Bio: Founder of Adara Ayurveda, Kanika Mahindra is a people's person. She knows almost everyone who walks into her wellness center in Gurgaon. They not only discuss their health concerns with her but are also comfortable sharing other aspects of their life. After a fruitful day at work, Kanika likes to spend time by herself introspecting her inner thoughts. Sometimes she likes to unwind by mindlessly watching TV. While everyone in India is keen to explore other countries, Kanika loves to travel to unexplored and picturesque places in India. One of her recent trips was to Sangla Valley in Himachal, where she traveled to the last point of the man-made road in the country, and on the other side of the mountain is Tibet! She is now working on her new venture. For a complete mind and body, wellbeing visit Kanika's Adara Ayurveda in Gurgaon.
Sometimes we have our whole life planned. Yet when we walk through the map we created for ourselves, we feel empty and dissatisfied.
Even though an MBA in Finance and working as an accomplished Investment Banker with Barclays and Langham Capital for nearly 8 years (2 years in the USA and 6 years in India) Kanika realized something most people do by the age of retirement. She did not want to work 9 to 5 sitting in an office, giving and taking instructions. In simple words, she did not see herself happily ever after doing what she was doing at that moment.
It was time for some amendments. But before she could take a leap, she was still unsure as to what was the career that would excite her every morning to walk out of her comfort zone for the rest of her life.
In between, she made a choice to return to India from the USA. Kanika’s parents objected to her decision. After all, for them, the reason was simple and apt considering their daughter’s future, ‘who leaves a well-settled career and move back to start afresh’. But Kanika had made up her mind.
Over the years Kanika had developed a fascination for the Ancient Indian Philosophy about The Way of Living. Her thoughts wandered to the roots of Indian Culture and its history, which has given the world some of the most profound knowledge of subjects like, Mathematics, Science, Mantras, Philosophy, and Yoga. The Western world has only awakened now and lately adapted to the Eastern way of living. She realized that the modern and the fast-paced life was the reason that we, the people of such a great nation, had no time to understand and follow the ancient practices to healthy living.
And as aptly quoted ‘when the student is ready the master appears’; thus happened with Kanika. After coming back to India she met a Yoga Guru. She proved a bright student to the guru who taught her the most complex texts from ancient Hindu scriptures in a simple language. This kept her interest growing in the subject.
Kanika not only learned the simple way of living in the fast-paced modern society but also applied that knowledge practically to her life. The difference was visible within a few months. Kanika had grown stronger, both emotionally and mentally. She had positive health effects and she stopped falling ill often. She was off allopathic medications.
Two years of self-practice into healthy living raised her awareness about how she wanted to spend her whole life from that moment. Her motto now was to share the ancient philosophy of simple living with people and encourage them to follow a modest and beneficial lifestyle, without compromising the joys of modern-day living.
Without a further delay, Kanika got working on her plans. She quit her high paying job to follow her passion. We all make the to-do dream list that awaits our retirement. We forget that the time to do what we love to do is now or never.
Kanika, along with her Yoga guru started organizing weekend tours to teach interested people the fundamentals and benefits of yoga and naturopathy. Soon she realized how unfair yoga was conceptualized as a physical exercise. With her new venture Samagra (complete) Wellness, now blooming she was succeeding to break the myth.
She was determined to change the misconceptions about Yoga and make people aware that Yoga was a way of living not just an exercise routine.
During her early days of planning of her new venture, Kanika had a chance of meeting a family from Kerala who practiced and spread traditional Ayurveda (Vasudev Vilasam Legacy) from the past 133 years. She took this as a positive sign and doubled her efforts. She finally succeeded in bringing the legacy to Gurgaon in the year 2017 that is called Adara Ayurveda.
Kanika started her journey as an entrepreneur with a small amount of her savings and a lot of support extended by her family and some close friends.
Kanika’s journey from a highly paid Investment Banker to an Entrepreneur can be perfectly quoted as ‘You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens’.
Leaving you all on the note to believe, trust your instincts, and follow your passion before you forget you had a zest for life.
Acknowledgments by Kanika: My heartfelt Thanks to my parents who gave me the freedom to make my own mistakes, and take bold decisions. They supported me even when they knew I was risking my well-settled career to venture into a new sphere. And a big bear hug to my younger sister Chandni for encouraging me to follow what I believed in.
A Big ‘Thank You’ to all my friends who had my back, who stood with me and lend me ear to listen to my gloomy tales. A sincere Thank You Vineeta Auntie for being an awesome neighbor and letting me in your heart and home. Tarun, Rahul, and Rohit, Thanks for being the coolest and supportive cousins and to help me make some wise business decisions.
I had saved the best Thank You for the last. Karan, there are not enough words to ‘Thank’ you for coming in my life and redefining the word soulmate for me. With you, by my side, I have come to believe that life is a beautiful journey.
Ray of hope: Every human being is born with a gift, the gift of changing our destiny, the gift of challenging our limits, and the gift of making better choices each day! Learn to make your own mistakes and have the courage to take calculative risks. It is only when your heart and mind are in sync that one can journey through life in peace. I remember a spiritual song I heard my yoga teacher singing one day. It meant that Lord I am not praying for you to take away my difficulties but I pray to give me the strength to overcome those difficulties. Life overburdens at times. And when you feel pulled down by the circumstances, look at the bigger picture. Suddenly the struggles will seem insignificant.