After a Rudra Puja. Shot in Mumbai.
About Me
Dinesh Kashikar, (Kashiji as he is widely known) did his schooling from St. Xavier’s, Ahmedabad and graduated in Chemical Engineering from IIT Mumbai. Always a topper in school, he had a keen interest in sports and theatre.
Joining IIT Bombay to pursue a Masters in Chemical Engineering seemed to be the best thing that could have happened to him. At college, he did the usual stuff - participated in literary, cultural and sports events, took an active interest in the hostel activities and generally, had a good time. By the fourth year, he was the GSec of the hostel, had played football for the hostel, organised and participated in mood Indigo and PAF. Yet there seemed to be something missing.
He was introduced to the Art of Living in the year 1995, and became a full time volunteer with the organization. Besides arranging various stress –elimination programmes of the Art of Living, he simultaneously began contributing to varied departments such as administration and human resources at the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore.
He then went on to become a teacher of the Art of Living’s stress -elimination programme through which he has been able to reach out and benefit more than 5 lakh people. He has a keen interest in both the practical and academic aspects of yoga and today is a specialist in the field of yoga and pranayama. He has travelled with HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar across India conducting yoga sessions for enormous gatherings.
His responsibilities in the Art of Living have been diverse. He headed the publication division of the Art of Living, editing and publishing many of its books and has even co-ordinated the working of the Sri Veda Agama Samskrutha Mahapatahasala, a heritage school started by the Art of Living, with the aim of preserving the rich traditions and rituals of India. Currently he is the trustee of the Vaidic Dharma Samsthana which aims to promote and propagate the lofty ideals of the vaidic traditions to one and all envisioning the vaidic motto - vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
In his capacity as an international yoga teacher (He happens to be a certified Yoga Alliance teacher holding their highest level of accreditation - the E-RYT 500) Kashiji has traveled widely. He has conducted Art of living programmes in countries like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Russia and Mongolia.
Of how he came into this path, he says “After meditation, all aspects of life - interpersonal, social and internal - started improving which really made me sit up and take notice. I decided that if something could give me what I was looking for, its worth sharing with the world. Thats how I started following HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji and found my calling”
He is technology savvy and loves new gadgets. He has contributed to open source projects and codes in php mysql as a hobby. Among other interests, Kashiji loves listening to music and reading both fiction and spiritual books.
At Krasnoyarsk, Russia
During my first visit to Russia