Our Team

Padma grew up listening to classical poets, reading Ramayana and Bhagavatam. She is indebted to her Grand Mother Anipindi Kameswaramma, who is a scholar in Telugu. Anipindi Kameswaramma never went to a formal school. Women of that generation might not have possessed a so-called IVY school degrees, but their knowledge in many fields was holistic. This fascinating observation made Padma start Chanakya Institute of Leadership along with her cofounding team.

The central objective of Chanakya is to bring pride back into the life of Indian parents and children. To make children understand the advanced thought process, the scientific approach, the evolved philosophy of great Indian sages, and ultimately enable children to contribute back to the society where they could apply these principles and work for the betterment of the world.

Padma's thirst for poetry is never ending. Before she reached the age of seven, her sister Uma and she use to recite Bhagavad Gita. Along with classical texts, her reading included contemporary literature before she graduated high school. Even though she studied Mechanical Engineering and pursued her path in Information Technology, her love for Annammayya, Potana, Nannayya, and Viswanatha remained intact. She published her first poetry book, "Maro Sakunthalam" in 2010. She has written kids' plays and children stories, which she plans to publish this year.

A trained Kuchipudi dancer, who attained her graduate degree in Software Engineering from SMU, Dallas,TX and runs a successful dance school called Alankruta. Growing up in the same household as Padma she was blessed to have the same influences as her. Her passion towards dance and teaching started at a very tender age. It was this passion that has led her to give various performances in India, Europe and USA. She has trained under the great Gurus like Sri Kona Janaki Mohan garu a disciple of Sri Korada Narasimha Rao garu and Sri Vempati China Satyam garu.

Her love for teaching has made her teach Telugu to Graduate and Undergraduate students in University of Wisconsin, Madision. Her patience with kids makes her Telugu/Dance and Sloka classes fun for them where they are encouraged to think, question and reflect on what is been taught to them and use that knowledge in their everyday life for the past 10 years.

She worked with her sister Padma on major children’s projects and stage shows casting about 150 kids in productions like Panchatantra, Ramayana, Bhagavatam to name a few.

Born and educated in West Godavari, Wahed has been working as a journalist for the past three decades in print and electronic media. His love for Telugu and Poetry has made him write articles in Telugu literature and translated many books from Urdu, Hindi and English to Telugu language. His books, “Shayar E Telangana Maqdoom Mohiuddin: Life and Poetry” published by Navatelangana, “Socialist Sufi: Faiz Ahmed Faiz, life and poetry” published by Kavisangamam were applauded by many literary critics. He Published “Dhoolichettu” free verse anthology, “Mattakokila” Gazal anthology. Books on Ghalib, Sahir Ludhianvi are at various stages of publication.

It is the same passion for language, ethnicity, and culture which bonded Sheshi with the Chanakya group. After teaching English literature to undergrads back in India, she claims, "As a child, I was first good at Telugu, which made me go for English later," which shows how mother tongue paves way for the rest of our life's learning.

She is a poet, storyteller, singer, painter, and educator (Impersonating her favourite poet, Tagore)

With her own kids as seekers and teachers at Chanakya, she is proud to stand by the organisation, while leading others by example, she says, "Great dreams come true and great societies can be built only when we put our best foot forward beyond self-promotion," singing the lines of Sri Gurajada Apparao...

"సొంత లాభం కొంతమానుకు
పొరుగువారికి తోడు పడవోయ్,
దేశమంటే మట్టి కాదోయ్
దేశమంటే మనుషులోయ్!"

An apple doesn’t fall far from its tree. A Software engineer by profession , Sreekanth belongs to the Ayyadevara Family Tree. Most of us know Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao as the first speaker of Independent India, a lawyer, freedom fighter. Most importantly he was the one who fought to preserve the Indian literary texts through library movement. Just like his forefathers he is also interested in ancient literary texts, scriptures, teachings, their preservation and applying them to real life. He is a great believes in the teachings of our great gurus like Adi Sankara, Swami Vivekananda, Pothana to name a few. Been the youngest of the three siblings who lost their father who was a role model for them at a very young age, he has learnt how to face any challenge in life with a smile. Always ready, giving and offering help to those around him he has acquired those qualities from his mother and grandmother.

As the name suggests, Akshara is someone with indestructible spirit, tenacity, and passion. Her roots are deep into the Indian Value system. Her empathy and listening skills are the finest. Her vision to serve the country, her love to pass the traditions to the next generation brought her to Chanakya. An engineer by education design is her core strength, but her creativity is not limited to traditional technical stuff. She is an artist who enjoys shaping that is basic and simple to sumptuous. She is a home designer and a music lover. As a mother, she is a natural teacher. For Chanakya, Akshara's role is not limited to an advisor, critic, program manager, but like the thread in a garland, she connects all of the Chanakya activities and programs.