The Team

WAYE has a team of highly skilled dynamic trainers who have been hand picked to teach its various Education Programs and lead humanitarian initiatives across the world. Some of them are:

Akash Sharma Rudra, Chandigarh

Akash facilitates YES!+ programs in North India. He is currently the Manging Director of Rudra Remedies Private Limited and Rudra Medtech and has achieved remarkable success in both business and sports all at the age of 25.

When he was 15, he found his passion in Tennis and within 2 years he took the National circuit by winning various Indian Championships in Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, etc. By 19, he had won many Championships in the International Tennis Circuit.

In 2002 he shifted gears from being a sportsperson to a dynamic businessman. His company has achieved commendable success in a short span. The 'Indian Economic Development Research Association' conferred The Bhartiya Udyog Ratna Award on him for outstanding contributions in the field of ayurvedic medicinal research and manufacturing.

Akash has inspired many young businessmen to participate in humanitarian service and contribute their knowledge and skill sets in shaping the futures of those less fortunate.

Annelies Richmond, USA

Annelies is an international teacher and teacher trainer for the Art of Living Foundation. She currently serves on the North American Teacher Training Team for the Art of Living Foundation, and is a member of the USA YES!+ Board. Before teaching for the Art of Living Foundation, Ms. Richmond danced professionally for 15 years, spending the last half of her career dancing for the Metropolitan Opera in NYC.

Atika Dhandhia, Delhi

Atika is a commerce graduate from the Delhi University and holds a Certificate in Jewellery Designing from the Gemological Institute of America, Santa Monica. Her passion for jewellery then took her to the streets of Tokyo, where she studied the Japanese jewellery market.

Besides being excellent academically, Atika was actively involved in Extra-curricular activities throughout her school and college life. She has won many accolades in elocution, oratory and even a 'Best Actress' award at the famous International Drama Festival at Delhi University. While in Tokyo, she worked with the prestigious Radio Japan (NHK) as a news broadcaster and also anchored two live radio programs, which went on to top the popularity charts!

For the last 13 years, Atika has been working with the Art of Living Foundation, which has reached out to millions in more than 148 countries through its social projects, self-development and educational programs. She has held various senior positions in the organization, leading projects in areas as diverse as corporate trainings, youth empowerment and terrorist rehabilitation. From reforming hardcore terrorists in North -Eastern India, polishing intellectual giants from IIT and IIMs, serving as a Director for Veda Wellness Pvt Ltd (a corporate training firm) to spearheading massive youth initiatives like the 'World Youth Peace Summit 2005' in Bangalore and the largest Art Of Living youth course 'Utsav' in Delhi, which collectively saw participation from more than 5,000 youth – She has done it all!

Atika continues to be a source of inspiration to thousands of youth and professionals across the globe with her million dollar smile, and undying spirit of enthusiasm. She is a fitness freak, loves books and movies, and finds immense joy in shopping and spending time with friends and family!

Diego Cob, Mexico

Luis Diego Cob was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica (Central America). He attended the distinguished Williams College in Western Massachusetts, USA and graduated in 2004 with a double major in Political Science (International Relations) and Chinese and an additional concentration in Environmental Studies. He has lived and traveled in different parts of Europe, Asia, South Africa, China, Brazil, and since 2004 has made Mexico his base working for the Art of Living.

Diego has taught and coordinated projects with street children, impoverished communities, battered women, juvenile delinquents, general public, university students and young professionals. Diego has managed a team of youth leaders with funding from the World Bank on 2 separate occasions and coordinating events such as the the Art of Living's 5H Run for Youth for a Stress-Free Violence Free Society. Diego works full-time with the Art of Living and teaches its Part-1 programs for adults, the YES!+ course for young professionals and university students, YES! for High School students, the Art of Living Prison Program and the Breath Water Sound Program for marginalized communities, in Mexico, Costa Rica and the USA.

