENERGY

Sonia Kararha,Executive
& Life Coach, Corporate
Trainer & Consultant and
Founder & CEO ReVeRa
Learning & Solutions, Inc.
is on a journey to become
a catalyst for change in the
current societal system
towards a gender-neutral
and wellbeing-oriented
society. She speaks on this
and more in this interview
with BW Wellbeing World.
Edited Excerpts:

What does wellbeing mean to you? Photographs by Ritesh Sharma
Wellbeing to me means to work towards creating a
resource of positive energy constantly within and utilise
it consciously in the most challenging circumstances
to prevent the damage to any being, self & others and
attain happiness. To attain wellbeing, it is extremely
necessary to find the life purpose and know life values
that resonate with the actions done every moment and
are the main inputs for creating the powerhouse of
positive energy to sail through the life. Wellbeing is what
we can create and spread to others. It is and going to be
the most essential ingredient of living life in the digital
era with happiness, a way towards having a healthy
body, mind and soul.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40 111

How did your wellbeing journey begin? To attain towards women empowerment, where I want to
The wellbeing seed got planted in 2008 while working wellbeing, it develop women across various cultures and societal
with Maruti Suzuki India where I started training people is extremely sectors with skill development through training
after getting trained in Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan necessary to and coaching and raise them to a level where they
on functional expertise. However, the germination of the can independently sustain themselves and be the
seed actually happened in 2014-15 where I found myself contributors towards creating and building a gender-
interacting with individuals other than their professional neutral society.
world and discussing their life as a whole.
find the life What is your current business model based on?
This made me realise that there is so much potential purpose and My business model pillars are Coaching (executive and
each one is holding within them and there are ample know life values life coaching), mentoring, training (behavioural and
opportunities to look forward and transform the that resonate functional) and performance-oriented consultancy.
situation into altogether a new opportunity where with the actions For organisations and individuals, a blend of coaching,
they can find happiness, success and solutions. mentoring and training is used based on the pre-
Instead of giving direct solutions, I started engaging done every assessment and necessity of the role. Helping and
in conversation with people around me, be it a fresher, moment and are facilitating individuals and organisations for achieving
a woman coming back from maternity, somebody personal success and business goals through training
struggling with their tough bosses, my colleagues and and coaching and performance-oriented consultancy.
friends stuck in their career and not able to see the next
move and helping them to go deeper in their world to get the main inputs And what does the road ahead look like for you?
the right and best-suited solution for them. for creating the I see myself to be known as the most trusted and
powerhouse of approachable coach and trainer with a tribe of
And four years later in 2019, I discovered that I positive energy change partners for positive transformation in
was actually coaching people and hence I moved to sail through society. And to be the catalyst for changing the
for acquiring the professional qualification and current societal system towards a gender-neutral
competencies of a Coach from The International the life. and wellbeing-oriented society. I also see myself to
Coach Federation (ICF) and followed my inner calling be a writer, sharing life experiences and learnings for
of becoming a coach and trainer and founded ReVeRa the larger audience and masses for finding their life
Learning & Solutions in 2019. purpose and happiness.

Wellbeing to me is like creating a resource of a Who do you look up to in the wellbeing space?
powerhouse of positive energy inside me and translating Marcia Reynolds is my most admired person in the
it for other beings for their happiness and success. wellbeing and coaching space. She is the Master
Certified Coach (MCC-ICF) and the Training Director
What is your vision with ReVeRa? of the ‘Healthcare Coaching Institutes’ in the US. One
My vision is to establish ReVeRa Learning & Solutions of the famous quotes I like from the book ‘Coach the
in the top 10 list of most trusted partners or brands for Person not the Problem’ written by Marcia Reynolds is
individual and organisational development with training ‘You don’t empower people by giving them tasks and
and coaching expertise. My mission in life and work is to homework. Personal power comes from within, when
empower people and elevate them which enables and people feel seen, cared about and respected.’
transform society as a whole.
While I travelled this journey of becoming a coach
Empowerment for each individual holds different and coaching people, I realised that to take out the
meanings with different sets of ideologies they have true potential of any human being it is required to
formed with their experiences. With coaching and take them on a journey along and let them discover
training, I want to support each one to raise their their own treasure-house instead of telling them
awareness like a laser, to cut through the maze of what to do. Marcia Reynolds learnings have inspired
confusion and work towards creating a holistic and me to be the person who now strongly believes that
happy life. each person holds a space of solutions and if they are
heard and reflected well, they can find their
It also translates into one of the major focuses answers. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

112 SPOTLIGHT SUMEET CHILWAL

In a generation, where A DISCIPLINED
bad eating habits and YOGIC LIFE
a noxious lifestyle
develops due to work Photographs by Ritesh Sharma
pressure and stress,
wellbeing of both the
mental and physical
state of a person is put
at stake. In times like
this it becomes more
important for the
younger generation
to become aware
and take a step
forward to spread the
awareness among
others. Sumeet
Chilwal, Co-Founder
& Chief Consciousness
Officer, Sattviko
is a mechanical
engineer from IIT
who turned into an
entrepreneur and
founded the yogic
food brand Sattviko.
Chilwal speaks
to BW Wellbeing
World about how he
gathered motivation
from his past life,
when he was going
through a stressful
and unhealthy
lifestyle.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

113BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

T alking about his past life, Chilwal said, “My vision is to that help reduce many lifestyle issues like stress,
“My highest recorded weight till date has take Yoga and weight gain, diabetes etc. Along with purchasing
been a 100 kilogram. I had become very yogic food to its food products, one can also purchase its Yoga
obese and a lot of daily tasks like walking, the whole world courses to derive maximum benefit of its offerings.
so that food Chilwal said that their community of Yoga and diet
climbing stairs, running had started becoming difficult becomes your experts help people to achieve their goals. He added,
medicine and “We also run Yoga marathons for people around the
for me.” vice versa. My world to participate.”
mission is to
In 2019, he could realise the hardships that he had to bring Yoga and Chilwal defines yoga as a combination of three
experience in his day to day life and taking the charge yogic food to 1 bodies, Sthool Sharir (physical body) which is the
of his own wellbeing, he started with a proper research billion people body made of the five elements, Sukshma Sharir
about different ways to get fit without getting into fad around the (Subtle Body) which is the intellect and prana, Karan
diets. He chose a disciplined yogic life and food routine world” Sharir (Causal Body) which is the karmic body or
and continues to follow it, as he managed to lose 30 conscience of a person. According to him, wellbeing
kilogram weight in 11 months. He has also helped more is when all three bodies are well and functioning at
their peak. He believes, “Wellness is a journey to a
than more than 15 state and not just the state itself.”
people personally
transform their With experience of both sides of the journey, Chilwal
life by inculcating has now become a firm believer of fitness and also
healthy lifestyles runs a global community of people who share the
and becoming common love for food, Yoga and fitness. Talking
fitter versions of about his vision and mission, he said, “My vision is
themselves. His own to take Yoga and yogic food to the whole world so
personal fitness that food becomes your medicine and vice versa. My
journey caused him mission is to bring Yoga and yogic food to 1 billion
to make this into a people around the world.”
Food Yoga fitness
program which has As both a part of giving back to the society and as
already benefited a part of Sattviko’s vision of bringing Yoga to the
more than 1,000 world, Chilwal has been hosting a unique Surya
people around the Namaskar Yoga Marathon every quarter which saw
world. the participation of more than 3,000 people from 17
countries.
“My Yoga and
healthy food diet are In the next 20 years from now, Chilwal intends to
at the very essence keep spreading the goodness of yogic food and
of who I am now. It Yoga to at least 100 countries. He frequently speaks
keeps me centred at fitness events and entrepreneurship events. His
and focused,” dream is to bring Yoga and yogic food to 1 billion
affirmed Chilwal people around the world.
as he talked about
his initial wellbeing Chilwal’s favourite person in the wellbeing space is
journey. his co-founder, Prasoon Gupta. With the kind of huge
Sattviko is the battle with stress and issues of life that his partner
world’s first yogic has faced and turned all of it down through a diligent
food brand. As a part way of practicing Yoga and yogic nutrition, inspired
of their business Chilwal so much that they decided to come together
offering, they to bring a change to the life of other people to
provide delicious conquer their lifestyle issues. 
plant based food
products combined
with Ayurvedic herbs

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

114 SPOTLIGHT SWATI CHAWLA

When people BEFORE IT
come back and CATCHES YOU
say ‘wellness
is the icing Photographs by Ritesh Sharma
that decorates
their lives’ and S wati Chawla’s wellbeing journey started back in 2004 as a psychologist with a degree
that ‘it was a in sociology and a doctor in alternative medicine. She has always believed in ‘catch the
transformational disease before it catches you’. Her role in the hospital was to take care of IPD, OPD and
journey’, they emergency patients, which motivated hundreds of them to build mental resilience and
acknowledge prevent diseases. In 2008, in her words, she “took the risk” to move into wellness. A leading diagnostic
that wellness company hired her to start the occupational health and corporate wellness segment. They strategise
has brought in a wellness programs for more than 500 companies, institutes and government organisations, creating
paradigm shift awareness on corporate wellness and how it is a win-win situation for all employees and employers.
in their lives,
says Swati
Chawla, Global
Wellness Lead,
Senior Manager,
Concentrix
Corporation in this
conversation with
BW Wellbeing
World.

