Kamlesh Patel (Daaji)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kamlesh Patel (Daaji)

• Kamlesh Patel (Daaji) is an Indian spiritual leader, meditation guide, and author. He is the fourth president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, which is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1945. In 2023, he was conferred with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

• Born into a family of agriculturists, young Kamlesh wanted to become a doctor. In an interview, he revealed that he once scored 241 marks out of 300 in an open medical test. At that time, the cut-off was 241. There was another student who also scored 241 marks but received higher marks in Biology than Daaji and was offered the seat instead.

• Daaji’s family didn’t allow him to go outside Gujarat for his studies. So, he applied to L. M. College of Pharmacy in Ahmedabad. The day he went to fill out the registration form, he was told that the college does not accept students from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, where he graduated from. Daaji didn’t hesitate to submit his application and told them that if they have a vacancy, they could call him. As Daaji was just walking out, the principal called him to his office and told him that his performance was exceptional, which is why he was making an exception for him and enrolled his name.

• At the age of 24, he moved to New York City. and practiced pharmacology. There, he established several pharmacies including Marg Pharmacy Inc, Pharmacy Inc Carewell, Lindenwood Rx Center Inc, Woodhull Rx Prescription Center, and Slope Drugs & Surgical Supply. 

• He and his wife raised their sons in New York City.

• He is financially associated with Santosh Khanjee in a chain of hotels.

• He started practicing heartfulness meditation while he was a third-year of Pharmacy student.

• His spiritual guru is Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur.

  

• At a young age, he set Swami Vivekananda as his inspiration and began meditation on his own.

• In 1976, he met his guide Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur aka Babuji, the founder and first president of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

• In October 2011, he was proclaimed as Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari’s successor. Later that year, he came back to India and got settled at Chennai’s Garden of Hearts. After Chariji’s demise on 20 December 2014, Daaji became the third president of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

• In August 2012, he was appointed vice president of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

  

• Since 2003, he has been working mainly for the Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

• He attended his first meditation session under proper guidance after one of his classmates offered to take him to a professional meditation trainer. His first out-of-Gujarat visit was to Shahjahanpur in the summer of 1977 with his friend to meet their teacher and guide Shri Ram Chandra aka Babuji. According to Daaji, it was one of the most memorable meditations he ever had.

• Since 2014, he has been associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

• He founded Kanha Shanti Vanam in Chepur, Hyderabad, which is a meditation center where millions of practitioners gather from within India and abroad to learn, practice, and serve the community.

• His articles have been featured in many popular media houses including Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Times of India, and Business Standard. Daaji’s Radio City Swaran series, Dil Ki Awaaz, ran for twelve episodes.

• He has penned several books including Designing Destiny (2019) and The Wisdom Bridge (2022). In 2018, Patel co-authored a book titled The Heartfulness Way with Joshua Pollock, which was among the top 10 best-selling non-fiction books in Hindustan Times’ Nielsen chart in February 2018.

• He is good friends with Baba Ramdev.