One who created the WAYE...

Mr. Dinesh Ghodke (Director- WAYE): Dinesh Ghodke is a B. tech. from IIT Mumbai. He, along with Khurshed Batliwala (Bawa) is the director of WAYE (World Alliance for Youth Empowerment) and has been a faculty with the Art of Living for the last 13 years. He has dedicated his life to spread the knowledge of his Guru H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Through the YES!+ (Youth Empowerment and skills) workshops he and Bawa designed with the guidance of Guruji, Dinesh has been training youth all over the world to excel in their personal/professional lives and at the same time inspiring them to take up social responsibility.

Since childhood his passion has been to excel in whatever he does. He can really be named as a “born winner”. Be it sports or academics. His tenacity has always helped him to be a cut above the rest. An athlete, a gymnast and also the chess champ of IIT he almost always wins in all the late night board games we play with friends. Dinesh also loves to play football (believe me, even in that he is the best). He is an exercise freak. Joining him for a physical exercise session may prove to be very dangerous because when you think you can’t do it anymore Dinesh has just started. He holds the record in the Art of Living circles for doing the maximum Suryanamaskars at a stretch… 108!!

He also holds the record of being one of the youngest Art of Living teachers at 19 and an Advance course teacher at 22. At a time when most of us are confused and have really no good idea about our own minds and how they work Dinesh had already started teaching the secrets of happy and stress free living to people twice or thrice his age.

He is not only open to learning but is always looking out to squeeze valuable bits of knowledge from people and situations around and then immediately implement it in life. His open mindedness, sincerity, humility and an intense willingness to learn more make him a student par excellence.

As a successful teacher of the Art of Living he so completely fulfills all the criteria, the most important being…. Having a perpetual smile.  That is what he effortlessly carries with him 24/7. The second being, a sense of belongingness towards everyone. He can relate to people in a slum and with equal ease address a conference consisting of the most distinguished and high profile members of the society. Wherever he is in the world Dinesh continues to win hearts and transform lives.

“Presence speaks more than words” if you wish to experience this truth you just need to spend a few moments in his company.  Dinesh embodies peace. He does not just live life. He elegantly glides through it spreading smiles on many faces and kindling love in as many hearts.

Mr. Khurshed Batliwala (Director- WAYE):  

With a post graduate in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Khurshed Batliwala, or “Bawa” as he is fondly known (a nick name that has stuck from his IIT days) is an extraordinary personality. In his own words, he decided “it was better to teach people meditation and make them happy rather than teach them mathematics and make them miserable” and thus chose the unconventional and challenging career path as a faculty member of the Art of Living, sharing the vision of it’s founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, which is to see a smile on every face on the planet.

Under the guidance of Sri Sri, he and dinesh designed the YES!+ series of courses (Youth Empowerment and Skills). He inspires young people the world over to realize their self identified aspirations… empowering them to lead the lives they want to lead rather than getting stuck with the lives they have to lead!

Along with Dinesh he is the director of WAYE (World Alliance for Youth Empowerment) an NGO which addresses and provides sustainable workable solutions for the contemporary issues faced by young people of our times.

A myriad personality, Bawa is committed to utilizing every moment of his time in enriching the lives of people around. A day spent with him could make you have a taste of the most amazing meals (that he has cooked in a jiffy), to listening to beautiful western classical music pieces (that he picks up effortlessly on his piano), to playing the most interesting board games (which he picks up from various parts of the world during his travel) to even discovering the magic of mathematics that you perhaps never knew existed. He enjoys movies with happy endings and is partial to theatre, comedies and musicals being his favourites.

Unlike most of us, Bawa is never satisfied by mere learning and mastering of a skill, he does not rest till he has taught others to master it too. Sometimes you will be laughing uncontrollably at his jokes and wit, othertimes just wondering at his practical wisdom and knowledge.

Apart from conducting youth workshops as an Art of Living senior faculty member, Bawa also conducts interesting workshops such as the Mathemagic, which makes maths fun and interesting, the financial literacy workshop, a seminar on unconventional concepts on money management and wealth generation, and an introductory workshop on western classical music appreciation. He has recently even put together a workshop to teach people how to cook and enjoy the experience!

He is a complete technology geek, and he brings to the table a smooth blend of cutting edge technology and deep knowledge of Indian spirituality and traditions. His passions include computer games, long walks, good food and caring about the environment and animals.

He loves reading and writing, and to everybody’s delight his love for writing has translated to blogging through which it has become easy for all his fans to be updated with the latest in his (and Dinesh’s) life, not to mention, have glimpses of his amazing sense of humour, get to learn beautiful interpretations of mythological stories from different religions (He is a Parsi and his blog includes some beautiful insights into his religion), recreate his recipes, and  read wonderful stories, jokes and anecdotes.

It has been said that as a child we are born innocent but in the process of growing up somewhere we lose our naturalness and innocence at the cost of becoming intelligent. In Bawa you find a unique coexistence of both, a sharp intellect and a heady sense of fun with a child’s innocence and warmth.