Chandrasekar Raghu (Chandra) holds a Mechanical Engineering (Honors) degree from the University of Madras, India. He had an IT career spanning 43 years and has worked in the past for the Tatas, IBM, Unisys, Sun Microsystems, FIS, British Petroleum, etc. After retiring from his last IT role as Vice President (Digital Transformation), he served as the Faculty Advisor and Director of Samskrit & Language Studies at the Hindu University of America. He is continuing his lifetime passion of teaching Samskritam. An informal student of Pujya Swamiji DayAnanda Saraswati, he enjoys yoga and meditation and has been teaching Samskritam since 1991 to students across the globe. Chandra's ancestors, specifically Polagam Sri Rama Sastry, have been great Samskritam scholars and poets. His father, Sri Raghunandanan, was given the title of “MeemAmsA shiromaNi” by the Madras Sanskrit College.
JAYATU SAMSKRITAM ! JAYATU MANUKULAM !! AVB WINTER BREAK from 1-DEC-2025 to 15-JAN-2026.
This is our 26th year of community services to preserve and nurture our rich Vedic heritage. For a complete list of current courses, please click here : AVB Classes and Chanting Services.
Chandrasekhar Vellore (Chandru) has an Electronics Engineer degree from Delhi College of Engineering and a MBA degree from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. After a career spanning 34 years in multinational organizations in Banking and Financial Services, where he and his family have had the opportunity to live and assimilate in countries like the US, Singapore and UAE, Chandru has recently retired from MasterCard. He is based in Miami, Florida. Despite being a global citizen, Chandru treasures his roots in India – its traditions, culture and Sanatana Dharma. Chandru hails from a family of Samskritam vidwans and he is looking to continue to build on that tradition by getting involved in Samskritam – both as a student as well as a teacher. He now resides in Houston and is very committed to the Shringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation / SharadAmbA Temple.
Ramkumar Venkataraman, (Ram) along with his wife Uma Balasubramanian, is a student of Vedanta, studying scriptures under the guidance of his Guru Swami Paramarthananda Ji. He and his family attend the vedanta camps organized by Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (AVG), Saylorsburg, PA, and have had the good fortune to listen to the classes taught by Pujya Swamiji Dayananda Saraswati and other AchAryas at AVG. For some years, Ram has taught the Purna Vidya Vedic Heritage classes for children at the Knoxville Hindu Temple. The Purna Vidya curriculum was established by Pujya Swamiji and his disciples. Prior to that he was a teacher at the Hindu Sunday School at the Satyanarayana Temple in Middletown, CT for 8 years. Ram actively volunteers his time for the charity All India Movement (AIM) for Seva, benefiting underprivileged children living in rural and tribal areas in India. Ram holds a masters degrees in Physics; from the Madras University and Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, He is a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, He has been working in the area of nuclear science and technology for more than 25 years. He is currently working as a Senior Scientist in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. Ram enjoys research work, and especially teaching and mentoring university students.
This is our 26th year of community services to preserve and nurture our rich Vedic heritage. For a complete list of current courses, please click here : AVB Classes and Chanting Services.
Hemalatha Chandrasekar (Hema) is a management and accounting professional and specializes in tax accounting. She worked relentlessly for growing AIM For Seva in the Houston area and is a key contributor to the growth of Aarsha Vidya Bharati too since 2000. She enjoys teaching VedAnta, Ayurveda, and Yoga, and is deeply into Samskritam studies for more than 2 decades. She is a practitioner of Measured Yoga Therapy for sustaining health and curing chronic diseases and volunteers for the LIFE IN YOGA organization. She graduated from the University of Madras and then at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Brindha Venkataraman is currently a Masters Level (Samskritam) student at the Hindu University of America after getting certified for her Samskritam proficiency. She has a deep interest in learning about Hindu culture and philosophy. She comes from a traditional orthodox Vedic family. She has worked in IT and banking industry for few years and was a gold medalist in Electrical Engineering from the University of Madras. In her free time, she teaches at AVB, does paintings, and also coaches kids in chanting the Samskritam shlokas correctly.
Parvathi Sriram is a Physical Therapist by profession and practiced in India prior to moving to Houston. Her area of interests are Sanskrit and Vedanta. Apart from teaching Sanskrit for Arsha Vidya Bhaarati students, she is also coordinating and teaching Sanskrit at the Hindu University of America . In addition, she has also been teaching at Balavihar, Chinamya Mission Houston since 2015. She is also a Chinmaya VedAnta student since 2014. Her son PraNav is a high achiever from AVB. Both son and mother are currently pursuing an M.A degree in Sanskrit at the HUA.
