Snigdha Bharadwaj has served the country as a Commissioned Technical Officer in the Indian Air Force. She is also a Govt. certified professional Yoga instructor for the last 10 yrs. She is a Senior Faculty member at the Art of Living organisation where she teaches Yoga and leads the Happiness and Wellness programmes for both corporate and non-corporate groups. In this interview, Snigdha Bharadwaj shares with Sameera Fernandes the true essence of success.
You have not only conquered the professional and personal world but have managed to find your purpose and pursue it. Can you take us through your transformational journey?
A wireless Engineer by profession, I spent 24 years in the corporate world, where I rose to be a General Manager of a multinational corporation managing large projects with extended stints in the United States, Australia and Sweden. I also served the country as a Commissioned Technical Officer in the Indian Air Force. I finally dropped the corporate world to pursue my passion – Yoga and happily transitioned from serving the country and the corporate world to serving the society.
You seem to have achieved success quite early in life. How do you define success?
At the end of the day when I have given my 100% to the responsibilities I have taken and it results in peace of my mind- that is success for me. Whatever may be the outcome it doesn’t matter. Ultimately, for me, it boils down to how my inner faculties are – Mind, Intellect, Ego. One may achieve a lot of things in the world. But at the end of the day do they enjoy a blissful sleep without any regret or insecurity or sadness? If yes, then that defines success for me.
Confidence is something that clearly resonates you – both inside and out. What has helped you build this confidence?
Spirituality instilled confidence and discipline in me! Being consistent with my practice of Yoga in a holistic way and Sudarshan Kriya- both learnt from Art Of Living has instilled rock solid confidence in me by making me responsible for my own state.
Spirituality has been the most misunderstood concept. It’s nothing but – “Are you happy from within”? Or are you depending on external impermanent factors to make you happy? Sri Sri Ravishankar says – a strong mind can carry a weak body but a weak mind cannot carry a strong body. So “minding the mind” for me is spirituality.
Working as a Commissioned officer in the Indian Air Force taught me how to stand tall with confidence even in the face of challenges. I have been practicing Yoga since 23 years and could actually reap its benefits especially during tough times.
The master stroke came in the form of my Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar, a humanitarian and founder of the Art of Living. My practices, further honed my confidence and skills so much so that I could finally drop my corporate life and follow my passion- teach Yoga in a holistic way that Sri Sri Yoga offers- not just aasans but pranayama, and finally culminating into meditation where one experiences a deep restful union of Body, Breath and Spirit.
You seem to be overly passionate about what you do. What energises you about your work?
My own experience with regular practice of Yoga in a holistic way results in a blissful day with a clutter free mind and clear intellect to take decisions, respond to the situation rather than react etc. The yoga I practice includes aasans, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation. When I translate my learnings to my students in an experiential way it fills me up with immense energy. This makes me very enthusiastic to welcome the next day when I can reach out to more and help them experience the Inner Peace and Outer Dynamism ( IPOD) – as we call it in the Art Of Living!
Especially during these challenging times when one is confined to lockdowns/work from home, people have understood that all power and energy lies with the mind. If this can be disciplined in some effective way then there is no misery. I believe in walk the talk approach. This factor is the energy generator for me as I get the opportunity to share what I practice with conviction with my students- Holistic yoga.
Your days seem well planned and laid out. How do you unplug from work?
I unplug from work two times a day when I just drop everything and deep dive into myself to refresh and clean the mind and intellect! Just twenty minutes of deep restful meditation twice a day leaves me with a squeaky-clean mind. The unbounded inner wealth that we have is mostly untapped. So, I dive into it and come out absolutely fresh, happy and energetic. Best way is to plug within to unplug from outer world- De-stress. Meditation de-clutters the mind, ensures prejudice-free intellect and clutter free mind thus give the right perspective to the situations/events.
If you could give just one leadership lesson that you have learnt over the years, what would it be?
The most appealing leadership lesson I have learnt is from my Guru- Sri Sri Ravishankar who leads the largest NGO – the Art Of Living! It is very different from the ones I learnt while in the corporate world- Walk the Talk. This I have implemented in my new venture- Yog Bliss and also while volunteering and leading the AOL center in my area where lot of volunteers and teachers are a part of the team.
The views and opinions published here belong to the interviewer and the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
She was conferred with the Nirbhaya Award and also the ‘Woman of Influence’ Award by Archbishop Dr. Peter Machado.
Her past stints include Sun Microsystems, Nokia (UAE), Jet Airways, Al Ghurair Investments (UAE) and has been a regular contributor to the Friday Magazine of Gulf News.
Absolutely stunning experience to be a part of the SFactor show .. coming in touch with so many experts and it’s such a wonderful learning experience….