VENIKA MEHRA KINGSLAND was born and brought up in India in a privileged, traditional, Hindu family. Her mother, Radhika, is both a devotee and, with nearly ninety years of study, one of the widest read of Hindu women. Through her mother, Venika was able to know, and learn from, many of the most significant Hindu figures of the twentieth century, including Poddarji, creator of Gita Press, Swami Ranganathananda, President of Ramakrishna Math, Swami Chinmayananda, and Swami Digvijayanath of Gorakshanatha Math. During the 1960s Venika helped renew Indian interest in yoga when she taught leading film stars and wrote for popular magazines. In the 1970s, Dr Ramamurti Mishra, Sanskritist and neurosurgeon, and Sri Navajata, Chairman of the Aurobindo Society, wrote forewords to Complete Hatha Yoga and Hathapradipika, which she co-authored with her husband. In addition, Venika was co-founder of the Centre for Human Communication in both the UK and USA.
