Rakesh Radhakrishnan, Washington, D.C.

Senior Solutions Architect, Oracle

I was born in London UK in 1968 as a twin and I was raised in Chennai, India with my 3 brothers and sisters and an extended family. My uncles and grandparents from mom's side all lived in ten homes within the same compound. My interests include reading, traveling, and enjoying life with my family – my wife Meena and the three boys Arjun, Trinith and Tushar (twins again), and all the next generation kids in the family.

Life Before and After Sri Sri

Until age 32, I was a very happy individual, loving the simple pleasures of life like parties, movies, vacations to theme parks, etc. In 2001, my 1st son Arjun was diagnosed with Autism and we confirmed it with a 2nd opinion from another doctor. Since Fall 2001, life has been a roller coaster, as I was emotionally and mentally shaken by the impact that this had in our family. With all the focus and efforts going towards ensuring that we did all that we could for Arjun, for many years at a stretch, I went through a lot of issues – stress, depression, anger, pain and frustration. Based on the recommendation of my wife's sister in California I did my 1st Art of Living Course in April/May 2006 with Hansa ji in Burke VA and immediately following the course we had the chance to see Gurudev in person - since he was in DC for a public event. Since then it’s been LIFE before Gurudev and LIFE after Gurudev (a new beginning). I followed up with repeating Art of Living Part 1 twice, Art of Silence course twice, yoga and meditation and many other courses. Through Gurudev's teachings (I bought a number of his books -there are over 50 books he has authored – and one of the best are his comments on the Shiva Sutras), practicing Sudarshan Kriya, yoga and more importantly my daily meditation - stress, depression, anger, pain and frustration has been replaced with contentment, happiness, peace, love and compassion.

Tears of Joy and Gratitude

When I was with Gurudev for the 1st time in 2006 – I had a huge amount of tears in my eyes – tears of sweet surrender. Through his grace those tears have transformed to tears of joy.

Arjun has been making slow and steady progress and he will be 15 this year. I am confident that he will earn a college degree by the time he is 25, based on his progress now. His behavior, comprehension, communication skills, cognitive and physical skills are probably appropriate for a 8 or 9 year old now – however the gap is slowly getting reduced.

I am truly thankful for Gurudev and Art of Living for all the benefits my family and I have reaped through their programs. I regret the fact that I did not know about Gurudev or Art of Living prior to 2006 - just like all the millions who go through this thought the 1st time they experience Art of Living.

I am now 42 (next month) and I am looking forward to a Life that will be intimately tied to Art of Living and being in close proximity to Gurudev (when possible), by actively participating in all the Sadhana, Satsang and Seva!!