With 16 years of work experience in this industry, she has worked on different industries, profiles,

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

115THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

designations, roles and presented a measurable wellness “Any person clinical science and predictive medicine, she has
strategy that is best suited for the organisation with some who takes care reduced the burden of first level screenings of non-
brilliant impact and outcomes. of themselves communicable diseases.
inspires me.
New Horizons Anyone who Making it Work
Her journey was extremely eventful till now, as she speaks how Chawla works closely with employees, organisation
continues to impact lives positively through prevention taking help leadership and management to understand the need
of health risk, awareness and clinically-led programs. from mental for wellness. According to her, every industry will have
Saving lives from suicide, managing critical incidents, health experts different needs and requirements, such as geography,
motivating employees and people to come and talk about helped them the country or state’s overall health status and culture
their inspiring journeys, destigmatising mental health and openly talk will also impact the need for wellness. She brings her
creating support groups and communities are all part of about breaking experience in defining the best program on wellness and
her journey. the stigma, best fit measurable metrics for organisations globally.
inspire me. Apart from the entire business model, for her, it is about
Chawla says, “When people come back and say ‘wellness People who creating programs with real impact rather than tick
is the icing that decorates their lives’ and that ‘it was bounce marking activities. Her wellness business model runs on
a transformational journey’, people acknowledge that forward after profits of smiles, laughter, resiliency, support, trust and
wellness has brought in a paradigm shift in their lives.” adversities care and losses of sadness, depression, ill health and
inspire me.” diseases.
As per Global Wellness Institute, The Wellness Industry is
at $4.5 trillion. Out of this, mental health is at $121 billion In her opinion, wellness is a small industry and may not
and workplace wellness is at $4.8 billion. As per her, the have anyone specific in corporate wellness. However,
industry is already proliferating. Hence, in the long run, she believes Dalai Lama is someone she gets her
she sees herself impacting more lives in organisations, inspiration from on the mental health and resiliency
corporates and expanding the community expertise while front, aspects of being humble and attaining self-
helping the government create policies and guidelines. actualisation from Mrs Sudha Murthi and impacting lives
She wants to further contribute to the wellness industry on the ground through philanthropy from Mr Ratan Tata.
by getting technology, neuroscience, clinically-led
programs, predictive medicine, a more trained certified A Holistic Approach
workforce and well defined and strategically placed Being a lover of alternative medicine, she also looks
wellness interventions in collaboration with the Ministry of up to Hunter Doherty ‘Patch’ Adams, who promotes an
Health or WHO, significantly reducing the burden of non- alternative health care model. His goal is to integrate
communicable diseases, primarily mental health-related. a traditional hospital with alternative medicine, with
Apart from these, creating more leaders in wellness is also the organisation developing educational programs
one of her future goals. in sustainable systems design targeted to medical
students and the general public. She says, “Any person
The Driving Force who takes care of themselves inspires me. Anyone who
Chawla helps organisations and communities with a speaks how taking help from mental health experts
best-fit strategy on wellness and preventive health that helped them openly talk about breaking the stigma,
has a measurable impact, thereby reducing the burden inspire me. People who bounce forward after adversities
on non-communicable diseases. She creates proactive inspire me.”
preventable programs (P3) that are sustainable and
expandable and brings impact through holistic wellness For Chawla, wellbeing always has a holistic approach. It
interventions specially focused on mental health in the is preventing one’s own health risk by taking ownership
organisation and community at large. Bringing revolution of it proactively and having high mental resilience being
on acceptance of self-care and de-stigmatisation of the main spoke of the entire wheel. On a more specific
mental health by use of creative campaigns has been a note, corporate wellness is about employer’s owning
forefront vision throughout her career. She has developed employees’ health by giving them tire experts and
an environment of a safe psychological organisation, ensuring. There is a psychologically safe environment,
thereby increasing the happiness quotient through enough learning and growth opportunities and respect
mandate training programs. Using AI, neuroscience, for all its employees. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

116 SPOTLIGHT TAPAN MISHRA

Tapan Mishra, BCOUMILDMIUNNGIATY FOR
Founder OLDER ADULTS
and CEO of
Evergreen Club M aintaining or enhancing one’s health and fitness should not stop at a predetermined
— anonline age. As we get older, it becomes hard to focus on fitness as our body starts responding
platform that relatively lower than others. So what older people should do to remain healthy and
gives seniors mentally fit? Mishra has realised that the single biggest issue faced by this segment
the chance to was that of loneliness and social isolation. Retirement from work, empty-nest syndrome, nuclear
rekindle old
hobbies, learn BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022
new skills,
socialize with
people and
participate in
activities that
are both fun
and productive
— talks about
his wellbeing
journey.

117BW WELLBEING 40 UNDER 40

families, mobility issues, lack of companionship etc. were “Wellbeing for few months, he experimented with various versions of
some of the reasons that had led to this. These problems me is having the business proposition to give it a proper shape and
were further accentuated during the pandemic, leading a sense of direction. He put in lot of efforts onboarding vendors,
to mental health problems like depression and anxiety purpose and keeping a motivated team together, trying to meet
among senior citizens. industry leaders and getting their views and making
contentment in the first few sales. Over the years Seniority became the
To bridge this gap, Mishra launched Evergreen Club, an largest online destination for all senior citizen product
online platform that helps this community to participate needs.
in various interactive and informative activities. The
platform gives seniors the chance to rekindle old life. If you can Explaining his business model, Mishra maintained,
hobbies, learn new skills, socialize with people and wake up and do “Currently we conduct 1000+ sessions in a month
participate in activities that are both fun and productive. across various categories. Soon we will launch a
what you love social networking platform where users are free to
He had previously founded ‘Seniority’, where his focus the most, or go speak their mind, share their difficulties with fellow
was to build India’s largest retail destination for senior to bed satisfied members, discuss takeaways from the various sessions
citizens. Mishra holds a Double Master’s Degree — conducted, engage with the mentors and much more! I
MBA in Strategy & Operations from Xavier’s Institute and looking feel that this is a much-needed offering considering the
of Management (XIMB) and an MSc in Accounting & target users’ changing lifestyle and emotional needs.
Finance from London School of Economics (LSE).
forward to the “Currently we offer blogs and online shopping
Mishra started his corporate journey with the next day, you experience for our users apart from the live sessions.
commodities trading company, Trafigura. He was taking are in a state Our blogs cover pieces on topical content, quizzes,
care of international supply chain and logistics for them. of complete games etc. We also encourage blogs to be written by
After a good stint there, he decided to venture into the our members and we help in documenting member
startup world by joining an e-commerce startup called wellbeing” life stories which we share on our platform under the
VoxPop Clothing, as Head of Operations. ‘Evergreen Diaries’ section. The shopping experience
is assisted through Seniority where we have hosted
Talking about his wellbeing journey, Mishra expressed, 10,000+ curated products for most of the needs of
“Just speaking to family and close friends about your older adults. The future pathway would be to expand
problems is sometimes therapeutic. Bottling any the user base in the international markets and also
negativity up is toxic and will pollute your outlook, cater to the adults who have not been onboarded in the
morale, mood and physical body. Wellbeing for me is digital journey of India,” he added.
the state of being physically fit, mentally healthy and
emotionally happy. I believe when a person is able to Mishra has a vision of creating the largest online
maintain a positive outlook and be content with what community for older adults to tackle the issue of
they have, they are doing ‘well’ in life.” loneliness and social isolation by giving them a sense of
purpose and belonging.
“As long as I can remember, I have been engaged in
something or the other. Be it formal education, family Talking about future prospects, Mishra stated, “In 20
business, corporate job or even my own startup. I years I would hopefully be in a place where I would
therefore make it a point to take out some ‘me’ time to have amassed enough knowledge and experience to
relax and unwind. Playing a sport really helps. It keeps start giving back to society. It could be in the form of
you both physically active and mentally engaged. Cricket helping budding entrepreneurs or supporting a social
and chess are two such sports/games that I play very cause.”
regularly to keep an active mind and body,” he added.
When asked about his definition of wellbeing, he
The idea of the opening the Evergreen Club was to expressed, “Wellbeing for me is having a sense of
become a one-stop holistic destination for all senior purpose and contentment in life. If you can wake up
citizen health and lifestyle needs. But Mishra actually and do what you love the most, or go to bed satisfied
began the journey of co-founding Seniority, an and looking forward to the next day, you are in a state
e-commerce destination for the elderly. For the first of complete wellbeing.” 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

118 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

SHORTLISTED AT

#BWWELLBEING40UNDER40

More than 250 entries, from across India, were received for the BW
Wellbeing 40 Under 40, of this 73 were shortlisted. Here are the selected
few that made the cut (listpresentedinnoparticularorder)

PENAAZ GUPTA

Manager HR, Pernod Ricard India

Penaaz Gupta is a part of the Commercial HR Leadership team at Pernod Ricard India.
When she joined Pernod Ricard India in 2018, she realised Employee Wellbeing is at the
heart of whatever we do. ‘Ananda’, the wellness program at Pernod Ricard India takes a ho-
listic approach towards employee’s wellbeing, where each activity pertains to one of the 8
dimensions including Physical, Emotional, Social and a lot more. She has been closely asso-
ciated with this since 2018 and her efforts reached their peak in 2020 when Covid hit us in
India. As part of the HR Team her priority was to ensure physical wellbeing of their employ-
ees and they rolled out multiple initiatives like hospital and doctor tie-ups for primary care,
distribution of safety gear, multiple sessions on safety guidelines. As time progressed, they
realised the long periods of lockdown and lack of social interactions had created feelings of
isolation and started affecting employee’s emotional wellbeing.

JYOTSNA FERNANDES

Managing Partner, A&H Covid Care

Most of Jyotsna Fernandes’ teenage and college years were spent working with people from
destitute homes, children from special schools, old age homes and orphanages. Armed with

a degree in social work, she went on to work with a microfinance organisation, Ujjivan. She
then got an opportunity to shift gears to a great corporate career for over 10 years. Then
came a point in time where she felt even though she had everything, she was yearning for
that deep sense of satisfaction she knew from the time she worked on impacting people.