Dr. Vinita Gupta, M.D., FAAP is a Pediatrician living in North Carolina. She finished her professional education in 1984 (J N Medical College, Belgaum, India, followed by residency at the Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center in Bronx, NY). She received a number of high profile awards as a Pediatrician. She also studied Sanskrit and graduated from the 4 year CPSP (Certificate Program in Sanskrit Proficiency). Apart from teaching Sanskrit at Arsha Vidya Bhaarati, she is also pursuing an M.A degree course in Sanskrit at the Hindu University of America . In addition, she is very active in the community, teaching a Sunday school for kids..
Bharathi Seshadri graduated with a B.E. (Hons) in Computer Science (CS) from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India and M.S in CS from University of California, Davis. She currently works for Cisco Systems and lives in El Cerrito, CA with her husband and two children. During her schooling days, she completed the Kovida Exam conducted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in India. She continues her Sanskrit learning through Samskrita Bharati and Vyoma Labs. She recently passed the 2nd exam at Sri SuraSaraswati Sabha, Sringeri, with a high distinction score of 95%. We are proud of her accomplishment.
Bhargavi Srinivasan is a Home maker, living in Charleston, West Virginia with her family. She learned Beginner Level Samkrutam through Chinmaya Mission during her college years. Apart from reciting shlokas, she had almost lost touch with Samskrutam. She then regained her interest, rather she can say that Samskrutam pulled her in. During the COVID years, she started re-learning the language through the Certificate Course in Sanskrit Proficiency (CPSP) offered by the Hindu University of America. She is currently pursuing her Masters Level course in Samskrutam at the HUA. Coming from a spiritually inclined background, she naturally developed interest in our scriptures, especially Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.
Deepa Rajaram is a Human Resources professional, having completed her Masters and worked for over ten years in the field. Reviving her childhood love for Samskritam, she studied at Arsha Vidya Bharati, and currently teaches the language there. She was born and raised in Chennai and now lives in North Carolina, USA. She enjoys spending her spare time traveling and hiking with her husband and 2 sons.
This is our 26th year of community services to preserve and nurture our rich Vedic heritage. For a complete list of current courses, please click here : AVB Classes and Chanting Services.
Maalaa Rangaswami lives in Sydney, Australia. She graduated with a M.Sc in Physics from the Madras University. A Microsoft Certified IT professional with 20+ years of work experience,she has been an ardent devotee of Shrii LalithAmbikA for many years and has been uniting interested people to chant together for a prayerful life. She facilitates the weekly group chanting of LaithA SahasranAmam and Vishnu SahasranAmam for a global audience. These sessions have fostered a deep sense of positivism, discipline, and spiritual connection among both the elderly and younger members. For the elderly who once felt isolated, these gatherings have brought a profound transformation, offering companionship, solace, and renewed purpose. The anticipation of each session now fills their lives with joy and a sense of belonging. For the younger participants, the recitals have ignited a keen interest in expanding their spiritual knowledge and understanding, while also instilling discipline and focus. Beyond the personal benefits, the collective energy generated during the chants has elevated the spiritual experience for everyone, creating a sacred space for reflection and inner peace. The rhythmic repetition of divine names has helped participants deepen their meditation, enhance mental clarity, and cultivate a sense of surrender and devotion. Over time, these sessions have not only enriched individual lives but also nurtured a collective spiritual journey, fostering a deeper connection to the divine and a shared sense of purpose and harmony within the group.
Suja Chandrasekhar is a zoology graduate from the University of Madras. She is also a qualified Montessori teacher from the Montessori Centre International, London. Suja has been an educator and recently retired from teaching at a private school in Miami, Florida. She now resides in Houston and is very committed to the Shringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation / SharadAmbA Temple. Suja has completed all 3 levels of Spoken Samskritam courses offered by Samskrita Bharati.
Priya Muralidharan has been a resident of Katy, TX for 20 years. She is a lawyer by education, and has been a Samskritam student at AVB. She has passed the Samskrita Bharati Pravesha exam, working towards the Parichaya exam. PriyA was a volunteer teacher at the Katy Tamil school for 9 years, a volunteer teacher at “Aashirwad-a- blessing” (Indian heritage class at Katy) for over 10 years, and a substitute teacher for the Katy ISD. Her other interests include yoga, music, and listening to discourses.