Who is your favourite author?

My favourite author kept changing as I grew from school through university to working life. From 1990 it has been Swami Rama. He has authored so many books and each of them signals a profound message. Besides Living with the Himalayan Masters, there is one—Enlightenment without God and another two books Path of fire and Light vol 1 and 2.  He has many more and all his books convey the message and wisdom of the Himalayan Masters and ancient Sages in a very scientific yet basic and understandable form.

Who is that world leader that you have felt inspired by?

There is not one. There are many. From an early age, I admired Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Marx. Later on it was Kennedy, Castro and briefly Indira Gandhi and Mahathir. In recent years it shifted to Obama and now Prime Minister Modi. I do hope Modi is able to deliver what he has promised the people and sustain it. He would then probably be the last of my heroes.

The Great Amma is hosted by you in Malaysia. What is the greatest life lesson she has imparted to you…

HH Amritanandamayi or Amma as everyone knows her permeates love and purity. Being in her presence is a divine experience. The greatest lesson I learnt is to surrender oneself to the Divinity within you. She is a great humanitarian soul who practices what she preaches selflessly just like my Gurudev. I consider myself blessed to be able serve Her. She does immense work to lift the masses from their suffering. God knows where she derives so much energy to travel the globe and touch the lives of so many and create so much joy for so many.