Around the same time, she heard about Antano & Harini from a colleague. She got very
curious about the work they did and joined them as a client. Experiencing Excellence

Installation Technology (EIT) was a magical experience for her. She thought to herself that
more people need to know about this and she decided to join Antano & Harini to learn more

about EIT and take it to the people who needed it the most.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

Calendaring the Trust Builder & Change Makers #BWCFOworld40Under40

MARCH, 2022 Nominate Now

In Association With Nomination Deadline: MARCH 12, 2022

BW CFO WORLD LAUNCHES FINACC 40 UNDER 40 – IN ASSOCIATION WITH BW BUSINESSWORLD. IT’S A HUNT
FOR THE 40 ACUTE FINANCIAL & ACCOUNTS MINDS IN THE COUNTRY WHO HAVE THE DRIVE AND
COMMITMENT TO BRING ABOUT A CHANGE IN THEIR ORGANISATION AND THE INDUSTRY.

JURY JURY MEMBER
CHAIR

Sethurathnam Ravi

Chairman
TFCI, Former Chairman
Bombay Stock Exchange

Subodh Gupta Nitin Parekh

Director Finance CFO

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd Cadila Healthcare Ltd

(BHEL)

Vivek Anand MP Vijay Kumar Sonam Donkar Dr. Annurag Batra Noor F Warsia Madhumita
Chakraborty
CFO CFO CFO -Aluminium Chairman & Editor-in- Chief Group Editorial Director
Associate Editor
DLF Limited Sify Technologies Vedanta Ltd. BW Businesswolrd and BW Businessworld
BW Businessworld
Founder, exchange4media

For Speakership Sanya Kapoor | [email protected] | +91 99536 81006
and Nomination
Somyajit Sengupta | [email protected] | +91 98182 47444
For Sponsorship: Talees Rizvi | [email protected] | +91 93106 34007

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

120 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

ANKIT JHA

Founder & Director, Doctor’s Choice

When Ankit Jha entered the fitness and bodybuilding space a few years back owing to his pas-
sion, what struck him to be missing was the easy availability of genuine health and nutrition
supplements for gym-goers and athletes. In a fitness market saturated with cheap, fake and
unapproved products, he started Doctor’s Choice three years back, in Oct’ 2018, with a vision
to offer international science-backed supplements for varying needs that do not compromise
on quality. He feels proud to have tapped into one-third of the market within three years of
operations, the homegrown and bootstrapped brand also exemplifies the concept of ‘Atman-
irbhar Bharat’ along with ‘Think Global, Act Local’. As an entrepreneur just three years old in
the market analysis conflict, he is aspiring to be of sky-high relevance in the health & wellness
industry with innumerable new ideas and concepts currently swarming in his mind..

RITIKA JAYASWAL

Founder & CEO, Nourish Mantra

After working in the family business Jayaswal NECO Group, Ritika decided to venture on her
own. She went to Parsons School of Design and started working in the fashion and beauty
industry in New York. Over time the fast-paced life of New York took a toll on her and she

started looking for ways to combat the quick shrill of everyday life; she needed peace. Trading
back to the Indian roots, she started practising Vipassana. During the practice, an epiphany
dawned upon her - outward beauty is a direct reflection of the inner self. She realised that
when you feel good, you look good. She decided to bring simple remedies that cater to the
nuances of our current lifestyle with a hum of pure ingredients and concoctions that have
been tested over centuries. Research began and after 500 days, she launched Nourish
Mantra. Today, Nourish Mantra has distribution in six countries and stands with four values -
natural, effective, holistic and conscious.

EMILY BORAL

Numerologist and Energy Healer, Emily Boral Numerology

Emily started the empowering wellbeing journey four years ago due to major events in her
personal life. She began to experience a drift towards finding the real essence of faith and
love. She had a strong feeling that there is more out there in the spiritual realm. It was a
powerful drift that she decided to leave her corporate career to begin a life of travel and
experiences. She joined hands with many experienced souls who helped her go through a
serious transformation. It took her three years to find a few answers and bring peace and
balance to her mind. The seeking will remain a constant. This spiritual journey has led her to
an eye-opening change in the way she looks forward in life. It has encouraged her to share
her learnings with everyone who is seeking help and going through mental depression, anxiety
and other mental health-related ailments. Her vision is to enlighten herself where she can
match her life with the internal truth of growth and live it to the fullest without any regrets,
unaffected by the outer world and touched by living beings.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

122 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

AMRAPALI ROY CHOWDHURY
Manager HR, Pernod Ricard India

According to Amrapali, wellbeing for employees have been demonstrated to have a powerful
impact on business, not just in terms of people, recruitment, engagement and retention, but
also productivity, creativity and ultimately bottom-line profits. Her journey towards wellbeing
started as she realised the epicentre of the biggest shift in society starting from corporates
and their people. With bigger challenges presented to society in the form of the pandemic
and lifestyle, she grew inclined towards creating a meaningful difference. For her, wellbeing
means creating avenues for people to get better awareness and mindfulness, with person-
alised experiences which have a long lasting effect on overall wellbeing. Her vision is to create
and execute holistic plans catering to every stratum of employee segment. To have measur-
able outcomes which can link back to business performance. She sees herself successfully
addressing employee wellness needs and set industry benchmarks for meaningful wellness
engagement plans in a sustainable way.

SUPRITHA RAMESH

Founder & Director, Sash Beauty Care

Supritha AR started her wellbeing journey in her college days. From her first year in dentistry
to writing research papers on concepts in the development of dentistry and helping patients
get rid of their pain and grief to volunteering blind students’ examinations, teaching at gov-

ernment schools; her journey has been inspiring. She has now become a Trichologist and is
helping thousands of people in bringing back their smiles, lost teeth, lost hair and confidence

which has given her more satisfaction than anything. Her mission is to reach out to each
individual, be it middle class or lower middle in helping them solve their hair issues by giving

them the world’s best remedies. She wants to spread awareness about hair and its myths.
Her vision helps her achieve her goals. She believes in living in the present and working for a

better tomorrow. She has evolved a lot and is trying to be the best version of herself.

RIA JAIN

Head - iThrive Academy, iThrive Tribe Healing & Beyond

The beginning of Jain’s journey towards wellbeing was unanticipated. With a keen interest in
software engineering, little did she know what life had to offer her. A few things changed her
mind and before she knew it, she had applied for graduation in Nutrition Science. Her wellbe-
ing journey as a professional began back in Feb 2020, when she joined iThrive - Healing and
Beyond. Out of the many things that inspire her is the vision that the company beholds, that
is, to make healthier, happier, lifestyle disease-free communities an everyday reality across
the world. With a deep alignment to the vision, iThrive Academy took birth. Being the Head of
iThrive academy means the world to her because of the God-like work that they do to provide
people with health and hope. She wants to do this because there of quote: He who has health
has hope and he who has hope has everything’.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

#freedomtobehappy

make
emotions
central to
your company
culture

All along companies have been focussing on having a cognitive
culture. While that’s incredibly important, what they miss out on is
the emotional culture. Emotions at work should no longer be taboo.
In fact, it is central to building the right culture that sets the overall
tone for how employees feel, think, and behave at work.

Our revolutionary happiness framework lays emphasis on harnessing
the untapped potential of your people. We measure emotions at
scale using the most advanced neuro analytical tech platform which
helps you set context to positively influence employee behavior.

Write to us at [email protected]

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

124 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

SUYASH BHANDARI

Head - iThrive Essentials, iThrive Tribe Healing & Beyond

Suyash Bhandari started his health and wellness journey in February 2014 after attaining suc-
cessful weight loss and better health through his work. He was amid his computer graduation
but realised that was not his true calling. He wanted to share what he had experienced with
others and that became his life’s vision. He knew that health coaching, with highly person-
alised methodologies, is the way forward and wanted to become an integral part of that
movement. It gave him meaning to his life, a purpose to his existence. His vision is to become
a world-renowned expert in the field of functional nutrition, holistic wellness and develop-
ing high-quality nutraceuticals supplements and performance aids to help people become
healthier and happier. His mission is to provide clients with stellar service and coaching and
develop the best quality, bioavailable, holistic and cost-effective nutraceutical supplements
to fasten up their healing process. In the future he sees himself running iThrive supplements
manufacturing plant and producing high-quality, bio-available, cost-effective, supplements
with 100+ products in the market.

SRIVIDHYA DESHPANDE

Senior HR Director, SpringML Inc.

Srividhya Deshpande is an Engineer who chose Human Resources Management as her
profession. She has been a working mother for the last 16 years. Her family would mostly find
her with a laptop or handling escalation calls. Years drifted by, her toddlers became teenagers.
Pandemic set in. While Covid did not spare her, she says it was a blessing in disguise to get a
mandatory self-quarantine time to think of wellness programs. It occurred to her that a lot of
people would be sailing in the same boat as her. She wants to focus on nurturing employee

wellbeing to develop workplace resilience. Srividhya quotes ‘It is my passion meeting my
profession’, as she gets to spread more happiness and good vibes to the larger society!
She wants to showcase a practical demonstration of how taking care of employees’ wellness

results in high growth and an innovative workplace.

