Encounters: A Collection of Stories

Born in 1949 at Sirsi, in Northern Karnataka, Raghunandan was introduced to Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature and to spirituality in his Pre University- year, at his maternal uncle’s place at Puttur (South Karnataka). He completed his B.Tech. in Chemical engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. During the professional course he came in contacat with Swami Ranganathananda, the then President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad (presently the President of Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Belur, West Bengal) who gave him a glimpse into an alternate way to life. He decided to plunge into a life. He decided to plunge into a life devoted to spirituality, after working in a Paper Industry in Tamil Nadu for a couple of years. During this period he had the good fortune to visit the banks of the Narmada and meet the experienced wise and seekers, who clarified many of his fundamental doubts. The experience finally made him join Vivekandanda Kendra – a spiritually oriented service mission in 1976. He worked as its Zonal Organiser, Organising Secretary and Joint General Secretary. He got married to Vasantha, in 1981. Presently, both of them are working for the Ramarpan Education Society, which is running a Senior Secondary School at Hurda in Rajasthan.