The ancient Indian learnings were traditionally passed on to generations in form of Shlokas. These pearls of wisdom, strung in a musical form, were to have listened, learned and passed-on. While they may be limited to religious practices today, these shlokas are more than words and rhythm.
Divyaa Doraiswamy, Founder, GURUKULAM -The Shloka Learning Centre, harnesses the powers trapped in music and hopes to keep the tradition and learning alive. Here’s how.
Take our reader through your professional journey?
I am an Economist, Shlokapreneur, Writer and Sochcaster and the Founder of GURUKULAM – The Shloka Learning Centre, Bangalore (Regd).
GURUKULAM is the first of its kind ONLINE SHLOKA SCHOOL which caters to kids across the globe. The main aim of the School is to keep traditional roots in place thereby tapping an area left untapped – SHLOKA EDUCATION.
What were the roadblocks or challenges you faced throughout your career? And how did you overcome them?
Bangalore was not short of Music Schools, Dance Schools, Art Schools and Yoga Schools but there was not a single Shloka School that aimed at keeping traditional roots in place and keeping our kids abreast of cultural knowledge. The aim was to tap an area left untapped -Shloka Education. That’s when GURUKULAM was born on 20th Oct 2014
Advertising and Reaching out to people were the most difficult part of running the business since we were new in the market and building trust and confidence in parents was important. Eventually, parents were really happy with our work and through Word of Mouth and Facebook, we were able to beat this challenge.
What is your philosophy of efficient leadership?
One of the primary requisites to being a good leader is the ability to teach well because at some strange point in life I was in the lowest rung of the corporate world and made my way up only by learning from mistakes. The task of owning up to our mistakes and the willingness to learn – Learning is a lifelong process and I learn something new every single day from my kids at GURUKULAM.
Also, it is important to practice what you preach as I firmly believe that leading by example is the best way to lead. Open Communication is very important because that’s the only way by which a message can be conveyed to the team and it empowers every single team member to be at their best.
My philosophy, in short, would be: ‘A very clear mission, a vision and an atmosphere and culture conducive to success. Efficient leadership is all about helping people grow along with you. It is more about teamwork.
Do you think organizations must have a balanced gender ratio in leadership positions? Why?
I am personally of the belief that leadership roles should purely be based on how efficient and skilled a person is and not on the basis of gender.
Having said that I think equal opportunities should be given to everyone, based on skillset, efficiency and most importantly being a team player is important.
What is your company/profession all about?
GURUKULAM is the first of its kind Online Shloka School that aims at keeping traditional roots in place and caters to kids across the globe. In 2014 I started off with 6 kids and today teach about 90 kids across India, USA, UK, CANADA, AUSTRALIA and GERMANY. We are an ONLINE SCHOOL only. We provide Online Shloka Education to kids across the world. We follow a uniform Curriculum for kids across the world.
What is your vision for your company/yourself and your core values (for the company)?
VISION:
I started GURUKULAM on 20th Oct 2014. I started with 6 kids and today teach 90 kids across the world. The main aim of the school is to keep traditional roots in place and keep our kids abreast of cultural knowledge thereby tapping an area left untapped -SHLOKA EDUCATION. I plan to take GURUKULAM as a Franchisee model in years to come and have also written to the PM’s office seeking intervention so that we can take SHLOKA EDUCATION to kids at the Grass root level -Govt Schools, Blind Schools and Kids with special needs.
CORE VALUES:
Pursuing excellence: be it in Training and Curriculum formation.
Growth through learning: Along with my kids at GURUKULAM, I aim to learn every single day, because learning is a lifelong process
Trust: I work to prove that my actions are guided by the best interests of those I serve my children and parents
Ethics: At GURUKULAM there is no compromise when it comes to ethical standards.
Embrace and Drive change and deliver the best service.
What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?
We have written to the PM’s office seeking intervention to take SHLOKA EDUCATION to a zillion kids starting at the Grass-Root Level…Move to Govt. Schools and make Shloka Education available to every single child so that each child benefits from SHLOKA LEARNING.
The other thing I have in mind is to build a FRANCHISEE MODEL, however, it is in its early stages.