SONALI DUBEY

COE Lead Talent Management & Inclusion, Pernod Ricard India

Sonali Dubey’s journey with wellbeing began during her formative years. Her family comes
from a defence background and she has always experienced a disproportionate focus on
fitness and discipline. When she entered the corporate world, she focused extensively on work
and soon enough had a rude awakening to the need to re-think her health. This was five years
ago and since then she has expanded her horizons to read and practice physical, mental and
spiritual wellbeing. She is a propagator of balance in her circle of influence and at Pernod
Ricard, she had the opportunity to design and implement policies around work-life balance
and mental health. In the long term, if teams start speaking about wellbeing on a day-to-
day basis and take their health into account while discussing project timelines, she would
be extremely happy. The future for her is in the space of Inclusion and she sees herself as a
propagator of inclusive thought, health and technology.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

#BWHRTech

MARCH, 2022

REGISTER ON

https://bit.ly/HRtechsummit
BW HR Tech Summit brings Together all facets of leadership in innovation, driven by HR
Tech that Contributes to sustainable economic development at scale. BW HR Tech
Summit seeks to Provide a platform for Industry stakeholders to share a road map for
unleashing the true potential of the business. The discussions at the forum would focus
on the ongoing changes including the evolution in the workforce Industry, People
Management, Digitization in Workforce etc. with a view to understand the influence of
these developments on business and explore the need for operations excellence; new
strategies and a pool of next gen leaders to sustain high growth in the present changing

working environment.

For Delegate Registration :
Ashish Kumar | [email protected] | +91 97179 22747

For Sponsorship :
Talees Rizvi | [email protected] | +91 93106 34007
Cynthia Majhi | [email protected] | +91 95724 35591

For Speakeship :
Sugandh Bahl | suBgWanWdEhLL.bBaEIhNlG@WbOuRsLiDne| sMsAwRoCrHld2.0in22| +91 99997 15607

Resham Suhail | [email protected] | +91 98732 58128

126 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

ABHISEKH BOHRA

Managing Partner, A&H Psychosomatic Health

Abhisekh Bohra had faced some tough early years before he met Antano & Harini for his
evolution. Since then, there has been no looking back. Helping people by using Excellence
Installations Technology (EIT), transformed him from a boy riddled with stage fear to a leader-
ship facilitator for companies like TCS, Franklin Templeton Investments, ICICI Group, Reliance
Group, HDFC Group, Sundaram AMC and many more. Yet, there was something missing. Along
this journey, he figured out how our conditions are not always medical but psychosomatic
in origin. Psychosomatic health conditions are actual physical challenges that people face
that originate from a challenge in the mind. Now, through A&H Psychosomatic Health, being
incubated within Antano & Harini, they have worked with over 800 people enabling them to
come out of psychosomatic health conditions and helping them improve their health and
overall wellness.

SHREY BADHANI

Co Founder, Kapiva Ayurveda

Shrey Badhani is the Co-founder of Kapiva, a homegrown D2C brand empowering Indian
consumers with modern, accessible and everyday Ayurveda. With Kapiva, Shrey is on a mis-
sion to make Ayurveda a part of people’s daily life. It offers authentic and nutritious products
using the research and science-backed Ayurveda and the finest ingredients available. Under
the leadership of Shrey, Kapiva has been a disruptor in the Ayurvedic industry. The brand has

achieved so by introducing innovation in the product formats that can be easily integrated
into people’s daily diet and is also India’s first brand to launch super grain mixes. An adept and
experienced sales and marketing professional, Shrey has been instrumental in driving growth

and implementing strategic management at Kapiva. He drives e-commerce, offline sales,
marketing and operations for Kapiva. He started his career in consulting with Bain & Co and
Parthenon. Most recently, he worked as a PE investor with Bain Capital in their India office.

TASHEE SIROHI

Wellbeing Influencer

Tashee Sirohi’s wellbeing journey started in 2020, while she was making awareness videos
on her Twitter account during the lockdown. She then thought to herself that she can make
people more aware and help them out via direct messages on Twitter. After a short time of
uploading awareness videos on various health issues, she made a small following and people
would ask her various questions regarding health and care. Her vision is to gain the trust of
people who reach out to her for help, to help the unaware, guiding people with dos and don’ts
regarding health benefits and fitness. Her mission is to let people know that someone is willing
to help the unaware, that there is someone available who provides knowledge about health
and fitness in an easy-to-understand video format that can be seen by all age groups.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

&

Present

2nd Edition

INDIA'S MOST SUSTAINABLE
COMPANIES

Write to us at [email protected] to:

Participate in India's Most Sustainable Companies list
Get your Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report as mandated by SEBI
Get your bespoke company ESG reports to present to your stakeholders, investors, lenders
Obtain your sustainability scores and sector benchmark across 31 sustainability KPIs
Gain advice on improving your company's sustainability performance by leading international experts

MARCH 24, 2022 | 10:00 AM ONWARD REGISTER NOW

JURY MEMBERS VALIDATION BOARD

ANNURAG BATRA ARPITA BOSE B THIAGARAJAN DEBAJIT PALIT DHAVAL MONANI KARTHIK GANESAN
Director of Affordable Housing Fellow and Director
Chairman & Editor in chief Associate Professor at MD Researcher, The Energy
Blue Star and Resources Institute and Associate Professor
BW Businessworld and Washington University in St. Louis Research Coordination

Founder, exchange4media

MINIYA CHATTERJI MUNGO PARK NOOR FATIMA WARSIA PARIDHI ADANI SANDEEP KANDA SRINATH
SRIDHARAN
Founder and CEO of Chairman, Group editorial director Partner Cyril Consultant at the
Sustain Labs Paris Innovator Capital, London BW Businessworld Amarchand Mangaldas World Bank Corporate Advisor /
CEO coach

SUBHASHINI SUDHIR MISHRA VAIBHAV GUPTA VAIDEHI TANDEL
CHANDRAN
Founder and Managing Manager Lecturer in Real Estate at
Head, Social Impact, Partner Trust legal Energy and Mines University of Reading
Africa and Asia,
Yara International

For Partnerships or Collaborations BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022 For Sponsorship
Ms. Anushka De Mr. Somyajit Sengupta
[email protected] [email protected]
9310397870
9818247444

128 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

SAHIL BANSAL

Co Founder & CEO, Fitelo

For Sahil Bansal, wellness should be like a person’s nature. It should be a part of everyone’s
day to day routine. It should not require any special efforts. It doesn’t require any drastic
changes. It requires making small changes. Wellness is about having the right awareness
and then taking steps to take charge of your health. He is on a mission to help 10 million
people in the next five years to get healthy. His vision is to create a platform that can enable
people to take charge of their health. It will provide the right awareness, tools and resources
that are needed by someone willing to get and stay healthy. He is passionate about building
businesses that can solve real-world problems. 20 years from now, he sees himself still doing
it. Currently, he is building a business that can help people fight obesity and manage several
lifestyle diseases. 20 years from now, he might be working with startups or companies to push
humanity forward. He could be coaching young entrepreneurs who are driven by the same
passion.

RAM. N. KUMAR

CEO & Founder, Nirog Street

Ram N Kumar is a passionate entrepreneur committed to creating equitable and affordable
healthcare for all. He is the Founder and CEO of NirogStreet which is today India’s largest
community and commerce platform for Ayurveda doctors. People trust Ayurveda but they

don’t trust the doctors and the medicines. It was during a personal experience that he realised
the biggest problem facing the industry was trust. He started Nriogstreet to bridge the trust
gap and make Ayurveda trusted and mainstream. Previously he co-founded multi-speciality
marketing technology company Marketech and not for profit Centre for Civil Initiatives. He is

passionate about rural healthcare and indigenous healthcare systems of the world which has
helped mankind for thousands of years. Ram has an entrepreneurial streak from his student

days and he dropped out from college to start a shared services startup Techlus in 2004 that
aimed at evangelising the web as a medium of service delivery in a smaller town.

RISHABH CHOKHANI

Founder & CEO, Naturevibe Botanicals

Rishabh Chokhani’s wellbeing journey started when he realised that he needed to be fit. While
growing up he was a foodie and did not have a balanced diet. He was not involved in sports.
His journey from fat to fit made him realise what clean eating habits can offer to human
health. Following his passion, he started operations in India under a subsidiary of Naturevibe
Botanicals to sell and promote greener ways of living by providing the best natural alterna-
tives and organic food. Wellness to him is not being a certain weight on the scale, it is more
about being fit and healthy which can be achieved by practising a healthy lifestyle. His vision
is to see the world turn to natural superfoods as a way to improve its lifestyle as a whole. It is
a big hope, but with the mission of manufacturing products that can encourage the fight of
diseases, illnesses and disorders, there is an opportunity for organic products to be a bit hit;
especially in the western world.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

130 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

JIGAR PATEL

CEO, Brillare Science

Jigar Patel is one of the founders and CEO of Brillare Science and serves as the Chief Formula-
tion Scientist. He is a first-generation entrepreneur and a research scientist with more than a
decade of experience in formulating science. Fueled by his passion for creating a world-class
Indian personal care brand, he started his entrepreneurial journey in December 2009 from
a small research lab in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Being a founding member and CEO of
Brillare, Patel is responsible for end-to-end management of key departments like marketing
and strategy, new product formulation, research and development and B2B sales activities.
His journey began 11 years ago when he took the transition started Brillare, one of India’s
first vegan and natural beauty brands. He has always held an innate interest in personal care
products and would spend hours studying the ingredient lists or labels of upcoming formula-
tions. Traditionally, the Indian cosmetics industry is driven by chemical-infused products that
promise an instant transformation, which ultimately does more harm than good.

KAPIL MITTAL

CSO, Aesthetic Nutrition (Power Gummies)

Holistic wellbeing matters the most to Kapil Mittal and he feels it stands on 3 pillars - mind,
body and soul. With a backstory of his weight struggle during college days driving him to quick

hacks of Vedic culture and civilization, to maintain a balance of Grastha Ashram in life that
caress the soul, fuel the body and calm the mind to reach his healthy balance amidst a busy
lifestyle with just three hours a day. His tips for a good and healthy life are - Gain knowledge
reading books, gain wisdom experience, do regular exercise, eat clean, time management and
perform soul dhyana to keep your mind over emotions. Yet, acknowledgement of efforts is his
learning from his wisdom as a takeaway. What you do for yourself is the love you share with
yourself, is what he feels. Being a technology and strategy enthusiast, he has always been an

impact-driven individual believing in enhancing your wellbeing which isn’t always easy, but
worth it.

