KLF Bhava Samvad Hosts Bhanu Didi, the best selling author and the celebrated sister of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Bhubaneswar: Bhanumathi Narasimhan, popularly known as Bhanu Didi or Bhanu Maa, is the best selling author, institution builder and a spiritual leader. She is the celebrated younger sister of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a revered spiritual master, global peace leader, and renowned humanitarian.
Bhanu Didi graced Bhava Samvad, a popular web-platform of the Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF). She shared her journey as the younger sister of Spiritual Master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and how she grew up following her brother as a child and as an adult. She wrote the best selling book Gurudev: On the Plateau of the Peak, a biography of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji to provide a glimpse to the life of her master while chronicling her evolution as a sister, spiritual seeker, a leader in the cause of women and a committed servant in the cause of development, empowerment, and peace.
She has taken several initiatives to empower children and women through the Art of Living International Foundation. To promote holistic education she has launched the “Gift a smile – Care-for-Children” program, a free school initiative that imparts value-based holistic education for underprivileged children from rural, tribal, and slum areas. There are more than 700 schools around India from 20 states educating over 70,000 children with a special focus on girl children. She spoke about her recent book “Parashakti – Magical Stories of the Divine Mother”, where she ‘unravels the hidden essence of the awe-inspiring stories of Goddesses, explains the meaning behind the Yantras and Mantras and more.
While speaking about her children’s book “Gods and Goddesses”, she highlighted why we need to take responsibility for our children and familiarise them with our ancient roots, culture, sciences of happiness and wellbeing. This popular book has been appreciated as ‘a wonderful first guide for young readers on the most popularly revered Gods and Goddesses in India.’
While talking about the contemporary challenges and the role of authors, Bhanu Didi strongly argued in favor of a genre of writing that uplifts the human spirit and brings knowledge and happiness to our lives. She went on to add that technology when used appropriately becomes a great force of positivity, connectedness, and happiness. On a question of how to ensure the well-being of people especially in the era of lockdowns (and social distancing), she highlighted the effectiveness of meditation and pointed out how distance can never be the barrier in wishing well of our people.
Mr. Kamala Kanta Dash, a co-founder of KLF, briefly introduced the theme and welcomed the Chief Guest Bhanu Didi and moderator Mrs. Rajita Kulkarni, the President of Sri Sri University. Mrs. Kulkarni who is an academic thought leader, educationist, and institution builder with decades of experience in industry and leadership coaching, introduced Bhanu Didi to the viewers, asked several engaging questions regarding techniques of writing, community engagement, spiritual wellbeing, women empowerment, depression in times of COVID-19 and role of meditation in daily life. She also read a powerful passage from the Parashakti book and engaged Bhanu Didi in a rapid-fire of questions as received from the audience.
At the end of the session, Mrs. Kulkarni thanked Bhanu Didi on behalf of the team KLF and Team Sri Sri University, the knowledge partner of the event.