People Behind the Work

Organisation building, research and human psychology curriculum development

Naresh Baluni brings a strong commitment to results, a deep engagement with human consciousness, and the practical application of Madhyasth Darshan. With a background in psychology and experience as CEO of an FMCG company, he found in Madhyasth Darshan a reason and direction for life, which he continues to study closely. He is involved in active programmes including Utsav.Earth and human psychology curriculum development, contributing to SHAPE's work on value-based education and self-regulation.

Research, education and human relations

Himanshu Pastagiya is a calm and reflective thinker whose inquiry into human relations, identity and the purpose of life led him to Madhyasth Darshan. A chemical engineer by training, he brings more than seventeen years of experience across multinational, semi-public and private organisations. At SHAPE he contributes to project management, helping translate the foundation's vision into well-structured, well-run initiatives, alongside the larger goal of a pollution-free earth where human beings live in care, support and cordial relationship with one another.

Research, governance and philosophical study

Sri Ram Narsimhan is an engineer from Pune University with more than fifteen years of professional experience in corporations such as Fujitsu, Robert Bosch and Zensar Technologies. A quest for a higher purpose led him to leave a successful IT career, during which he encountered Madhyasth Darshan, the co-existential philosophy of A. Nagraj, and he has studied and practised it full time since 2010. At SHAPE he contributes to education, working to bring co-existential understanding into learning and to advance the humanization of education.

Science, unified theory and existential inquiry

Madhusudan Mishra is a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary with more than twenty years of leadership in financial management, internal controls, compliance and change management, across organisations including Tata Steel, Lafarge India and Hazira LNG and Port. His experience spans statutory accounts under Indian GAAP and IFRS, internal control and SOX implementation, ERP rollouts, and the secretarial and legal groundwork of new ventures. Since 2013 he has voluntarily coached children and youth in life skills, aspiring to shape a more peaceful and content generation. At SHAPE he anchors legal and compliance, strengthening the foundation's governance and controls.

Education, rural living, enterprise and farming

A mechanical engineer by training, Yogesh Shastri chose early on to explore what it means to live a meaningful, purposeful life. That search first drew him into grassroots development in the 1990s, contributing to watershed and model-village work with the Deendayal Research Institute in the Chitrakoot region. In 2004–05 his inquiry found its deeper anchor in Madhyasth Darshan, and understanding and teaching this philosophy became his life's work. He has worked on value education for the last twenty years. Associated with the Manviya Shiksha Shodh Kendra at Parda, Buldhana, he has facilitated numerous Jeevan Vidya Shivirs and now works on the Anandi Kutumb Samruddha Gram village model. At SHAPE he anchors education and village development, carrying forward the path of shiksha se vyavastha, transforming villages through value education.

Sustainable production, happiness and social responsibility

Sanket Thakur is a plant biotechnologist and agricultural scientist committed to bringing agriculture and biotechnology to farmers and to nurturing agro-entrepreneurship. He holds a PhD in Plant Tissue Culture from the University of London and has worked as a scientist, chief scientist and managing director across research and farmer-producer institutions, including long-standing work with tribal farmers across four districts of Chhattisgarh. This biotech and farmer-producer experience directly informs SHAPE's Sustainable Production domain, where he guides work on self-reliant, sustainable models of production rooted in coexistence.

Relationships, business experience and grounded social understanding

Arvind Nahata brings wide experience in sales, marketing, product development and mergers and acquisitions across the IT and FMCG industries. After early years in FMCG entrepreneurship, he co-founded Decimal Technologies, a BFSI solutions company serving India, the Middle East and South East Asia. A graduate in Mathematics and Computer Science from Mumbai University with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he combines technical depth with business acumen. Since 2022 he has become a student of Madhyasth Darshan (Jeevan Vidya) and contributes this inquiry to SHAPE.