About Praveen & Atishi

It is not uncommon for many of us to be confronted by questions from within questions about a
fulfilling and meaningful way of living, questions about being a good parent, a good spouse, a good
friend, a good human being, questions about contributing towards making the world a better place!
Despite being successful by the yardsticks of todays world, for Atishi and Praveen too, many
questions arose in their minds. Their questions were as much about the existing political structures,
education systems, environmental degradation and the pervasive nature of unjust socio-economic
systems in the world, as about the larger purpose of their own jobs and lives. One of the most
disconcerting questions was: What is our role and responsibility towards all this? Consequently,
they looked for answers, within and without. They read, contemplated, as well as visited the efforts
and experiments of various other people who were trying to make a difference, and do something
meaningful with their lives.
Somewhere in dabbling with all these questions, and looking at various efforts and philosophies, they
also came across a proposition known as Saha-Astitvavaad (which can be translated as CoExistentialism), a philosophy, worldview or way of life researched/discovered and propounded by
A. Nagraj, who lives in the small town of Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh. Saha-Astitvavaad
proposes a holistic basis for harmonious living encompassing all dimensions of human life be
it the personal level, the inter-personal level, the societal or the ecological level.
They have been in process of understanding and evaluating the Saha-Astitvavaad paradigm for the
past decade. This process has spurred the two of them (along with a group of friends) to delve deeper
into the philosophy and to try and live it along increasingly more dimensions of their lives. They
have been actively working on living/implementing these answers more completely, and have started
an initiative called Maanav Sthali, based 20km outside Bhopal. As a part of their efforts, they also
share these answers with other willing people. The 5-6 day workshops are one of the key methods of
sharing this proposition.
Educational/Professional Background
Atishi Marlena has done her undergraduate degree in History from St. Stephens College, Delhi. She
then went on to do her Masters degree from the University of Oxford. She went back to Oxford, a
few years later, as a Rhodes Scholar, to do a one-year research degree in Education. She has worked
and volunteered with many of the countrys progressive educational experiments like Rishi Valley
School, Eklavya and Digantar.
Praveen Singh has studied Software Engineering at IIT, Delhi, and after a few years of work,
obtained an M.B.A. from IIM, Ahmedabad. He has worked in the corporate world for over 8 years
primarily in Management Consulting, and also in Software development, in India and the United
States. He has also observed and participated in various alternative social/educational experiments
over the last decade essentially evaluating the possibilities of personal and social change through
non-formal education and community initiatives.