Dr. Rohit and Shilpa Sabharwal, Mumbai

Rohit and Shilpa are international travelling faculty with WAYE and the Art of Living and have conducted programs at leading educational institutes across the world. They have also conducted special courses for medical students for creating awareness and prevention of female foeticide, in collaboration with the UNFPA.

They have together pioneered the youth initiatives in the whole of South America, and have successfully led many community service projects including the Clean-Up Mumbai campaign. Shilpa and Rohit are both dental surgeons by profession and have been practicing in Mumbai for the last 12 years. Shilpa is a classically trained singer and has toured all over India, Australia, Dubai and Brazil conducting satsangs. She too is known for her lovely Indian delicacies and world cuisines. Rohit on the other hand loves adventure sports, trekking, listening to Pink Floyd and is a maestro at the percussions. Indeed, they both exhibit a unique combination of precision and sensitivity and have brought smiles to many peoples' faces…literally!

Emily Peck, USA

Emily Peck has worked for ten years in the field of peace education, community development and humanitarian service with the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values. As an international instructor for the Art of Living Foundation and WAYE, she teaches programs for adults and young professionals, as well as youth in high schools and universities. Her teaching experience spans includes some of the most prestigious universities throughout the United States including: MIT, Cornell, UPenn, Yale, UCLA and University of Chicago. In addition, Emily specializes in teaching faculty and administration of educational institutions.

Emily also played an important role on the Art of Living Foundation's Campaign for a Violence-Free, Stress-Free Europe, Violence-Free, Stress-Free America, where she reached out to over 1700 students across Europe and America. Emily has a background in conservation biology, satellite technology and leadership development. Her professional experience includes work for the World Wildlife Fund, EarthSat Corporation, the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, as well as, United Nations delegate.

Personally, she enjoys long walks in nature, poetry and good vegetarian food. Emily holds a M.Phil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin, as well as a BS in Geography from the University of Maryland.

Pooja Tidke, Mumbai

A vibrant, young lady with unlimited energy, Pooja is a litigation lawyer at the Bombay High Court by morning (Pooja practices with ALMT Legal an all-service international law firm based in Mumbai, Bangalore and London) and an Art of Living teacher by eve. She has advised and represented a number of leading national and international corporate houses while on the job and an astounding number of youth towards progress when off it. Her great relationship with youngsters has also put her on board as a visiting business law faculty at the H.R. College of Commerce and Economics.

Pooja's relationship with the Art of Living Foundation spans over 10 years. Today she is a part-time faculty with WAYE which means she dedicates the bulk of her time to teaching the YES!+ Program to students, young professionals and entrepreneurs. Over the last few years, she has successfully inspired and led her team into spearheading many social initiatives in Mumbai city. Her strong backing force - her staunch belief that spirituality makes life a celebration no matter what the challenge or obstacle at hand

Two big professions apart, Pooja also plays the piano and has delivered several musical recitals to packed auditoriums across Mumbai. Since she's also blessed with a fabulous voice, she has the added advantage of singing in on most Art of Living satsangs, big or small. Pooja is definitely someone who stands testimony to the age old adage, 'Good things come in small packages'!

Rashmin Pulekar, Mumbai

One of the most dynamic young teachers you'll come across, Rashmin Pulekar is presently an International faculty with the WAYE. A commerce graduate from the Mumbai University, Rashmin is also an International rated chess player and has captained many a team including the Mumbai University to international recognition. He has also secured top honors at some of the most reputed competitions including the Gold medal at the All India Inter University Chess Championship for two consecutive years.

For the past 7 years, Rashmin has been teaching the Art of Living series of courses all across the globe, including India, Norway and Sweden. His prime focus is to empower youth to excel at whatever they do and more importantly, motivate them to take on the responsibility of bringing about a positive change in society. Over the years he has been instrumental in inspiring thousands of young people through the YES!+ seminars and workshops. Rashmin has also trained youth leaders from 15 different countries to participate in the World Youth Forum in Brussels, Belgium in the year 2008 as a part of the Conference on Ethics in Business organized by the International Association for Human Values.