SIDHHARRTH. S. KUMAAR

Founder, NumroVani

Sidhharrth S Kumaar, a pharmacist by qualification, turned into a personalised wellness expert
with a vision to deliver personalised wellness programs customised for everyone based on
their birth date and name. His journey began at the age of six with a zeal to time travel into
hidden secrets of the past and customise it to make it contemporary to the world. He has
invested close to one and a half decades living in hibernation wherein he researches holistic
wellness regimens and their personalization based on Date of Birth and Name of person.
The proprietary research which has evolved now as a trade secret leverages the best of
astro-numerology, sound therapy, binaural beats, crystals, yoga and meditation to curate a
personalised wellness regimen proactively. The proprietary research is not only for individu-
als but also for companies to be proactive about their employee wellbeing and translate the
proactive initiatives to deliver sustainable business growth.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

REWARDING THE EXCELLENCE OF EDTECH IN INDIA

#BWEduTechAwards

MARCH, 2022 NOMINATE NOW

LAST DATE TO NOMINATE MARCH 12, 2022

India's biggest gathering of EduTech stakeholders under one roof.
This includes the EduTech founders, education publishers,
institution leaders, educators, investors, venture capitalists,
foundations & NPOs. There will also be international participation
from various countries. Through a series of interactive sessions,
inspirational keynotes, demonstrations and start-up pitches by
thought leaders and speakers from India and around the world will
share their insights & perspectives on the future of EduTech.

Jaspreet Bindra Virendra K Tiwari Abhishek
Maheshwari
Founder Director
The Tech Whisperer IIT Kharagpur CEO, Aakash Educational

Services Limited (AESL)

Padma Shri
T. V. Mohandas Pai

Chairman

Manipal Global Education

Prof V Ramgopal Dr. Punam Sahgal Seema Jhingan EDUCATION PARTNER
Rao
Management Consultant & Co-Founder
Director Behavioral Science Trainer & lexCounsel
Former Dean and Professor
IIT Delhi
of Organisation Behavior
IIM Lucknow

For Queries, Contact:
Priya Saraf
+91 98323 86269 | [email protected]

For Nominations:

Sudhanshu Pant Vipul Singh Dr Annurag Batra Mir Salika

Head of Human Resources Divisional Vice President & Chairman & Editor-In-Chief +91 85270 48483 | [email protected]
The British School, New Delhi Head of HR
ADP BW WELLBEINBW Businessworld & GW O R L D | MA+HR9eC1mH92a70n12t72Y8a8d5a8v74
| [email protected]
exchange4media Group

132 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

SANDEEP BANU

HR Head, MoneyTap (Freo)

It has been more than a decade since Sandeep has been in Bangalore working for Tech,
Internet and Fintech organisations in the space of Business HR. He belongs to Vizag- did his
schooling in Dehradun, Nagpur, Vizag and my MBA in Bangalore. (Christ University). Current-
ly, he is also heading HR at Freo (Moneytap). As an individual, he is an avid soccer lover, he
watches a lot of world cinema and loves to travel. Connecting with people, understanding
their problems and helping them solve them is his passion. It is really important to practice a
career where you enjoy your job daily. Wellbeing starts with a place and people which results
in satisfaction and a sense of achievement, pride and belongingness. A safe workplace moti-
vates employees to achieve higher productivity and bond well with each other. His vision is to
become a life-long learner by expanding his skills, problem-solving and challenging himself.

NEELAM VASWANI

Global Health Services Lead for India and ANZ, Johnson & Johnson

Vaswani leads the employee wellbeing strategy for J&J. Armed with 15 years of experience
across wellness, HR and social initiatives, her mission is to promote holistic wellbeing to all.
Her wellbeing journey started with J&J, where wellbeing is embedded as part of the Credo. She
got inspired by the J&Js Energy for Performance program which focuses on finding purpose
and holistic wellbeing. Following this, she left J&J after eight fruitful years to deepen her pur-
pose through yoga education with The Yoga Institute, Mumbai, one of the oldest institutions.
During this time, she led community initiatives like TruckAasana, a drivers’ wellbeing program,

positively impacting 2 lakh truckers. She has been a speaker for AMCHAM, Zee India and
Tata Sky Wellness. Her purpose got her back to J&J where her personal mission could multiply

exponentially with J&J’s mission of health for humanity.

KASHIKA RAKHIANI

Tarot Reader and Spiritual Healer

Kashika Rakhiani is a tarot card reader, akashic records reader, spiritual healer, life coach,
manifesting expert, candle healer, crystal healer, reiki master, numerologist, Vaastu expert
and much more. She has been working in the spiritual healing field for over two years now
and has handled over 6000+ clients. She looks out for more healed people in future by her.
Her journey started when she was 10-11 years old. She got her first tarot deck without even
knowing what these meant. Hence, she was denied learning classes because she was too
young. Life moved on and back in 2019, when she left her job as a dance teacher, she flipped
through her cards and started an Instagram page for practice. Soon Covid hit and it became
a full-time thing for her. Her goal is to simply grow so that she can help more people by any
means she can.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

134 SHORLISTED #BWWellbeing40Under40

DHRUV BHUSHAN

Founder & CEO, Habbit Health and Nutrition

Dhruv Bhushan, founder & CEO of Habbit, is a first-generation, serial entrepreneur. He has
over fifteen years of experience building large businesses around the world. He is also an ac-
tive angel investor with multiple unicorns in his portfolio. Born out of his remarkable personal
transformation of having lost over 70 kilos of weight Dhruv is building Habbit as the most
innovative food company in the world. Backed by top VCs and investors, he uses modern sci-
ence to help us incorporate good nutrition in our lifestyle, without compromising on taste. His
first product, the lowest calorie ice creams in the world, have already seen phenomenal viral
growth establishing Habbit as a loved pioneer in the health, nutrition and wellbeing space.
Habbit aims to impact 100 million lives around the world in the coming decades, saving over
$300 billion spent on preventive lifestyle diseases.

APURVA GUPTA

Holistic Wellness and Motivational Speaker,
Assistant Professor in University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Apurva Gupta’s father, an ayurvedic doctor, imparted her practical knowledge of health and
fitness since her childhood. Professionally, her journey of teaching others about holistic

wellness, taking fitness classes, conducting workshops for mental wellbeing and motivational
talks, all started in 2019. As an assistant professor, it saddens her to see the future generation

distracted and defocused. Her vision is to convince people that maintaining good health is
very easy. Also, along with physical health, it is extremely important to achieve good mental

health. They have some tools which can help people to start with it. She would like to see
herself among the top three personalities in the world of health and wellness field. She wishes

to be working with top organisations and celebrities. After achieving this much she will give
back to the universe by helping needy people. According to her, earning money is important

but getting in sync with the universe and paying gratitude is more important.

CHAITANYA CHAKRAVARTHI GALI

Strategy and Operations, Pura Vida Wellness

By qualification, Chakravarthi Gali is a Pharmacologist and has a PhD in Human medicine from Medical University of Graz, Austria. In the course
of his career, he has worked closely with globally renowned nutritional scientists (including scientists at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota), molecular
biologists, clinical researchers and pharmacists in developing standardized herbal extracts from indigenous plants with therapeutic potential.
His education in Pharmacology and Human medicine enabled him with the skills to understand the complex interaction of bio-actives with the
human body. This embarked him on the journey of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals to tackle day to day wellness challenges we face
with the modern lifestyle. His future goal would be to tap into the biomedical industry and come up with cost-effective and unique methods
and technologies to improve the quality of human life. His forte is in creating unique effective formulations, having bio-enhancers to achieve
maximum bioavailability leading to maximum therapeutic efficacy.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

136 SHORLISTED

AMIT JAIN

HR Head (VP-HR), PeopleStrong and Taggd

Amit Jain is the HR Head (Vice President - HR) for PeopleStrong and Taggd. He is responsible
for driving the global people agenda. He firmly believes, people care is a good business. Jain
has worked with global organisations like Aricent Technologies and Tata Communications in
various HR SMEs roles for over 15 years. He has deep prowess in HR Work Tech SaaS, IT and
the telecom industry. His expertise lies in building a strong brand value with an eco-system
where employee satisfaction, mindfulness and wellbeing are at the core. He focuses on driving
a collaborative mindset and digitising processes for higher productivity and believes in bring-
ing cultural sensitivity to global workplaces. Amit is also the recipient of the many external
and internal awards like ‘Gold Plaque Award, ’ People Strong’s highest award for his innovative
and progressive HR practices. He has been chosen as the top 100 HR professionals under 40
across India and won many awards for his white papers.

PALAKH CHHABRIA AHUJA

Head of Operations, Kaashi Wellness

During her five-year professional journey in the Canadian food retail industry, Chhabria Ahuja
noticed a skyrocketing demand for health and wellness categories. Globally, consumers

were becoming more aware and making conscious consumption choices that uplifted their
lifestyles. While growing up, she had a front-row seat to her mother’s trials as a wellness

entrepreneur in the luxury spa and skincare industry (latest brand: Kaashi Wellness). As the
pandemic drove spa-based businesses into closure, Palakh leveraged her retail experience to

help pivot Kaashi Wellness into the retail segment. The quest: How can we innovate to bring
the spa experience home? Over the last two years, Kaashi Wellness has released 25+ wellness

products and is listed at online and offline retailers across India. Her role as head of opera-
tions is to source high-quality ingredients, create sustainable packaging and expand Kaashi’s

retail presence.

