Founder

Russel D. Legge, BA (Transylvania University), STB. (Harvard University), PhD (McMaster University). Professor of World Religions at the University of Waterloo 1970-1996. Presently, retired and Professor Emeritus of University of Waterloo. Dean of St. Paul¹s United College 1986-1995. Director of the UW Centre for Society Technology and Values 1986-1989. President of the Canadian Council of Churches 1982-1985 and actively involved in promoting dialogue among the major faith communities in Canada.

Born and raised at Amritsar, Punjab, India in a traditional family atmosphere, Manmohan studied at the local D.A.V. institutions; and later at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research at Chandigarh, also in Punjab, India. He worked at the latter institute before migrating to Canada in 1972. Since July 1974, he has been working at the Woodstock General Hospital, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. Currently, he is the senior technologist in-charge of Blood Bank.

Virendra Gupta's primary reason for joining SHEN is the expectation that it will offer an opportunity to learn from and share ideas with kindred persons on spiritual matters. Virendra was brought up in a home with strong Hindu/Sikh traditions. He believes that Joy and Kindness are central to a good, conscious living. He hungers for new learning but is not big on following any dogmas.

Ramesh S. Chahauver, after completing his B.A.(HONS), B.Ed. & M.A. (Math) Degrees from India went on to Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K. to finish his M.Sc. in Pure Math. Coming to Canada, he completed Specialist in Math from the University of Toronto. He then, went into Secondary School Teaching and acted as Head of the Mathematics Department for the last 28 years. During his career, he has also taught in colleges & universities in India, England & Canada.

Usually known as Bill, Rev. Blackmore is an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada. He is now retired after serving in three pastorates, two in Alberta at Elk Point and Vermilion and one in Ottawa. He earned his BA from Victoria College, University of Toronto and his Master of Divinity from Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. His Master of Sacred Theology is from Yale Divinity School, Yale University where he also was a Supervisor of Field Work.

Born in Dec. 1952 in northern India, Kumkum spent a part of her childhood in the UK. The exposure thus to both Eastern and Western influences from the beginning brought a strong sense of balance and synthesis in her personality. She earned three academic degrees - in Home Science, Education and a Masters in Educational Administration (from the University of Toronto). She taught middle-school classes at a prestigious school in New Delhi. Her grounding in French (from her years with her diplomat husband in Paris) was considered an asset for the school.

Born in Nov. 1949, he studied in various parts of north India, concluding his education with a Masters in Political Science from University of Allahbad. He taught at a university college for three years before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1972. He represented India in its various missions in Paris, Beirut, Brussels, Jakarta and Toronto. He has held important positions in the Government of India in Delhi. He is presently serving as India's High Commissioner to the Republic of Kenya.

C.M. Bhandari, born at Dehradun in 1949, received his Master's Degree in Physics from IIT Kanpur (1970) and Professional Forestry Degree (1972-74) from Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehradun in 1974. He also has a Master's Degree (1991) from the National Defence College, New Delhi affiliated to the Allahbad University.

Zen Banduk received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Bombay University in India. He then went to Manchester College of Technology for a diploma in Industrial Administration. Zen worked in Bombay and Aden before immigrating to Canada in 1968. In Canada, Zen settled in Kitchener/Waterloo and worked at Revenue Canada for 18 years.

Rajiv Anjaria's working background is in Dairy Technology, a branch of dairy industry which deals with processing milk into various products. His over 30 years plus work involves India, Germany, and Canada. He is interested in reading, and meaningful conversations.

There is got to be lot more to it. Rajiv would like to see a more cohesive, sincere effort towards evolving, and sharing spiritual pursuits beyond human and geographical or perhaps even celestial boundaries.