His unabridged dynamism, simplicity and innate ability of connecting with people has put smiles on many faces and kindled a sense of responsibility in many a young heart.

Shibani Sachdeva, Mumbai

Shibani Sachdeva is currently the National Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of the world's largest cement manufacturing company in India. Prior to her current assignment, Shibani has 7 years work experience in building the Social Sector in India with her primary area of expertise being spearheading as CEO the start-up of world leading non-profits in India such as United Way in Mumbai & Planet Finance and scaling them up to being leading non-profits in India today. Shibani also worked for over 2 years at the world's largest advertising agency in San Francisco, California.

Shibani is a teacher of the YES!+ Program which she regularly conducts in Mumbai. When she is not busy building the social sector in India Shibani takes time to skipper boats on the Bombay high seas and is a twice National Champion – having won the Best Female Helmsman award in 2005 & 1997. Shibani was also the only woman Council Member on the Yachting Association of India Council, 2004-2008 and has represented India in 1999 & 2000 as Team Coach for the under 15 Yachting Team in championships across the world.

Shibani is a James Webb Young Scholar with a Masters of Science degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, USA and also holds an MBA degree from the University of Mumbai. Currently most of her free time is invested in volunteering and helping build WAYE.

Virat Chirania, Mumbai

Virat is, by far, one of the youngest and most dynamic teachers on the YES!+ Mumbai team. Completing his engineering from Bombay, he jetted off to the prestigious Syracuse University in New York to complete his Masters in Management. He then clinched himself a dream job with telecom giant AT&T, topping that off with a quick promotion. Today, Virat is the founder of Institute of Soft-Skills, a company dedicated to imparting soft-skills to Indian youth to help them succeed in the real world. A guest faculty member at SPIT and Bhavans College, he is also a Career Guidance and Personality Development coach at many schools.

Virat prides himself on being an Art of Living instructor, and specializes in youth courses. Over all the years that he has been with the organization, he has taught courses in places on opposite ends of the geographic locale India (IIT Bombay-School of Management, Mumbai Business School etc.) and the US (Seattle University, UCLA, University of Western Washington). In addition, he's also conducted Stress-Relief seminars at places like Microsoft, Amazon, Expedia, Bajaj Alliance and many others.

On the personal front, Virat is a true blue Gemini, with his feet, hands and head in different buckets. He's played hand drums in Seattle, represented Bombay for UK County Cricket, aced his board exams, moonlighted as a student journalist, danced his way to the top at performance competitions and most importantly, mastered the skill he's sustained for the longest time-his ability to make deliciously refreshing chai, with or without special chai patti (though Bawa doesnt allow him to drink his chai anymore)! So if you see virat furtively sipping something in a corner, you will know that Bawa is around!

Vasudha Jhunjhunwala, Mumbai

One of the most multi talented individuals you'll ever come across, Vasudha Jhunjhunwala is a self motivated young woman (and mother) who's presently a part time faculty with the WAYE and fully focused on directing her energies into motivating youth for social change.

Vasudha brings with her an eclectic range of educational qualifications and interests. She's studied Art in Jaipur, mastered classical dance, worked as a painter in a marketing firm and contributed to an NGO that works with kids. Basically, to cut a long story short, she's spent most of her time surrounded by some form of art or the other, practiced her primary skills and acquired many others as she's gone along the way. So what does a dynamic young lady inspired by art and motivated with a keen business sense do? The obvious starts her own exquisite home furnishing boutique, ‘Toshakhana' at the Oberoi, a lifestyle brand so good that it boasts of the most elite customers, fans and loyalists from across the globe!

One of the critical driving forces behind the launch of WAYE, Vasudha is actively involved with social initiatives and projects such as Go Green, UNFPA & Clean Mumbai. She has made it her cause to empower today's youth towards leading a stress free life, challenge the limits of human potential and spearhead a revolution.