SATAKSHI SHIV PRAKASH KUKRETI

Owner, Ojasya-Beauty with Ayurveda

Satakshi Kukreti belongs to Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. She is a yoga teacher and an entrepre-
neur. She has a startup brand Ojaysya Ayurveda which is all about herbs and Ayurveda. She
provides jobs to needy women through Ojaysya Ayurveda because she wants to empower
women. Before this, she used to work in the television industry as a creative head but for the
wellbeing of people, she left her job and started practising herbs and Ayurveda. She wants to
circulate a message throughout society about a healthy lifestyle via yoga, herbs and Ayurve-
da.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

137#BWWellbeing40Under40

SAKSHI BAKSHI

Founder & CEO, Nucros Science & Taste

Sakshi Bakshi is a young woman entrepreneur and a social worker. After completing her
management education from world-famous universities such as Singapore Management
University and ESCP Europe, she decided to come back to her roots and work in the health-
care sector. For 6+ years, she worked in healthcare strategy and consulted firms across the
healthcare spectrum including pharmaceutical, medical device manufacturers and healthcare
service providers. This provided her with a rich experience in healthcare, which was further
complemented by the fact that she was born and raised in a family of doctors which gave her
an inside perspective of the real challenges in healthcare. It was during her tenure of con-
sulting pharma companies that she realised a majority of existing chronic health conditions
today, which 30 per cent of Indians suffer from, could be managed with the right diet. With this
problem in mind, she decided to launch Nucros Science, a convenient solution where a team
of doctors, nutritionists and chefs help realise your health goals with no compromise on taste
or variety.

VISHAL SAINI

Founder & Chief Nutritionist, Go Nature

Vishal Saini is a food nutritionist and registered naturopath. He is the founder of Go Nature
Classrooms, an online venture, since 2014. He has helped 15000 + people come out of their

lifestyle diseases just by using 2 powerful tools, that is food and power breathing. He has
helped 20+ super moms start their online clinics. He has been awarded 2 international awards

in the field of nutrition. He has represented three national competitions, one North Zone
Inter-University & represented India in school cricket. He is a cricketer turned naturopath and,

on a mission, to heal the world with the elements of mother nature. He is on a mission to help
100,000 people get out of lifestyle diseases and help a minimum of 2000 people to start their
naturopathy e-clinics. From the sports world to his illness and then from illness to a renowned

health coach, Vishal Saini has gone through a big learning curve in his life which makes him a
very unique naturopath and nutritionist.

PREETHI SANKKARI

Partner, A&H Purpose & Fulfilment

Preethi Sankkari’s business has helped thousands of individuals find purpose and meaning.
While pursuing her bachelors in computer science she joined Antano and Harini at the age of
17. It was as if she had entered a wonderland where people overcame their decade-old lim-
itations in minutes with Excellence Installations Technology (EIT). It brought the desire in her
to help people to live a wholesome life without compromising on any core aspects of their life.
She spent the next few years learning and mastering EIT under the mentorship of Antano and
Harini. She worked on various projects where she saw thousands of lives transforming right in
front of her eyes and what was common in all of these stories was how beautifully all aspects
of their life integrated most beautifully. That is how her business was born. At the core of
her vision is integrated outcomes. It starts with one aspect of a person’s life empowering the
other instead of see-saw conflict. And that analogy extends to teams, families and industries
empowering each other.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

138 SPOTLIGHT

A NEW
WORLD
ORDER

The pandemic has A t ‘The Festival of Wellbeing’ conference organised by BW Wellbeing World of BW
given new meaning to Businessworld, a holistic approach towards wellbeing was taken and many aspects
the term ‘wellbeing’ of it were spoken about by eminent speakers in panel discussions as well as key-
as people have note and stand-alone addresses.
started taking care of
their health like never The conference kicked off with an opening note on ‘The Power of intent’, by Annurag Batra,
before and trying Chairman and Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld. With a very enthusiastic opening keynote
their best to boost address on ‘Holistic lifestyle, Health and Disease’, Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - In-
their immune system tegrative and Lifestyle Medicine and the Founder of YouCare, All About You, spoke about con-
sistency being the key to good health, supported by the four pillars of – sleep, food, movement
- Kavi Bhandari and emotional wellbeing.

Though having a reputation of being the birthplace of Ayurveda, India has a number of
problems and issues related to almost every factor under the umbrella of wellbeing. We are
still one of the few countries which do not have a national suicide prevention policy. It is ironic
that a country like India, which is so rich in terms of knowledge of wellbeing and traditional
healing practices, spirituality, the Vedas and the list can go on, is suffering a massive setback
in the field of wellbeing, not to mention the rest of the world especially due to the pandemic of
Covid-19.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

139THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

Ignorance is not bliss, awareness is Everything is pre-destined, Niyati hokar rahegi.”
When we become more aware and operate from a
360-degree consciousness, our mind, body and soul Happiness – The New Buzzword
become aligned. The conference covered the very Different people have different definitions of happi-
significant topics of mental wellness, sexual health and ness. Some seek true happiness all their lives whilst
wellbeing, happiness, awakening our ‘inner-net’ connec- some find their path to it even if it is through materi-
tion, the importance of fitness, wellbeing at work, spiritu- alism. Many people delve into their inner selves to try
ality, mindfulness, sleep, the science of yoga, astrology, and experience bliss and peace.
Vaastu-the science of wellbeing, palmistry, numerology
and much more. “My definition of happiness is accepting and acknowl-
edging what one has and being content with that.
Whilst these topics were being spoken about extensively, There is a misconception that happiness means being
the conference also started having the speakers indulge
in debate and getting more involved in discussions,
(whether panel or one-on-one or even stand-alone) re-
garding the future of holistic wellbeing especially during
these testing times of the pandemic which resulted
in taking many lives, hitting the economy and getting
people very ill when infected by it.

The advancement during Covid-19
The world united in fighting the pandemic and many
people took to serving others selflessly. Wellbeing has
evolved as a practice in ‘self-investment’ since the
onset of Covid-19. Lives have been lost but some people
emerged stronger mentally, physically and emotionally
even under the circumstances leading to extreme anxi-
ety, uncertainty and fear – fear of getting infected, fear
of losing their jobs, fear of losing their loved ones. The
worst is not over but we as human beings have battled
and struggled to align with circumstances.

“There is a simple logic - whatever has to happen will
happen at its destined time. I believe in destiny and the
Almighty. Whenever I do something for anyone, I expe-
rience real happiness. I don’t get such feelings in doing
something for myself,” said JC Chaudhry, Founder and
Chairman, Chaudhry Nummero, explaining the connec-
tion between numerology & wellbeing and how do they
come together.

Expressing his views on ‘Astrology changing the life
course and that everything has been preordained by
God’, Prateek Bhatt, Astrologer, Palmist, Numerologist
and Face Reader, underlined, “Due to commercialisa-
tion, things are changing day by day. Until 20 years ago,
Shani was an enemy; now it has become a friend. This
is because of commercialisation and hence astrology is
degrading day by day. We will have to understand that
astrology is just guidance, it can’t change our destiny.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

140 SPOTLIGHT

not sad or angry etc. It means being happy in presence Sexual health and its importance
of all of these things. So sustained happiness is im- Sexual health is one of the most important aspects of
portant,” said Raj Nayak, Founder, Happiness.me. wellbeing. A person with this awareness can cure his or
her frustrations in life, mental imbalance at times and
Talking about employee happiness and work-life satis- even their overall physical and emotional health.
faction, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of HappyPlus, Ashish Ambasta said, “The reason why
most of the workers at different companies are not
happy is that the employees are not taking account of
their own happiness, they are giving it away to organ-
isations. Over half which is 54 per cent of employees
surveyed from around the globe considered leaving
their jobs, amid the uncertainty of job security, anxiety,
stress and other mental health issues due to the ongo-
ing Coronavirus pandemic, as per the EY 2021 Work
Reimagined Employee Survey.”

Ambasta tried to put forth his view on why people are
not happy when it comes to their work. He said that
sometimes it’s about one’s managers, sometimes it is
about one’s compensation and most importantly one’s
learning and development.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

141THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

al journey of tapping into and connecting with this
powerful network.”

The importance of sleep and mindfulness
Annurag Batra was in conversation with Antano Solar
John and Harini Ramachandran - both creators of Ex-
cellent Installations and founders of Antano and Harini
Legacy Accelerators.

Padma Shri Prakash Kothari focusing his professional On having a lot of patients who face problems in their
attention on sexual health said, “At the outset, let me lives like relationship issues and making poor decisions
clarify that sexual potency isn’t separable from the en- many have these problems due to sleep deprivation,
tire vitality of the whole body. What is good for the whole Ramachandran, explained, “Sleep is something that
body is good for sex. I am going to focus in a way of not has come in the way of wellbeing of people. Those who
just what to do about it but how to go about it.” He then don’t sleep well, their minds need satiation and rest as
went on to speak about how a man gets aroused either they have problems in various aspects of their lives.”
by the sight or touch, which enhances the sex centre in John said that one of the core values he has is that if
the brain where the messages are enough and the mes- he can’t help someone, he finds someone who can do
sages go through the spinal cord, there is a flow of blood it for them.
and a man gets aroused and so does a woman.
Mindfulness and the therapeutic effects of cooking are
Tapping into our inner selves really amazing, with their ability to create focus and
The material world and the chase to be the best in the at the same time the joys that are related to mindful
rat race to ‘success’, many people forget to connect with activities. “With the emotion that you cook and eat
their inner self. The divine connection between our inner food, is what you become as you consume it, is a uni-
selves and unconditional love is tremendous. People at versal law,” said Chef Ranveer Brar as he spoke about
times get carried away by certain fantasies and money. his passion for cooking food. He revealed that his
This not only increases the person’s inability to let go of love for cooking also has a connection to his spiritual
competition but puts him or her on a path of constant side, which evolved when he used to see people cook
achievements of the material world. It is not wrong to Langar at a Gurudwara. Talking about his realisation
be competitive but anything in excess is not good, seen and after having years of cooking experience, he said,
from every perspective. “Cooking is not a business of feeding people’s stom-
ach, it is a business of feeding people sense, as it is an
Advocating the ‘inner-net connection’, Danijela Radonic art which stimulates all the sense when consumed.”
Bhandari, Integrative Wellbeing Counsellor and Founder This as mentioned earlier requires mindfulness.
DanaVeda, said, “There are different ways and tech-
niques that can be utilised and I certainly love breath as On a conclusive note, the conference was very suc-
a tool to anchor me deeper into myself. There are many cessful in imparting knowledge that was way ahead
other practises such as journaling, gazing into our own of our time creating an educational and invigorating
eyes in front of a mirror, lovingly connecting to our heart ambience. Experts from different fields of wellbeing
and seeking guidance there, mindfully spending time expressed their views and opinions. The attitude of
immersed in nature, attending to our emotions not only gratitude was mentioned, so was the importance of
comfortable, but uncomfortable ones as well, meditation compassion. People heard the speakers talk about
and so on. When we attend to all these different layers eradicating negative emotions and embracing the
of our being, from our physical to energy, emotional, things we have with utmost fulfilment. Anger, jealousy
mental and spiritual body, we travel the bio-individu- and many other negative emotions can be replaced
with contentment and happiness. The day-long con-
ference was very fruitful in every sense of the word.
People took away a lot mentally and intellectually
whilst churning their own emotions. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

142 SPOTLIGHT SISTER BK SHIVANI

YOU CAN NOT
CHANGE THE WORLD
BY CONSUMING IT

Sister BK
Shivani
discusses
rebuilding trust
in the corporate
culture,
gradually
overcoming the
distrust that
was developed
due to the
pandemic

- BW Team

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

143THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

C ovid is not the fear and anxiety that we feel have to consume something different to be able to
today, Covid is just pressure but it is divided change the world,” said Sister Shivani.
by resilience. Stress is just pressure divided
by resilience,” said Sister BK Shivani, Raj “We are taking the mind from the beta stage to the
Yog Meditation Teacher, A Spiritual Guide & Mentor. alpha stage by consuming daily affirmations,” she
explained.
“If we need to implement wellbeing from tomorrow, we
need to absorb the equation – ‘I am the creator of my ev- “The last layer of information is critical, hence 20
ery thought and feelings and the situation, not any other mins before going to sleep please consuming a
person”. In her one-hour-long session, Sister BK Shivani healthy emotional diet which means watch, read and
also advised, “We all take care of our bodies, but we also listen that what you want to become, which further
need to take care of our minds. What we watch, read and means watch, read and listen content which has
listen to is our emotional diet. So if I watch, read and listen happiness, acceptance, loyalty, compassion, trust, in
to content that has lust, ego, greed, jealousy, anger, cor- other words, spiritual content,” stated Sister Shivani.
ruption, violence etc, then nothing or no method can stop
all these feelings from becoming my emotions because Thoughts and Affirmations
this is what I’m feeding my mind and what I watch, read As the last layer of information that we consume the
and listen … I become. While we think entertainment is a last thoughts we have during the end of the day is
de-stressor, it is in fact the creator of our stress.” very critical as well. “Let’s end the day with thoughts
of very selected affirmations as thoughts manifest
Sister Shivani speaking at ‘The Festival of Wellbeing’, and become our destiny,” said Sister Shivani as she
presented by BW Wellbeing World in association with BW went on to list the affirmations that one should feed
Businessworld listed three things that build resilience their minds before sleep as the mind radiates the af-
and reduce stress firmations to our bodies along with the right message
as to what we want to manifest in our lives.
Sleep
“Early to bed, early to rise is a phrase that today’s school She listed these as ‘I’m a powerful being’, ‘I’m calm
kids do not know. We all have a noble intention of giving and stable always’, ‘I’m a giver’, ‘I accept everyone as
our kids what we did not get, but we also have to give they are and everyone accepts me’.
them what we received in terms of learnings because
we are the last generation that can pass on these. After “This means I don’t react to situations, I respond
us, they won’t know early to bed, early to rise, jaisa ann, out of my own choice as I’m a powerful being. I give
waisa mann.” said Sister Shivani. love, I give acceptance, I give understanding, I give
compassion. We need to replace the line ‘I’m busy’
Stressing on the importance of good healthy sleep with ‘I’m easy’, ‘I’m busy’ is not a healthy line, not for
pattern and waking up early, Sister Shivani stated, “To the mind or the body,” Sister Shivani noted.
wake between 4-5 AM – the successful leadership time
we need to go to bed before 10 PM, For going to bed by “Expectations are not normal, acceptance is normal.
10 PM we have to cut off from work communication by 8 My body is perfect and healthy and will always be is
PM unless it is a crisis and crisis is rare. While this seems an affirmation we put in mind before sleep, because
impossible, but if you want a healthy mind and body, this for the next six hours our mind is going to radiate this
must be done.” affirmation to our body, so the last thought before
you go to sleep is nothing less than magic,” she
Last Layer of Information added.
“The first hour of the morning and the last hour of the
night, if you are going to watch the world news, then the The last affirmation she mentioned is the affirmation
world is only going to become more of what the world is for work. She explained, “Whatever is your target at
today – you can not change the world. Because you are work, put an affirmation for that in your thoughts, I
observing the world, you are becoming the world and have already achieved my target and then create a
you are becoming the same world the next morning. You divine circle of protection around you of God’s love
can not change the world by consuming the world, you and affection.” 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

144 SPOTLIGHT PALGA RINPOCHE

INNER
HAPPINESS IN
MODERN LIFE
THROUGH
SPIRITUALITY

“I used my A t the ‘Festival of Wellbeing’ conference of BW Wellbeing, the 8th Choekyong
awareness to Palga Rinpoche of Ladakh, Buddhist Teacher and Spiritual Speaker, spoke about
gain wisdom balancing our inner selves with the materialistic world.
and the
awareness In conversation with Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld, Palga
to realise Rinpoche stated that in the conference he found the speakers before him from different
the futility of backgrounds creating a very educational and invigorating environment, expressing their
running after opinions, their thoughts, their methods and principles about wellbeing. He went on to say,
materials,” “Though, I think most of them were very concerned with addressing our issues with happiness
comments the and wellbeing externally and not that internally.”
8th Choekyong
Palga Rinpoche He spoke about how he went through the phase of a very lavish and luxurious life in Europe for
of Ladakh. many years with his very expensive cars and good friends. He accumulated a lot of wealth and
became a multi-millionaire and invested in the stock market. He further described this phase by
- Kavi Bhandari saying that, “It was not the sustainable and spontaneous happiness he wanted. It was always
dependent on something else. It was dependent on big cars, five-star hotels, Michelin food, a
social circle which are very difficult to keep up with and one just gets lost in this big world of
materialism.”

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

145THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

Annurag Batra asked him about the difficult switch “It will take a long time if I start preaching and giving
from a very different environment that he made and speeches as it would take days to pass on lessons,
how he managed to make it. Palga Rinpoche replied, “I but I would like to say that I believe in compassion,
used my awareness to gain wisdom, to understand the to understand the suffering of other people. To
futility of running after material things. I understood relate to the suffering side of people. Love, to wish
that materialism is in itself not the problem, the problem them a lot of happiness to relate to their happy side.
is attachment. Sometimes that switch is made for you To be in a state of awareness through meditation,
because of circumstances that are beyond your control. to be in the moment and with awareness manage
For example, the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the globe to gain wisdom. I call it CLAW – Compassion, Love,
made a lot of people make that switch about realizing Awareness and Wisdom. Compassion should be
that true happiness is wellbeing.” projected towards others, awareness and wisdom
projected towards yourself. If we use these
He said he got disillusioned with that lifestyle and principles and understand how to apply them, you
hence decided to come back to his spiritual roots. He can come out of your negative state with CLAW,” he
locked himself up for three years, three months in a stated.
small 10 by 10 feet room and also did meditation in the
Himalayas in the winter when the temperature was as According to him, it is fortunate for people to
low as -30 degrees and with just the meditation belt and have enemies, especially even if they are relatives
underwear, in January in Ladakh and he had to meditate or family members. He feels people who have
with his inner heat to purify his negative emotions. unprovoked enemies are lucky. He quoted Buddha
saying that “We should be careful of our close
“Right now, I won’t use the word ‘happiness’, I would use ones as they have the ability to push the buttons
the words bliss, peaceful, serene and tranquil,” he stated that hurt the most.”
about how he felt now. He was able to help people by
listening to them, talking to them, holding their hands, On a concluding note, he said we should see our
looking them in the eye and telling them that they are enemies as our biggest teachers of patience. Living
fine. He doesn’t believe in judging anyone and accepting in a social media era and a digital era what Palga
ourselves and others as beautiful the way we are. Rinpoche preaches is that, “Never look at somebody
who has more than you and wishes for what that
person has. Be grateful for what you already have.
In a nutshell, the half-full glass principle is what I
follow. I am very grateful for what I have. Whenever
you see someone like that, always focus only on
what you have and practice gratitude.”

He quoted an example here, saying, “Last time when
I was in Mumbai, whilst on a teaching tour where I
delivered a Ted talk at Pune and on the way back
stayed in Mumbai for a bit. My host arranged a very
luxurious BMW car for me, brand new as he was the
first to sit in that car and he wanted blessings from
me. Outside I saw an auto driver who was gesturing
that my life is very prosperous. On the other side, I
saw a Rolls Royce but I did not feel that I wish I had
it, instead, I felt grateful that I was not in the auto. I
was in a posh airconditioned car, four or five bottles
of water whilst he had a yellow soft drink bottle, a
scarf around his face and he was wiping the sweat
off. I was grateful to have clean water and sitting
in the AC. I could feel his pain. We should focus on
what we have and not what we don’t have.” 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

146 SPOTLIGHT MICKEY MEHTA

Even a
cursory look
at the Indian
culture on the
mind-body
connection
would tell
you that your
physical health
is a reflection
of your
experiences in
life.

- Krishnendra
Joshi

HEALING THE MIND
STARTS WITH A
RESPONSIBLE YOU

T he healing power of our mind has fascinated human beings since human civiliza-
tions came into being. There is documented evidence to show how people have
miraculously recovered from life-threatening diseases by understanding a simple
connection - The mind-body matrix.

Even a cursory look at the Indian culture on the mind-body connection would tell you that your
physical health is a reflection of your experiences in life. Now there are exceptions to this but
the element of human experience cant be ruled in manifesting optimal health.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

147THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

That’s how techniques such as visualisations, reframing or felt low even after having your favourite ice cream,
and affirmations have been known to give good results Mehta has potent and easy-to-follow advice for you.
when it comes to successful thinking patterns and creat-
ing healthy mindsets. “Nature is the best healer. One of the modalities of
healing is stopping everything that you’re doing and
In a fireside chat with Annurag Batra, global leading going close to open air. Sunlight, open sky, greens,
holistic health guru Mickey Mehta talks about healing chirping of the birds, sound, touch, smell. Taste, vision,
the mind and harnessing its potency to live your life to or shut your eyes. Let go of everything and visualise
the fullest. nature. You will immediately be the disruptor. You will
break the pattern of distress and get in the phase of
Health Could Music; Just let go of the Mind rejuvenation,” he said.
Memories, toxic moments in relationships can hurt.
Humans tend to ruminate. However, getting stuck in a However, on an intrinsic level, if you still feel burnt out
cycle of repetitive and painful thoughts can prove to be and find it difficult to get into a consistent rhythm,
a problem. In reality, the nature of the mind is bliss and then doing some inner work might help. Finding focus
freedom. Many meditation gurus call the mind akin to and discipline for what you believe in is the key.
an ocean and thoughts just like a wave in the ocean. So,
when the same wave of thoughts keeps repeating in the Emphasising that destiny is an open and flexible
mind, it clutters the mind and may result in counterpro- concept and that a lot of it depends on our free will,
ductive behaviour. Mehta said, “Destiny certainly is an open phenomenon.
Till today, till now, this was my destiny, from here and
As Mehta says, “empty your mind and mind your emp- now I will make my destiny. We human beings have
tiness”. two legs to walk towards it, hands to make, a mind to
perceive it, a heart to believe in it and a consciousness
Letting go is an important part of life. When we are born, to achieve it. We human beings have two legs to work
letting go becomes an enabler for life. When a baby towards it, as to make it a mind to perceive it or hard
first comes out of the mother’s womb struggles through to believe in it and a consciousness to achieve it.”
the vaginal canal, lapping up the amniotic fluid, It first
screams and cries that it is letting go. That’s the first Consistency Comes from Right Priorities
lesson of life. If you don’t let go, you will not be in sync An element that plays an integral part in driving
with the rhythm of life. yourself to keep striving and growing is the aspect of
personal responsibility. Realising and imbibing the fact
With a simple breathing technique, Mehta explains the that you are responsible for the people around you
power of our breath in letting go. It is only when you makes a big difference and will help you to keep going.
learn the art of letting go that you can truly tap into the It may be a limited circle of people like your family and
potential of your mind and connect with higher intelli- close friends. If you are someone running a business,
gence. Ever wondered why is that when your mind is free, the sphere of responsibility extends to your employees
past troubles and anxieties of the future, you experience and so on.
moments of heightened intuition, increased sense of
creativity, problem-solving ability and frequent Eureka Finding your sense of responsibility towards the right
moments. Why is it so? For starters, clarity in thought set of people will help you to automatically realign
has a perk. It makes you more receptive. And when the your priorities or find the right ones. Batra’s words
mind is open to receiving, it becomes conducive to being towards the end on setting the right priorities made
in sync with the universe. everyone reflect on life’s ultimate trade-off. What are
you willing to give to your goals to accomplish them.
Nature is the Best Healer
We deal with moments of sadness even when we are If you want to achieve something, you have to be dis-
focused and living a purpose-driven life. Often we try our ciplined and consistent. It depends on what you want.
best to get out of the mental clutter but find it difficult Life is a trade-off. Right? It is about your priorities.
to switch to a pleasant state of mind. If you have ever Consistency comes from having the right priorities, he
found yourself grappling with a counterproductive mood said. 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

148 SPOTLIGHT SAMIR SONI

SDTRAERATMLSIVING YOUR

The actor,
Samir Soni,
who has been
maintaining a
personal diary
for years now,
decided to put
together pages
and turn them
into a book.

- BW Team

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

149THE FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING

I ntroverts are more vulnerable than extroverts to counselling and medication when needed. The strange
depression and decreased mental wellbeing. They thing is that people drinking whisky to reduce stress
are also more likely to be compliant and have lower is completely fine but seeking help from specialists is
self-esteem than extroverts, which can be detri- wrong. People will start saying if there is something
mental when experiencing depression. Samir Soni, actor is wrong with you. It is similar to avoiding the big ele-
and author, recently launched a book ‘My Experiment phant in the room.”
with Silence’ in which he laid down personal experiences
and techniques to cope with stress and anxiety. Based on anxiety and self-discovery, Soni’s book aims
to be a personal account of his dialogues with himself
At the Festival of Wellbeing organised by BW Business- during his growing-up years in Delhi, his stint at Wall
world, Deep Bajaj, Co-Founder, Sirona Hygiene (PeeBud- Street and his time in Bollywood. The book is being
dy) was in conversation with Samir Soni to understand published by OM Books International. Soni said his
what’s all there in the book. book will be an “ode to anyone who has fought or is
Talking about his book, Soni said, “Most of the books fighting their inner demons”.
that deal with anxiety and depression only suggest
seven or eight ways of living a happy life. It’s like telling When asked what do you do to switch off, Soni
people about the result and not the process of trying affirmed, “Nobody can switch off instead he can put
to get that. And that’s what my book, really talks about. himself first. You have to understand yourself right. To
I wrote the book while I was going through the process me, I have understood that I need my time. My phone
and this makes it very honest and raw. I didn’t want to is always on silent. Only when I’m ready to communi-
give any Gyaan or knowledge to people as I wanted to cate, I will communicate. Otherwise, it’s my time and
share what I’ve experienced.” is to tell people that it’s okay. The moment you say
it’s okay, then you will value it and do steps to protect
In ‘My Experiments with Silence’, the actor laid bare that. It’s like spending time with your little daughter,
selections from his diary to help the reader cope with right? Nobody tells that.”
questions that have agitated the human mind for eons.
‘Who am I? Why am I the way I am? Can I truly change “Driven by the illusion of unrealistic dreams and ex-
myself?’ In the process Soni underlines that until one pectations and the need for external validation, we are
discovers the ‘real you, you are actually living someone constantly caught in a tug-of-war between our inner
else’s life, fulfilling someone else’s dreams, which were life and the external universe,” said Soni
sold to you by the society at large. ‘
In his book Soni mentioned that he too spent a lifetime
Stating the importance of ‘becoming the real you’, Soni oscillating between these two worlds, striving for the
said, “Nowadays, social media is alluring young minds so golden means. He found it by experimenting with
much that they think success is about owning a Rolls- silence, turning to his diary as a companion in this
Royce or any other luxury brand, but it is not. With social journey and finding the comfort in his inner self that
media, we are building another generation of people the world outside could never provide.
who would aspire to be that. And there will be a lot of
percentage of people who will not relate to that.” When asked how an introvert thought of writing a
book? Soni, expressed, “I’m just shy and reserved but it
On the topic of living for the ‘gram’ (Instagram), where took me a while in the little bumps and bruises. I decid-
most of the people post pictures of happiness and ed I’m not going to keep pushing myself against a brick
success, while the reality could be very different Soni wall, trying to be something that I’m really not.”
said “People are being judged based on their choices
and appearance. Success is very subjective. In today’s He further elucidated. “So although my difficulty was
world, it is totally possible that you might be trying to live concerned, I wrote this but 10-15 years back and
someone else dreams and you don’t even realise it.” locked it up. It wasn’t meant to be shared with people.
I wrote that for my catharsis. But after years, When I
Sharing his experience of dealing with anxiety and realised people are still living someone else dream, I
stress, the actor said, “I had suffered from anxiety for just uploaded it. We cannot be selling these dreams to
a long time and still do from time to time. I’ve sought the younger generation.“ 

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022

150 SPOTLIGHT SAMIR PARIKH

“We are still
one of the few
countries which
do not have a
national suicide
prevention
policy,” says
Samir Parikh.

- Urvi
Shrivastav

WHOLESOME
APPROACH TO
WELLNESS

G ood health is an all-encompassing domain. The mindset of it being associated
with only body size or appearance is very myopic, a thought process we are
realising now. Wellbeing is not just physical, it is also mental, social and spiritual,
which are as important if not more than the physical aspect. This can be seen
from the fact that depression affects five per cent of the world’s population and one person
commits suicide every 40 seconds. Given these staggering numbers, it is high time we associ-
ate wellness with care beyond just the physical.

BW WELLBEINGWORLD | MARCH 2022