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Manjula
Manjula is the Founder/President of the Chai with Manjula organization.
She is also the producer, director, and host of the TV show Chai with Manjula...a show about giving.
More about Manjula
• Education
Manjula earned a Master’s degree in English Literature at Punjab University in India. She was awarded the Most Meritorious Student and the
Best All-Around Student awards in school, and college for excelling in academics, (as one of the top students in the States of Punjab, Haryana,
and Himachal), music, drama, and dance (Kathak), and for winning state-level contests in speech, classical music, and poetry. She was elected
Student Body President in school, and college. She also became the only female elected to the Executive Committee of the Dept. of English at
Punjab University, Chandigarh.
• Cultural Background
In addition to academics, Manjula’s upbringing was culturally enriched by music, art, and literature. Music, in particular, has been prominent in
her life, starting at the age of three with lessons from her mother, Dr. Kamala Mair, (Ph.D., Literature -- a scholar, poet, accomplished musician,
and social activist), and continuing through college, leading to a degree in both Classical Vocal and Sitar, in addition to the ancient language of
Sanskrit. Manjula regularly gave classical music concerts and taught music in the U.S. for a few years.
• Community Service
Community service is also deeply rooted in Manjula’s upbringing, with her grandmother as an active member of All India Women’s Conference,
Lucknow, and her mother, Dr. Mair, as Founder/President of All India Women’s Conference, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. As the Principal of
D.A.V. Girls' College there, Dr. Mair dedicated her life to the cause of higher education for girls, giving her time, talents, and funds to the
college. In the later years of her life, she headed a ladies’ Samaj in Gurgaon, where she was a regular exponent of the Vedas, and where she
also started a free sewing school for under-privileged girls, which continues to run in her name.
Manjula’s father Dr. Om Prakash, a strong proponent of cultural enrichment, also exemplified a life of giving as a physician taking care of the
poor, and helping many as a family member.
Over the years, Manjula has organized community events and led several initiatives. As a volunteer/Program Director at the American India
Foundation, founded under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, she helped launch the Service Corps Program, and joined a delegation to
India led by President Clinton. As the Chair of Special Events at ICC (Milpitas, CA) for three years, she founded and ran a highly successful
singing club as the Chair, bringing the community together on a weekly basis, often featuring well-known local artists and celebrities appearing
as guest singers.
• Entrepreneur
Manjula was the Founder/CEO of Saicom, Inc., a successful software services company in Fremont, CA, serving many well-known high-tech
companies in Silicon Valley from 1991 to 2001, which she sold to pursue her passion for community service.
• Current Involvement
Manjula serves on the Advisory Board of the Northern California Chapter of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, a well-known NGO running one-
teacher schools in remote and tribal villages across India.
As the Founder/President of the Chai with Manjula organization, Manjula is working passionately towards developing initiatives to promote
giving/philanthropy. The weekly TV show currently airs on Public Access Television in the Bay Area. This is a mere ahuti (offering), in the yajna
(journey, in this context) of life, in the spirit of *Idanna mama.
*“Idanna mama” …a Vedic verse (in Sanskrit)
Translation: Whatever I am offering is not mine. None of this wealth, this power, education and belongings are mine…all are from the grace of
Ishwar (God).
“If you find it in your heart to care for someone else, you will have succeeded.”
- Maya Angelou
Manjula is the Founder/President of the Chai with Manjula organization.
She is also the producer, director, and host of the TV show Chai with Manjula...a show about giving.
More about Manjula
• Education
Manjula earned a Master’s degree in English Literature at Punjab University in India. She was awarded the Most Meritorious Student and the
Best All-Around Student awards in school, and college for excelling in academics, (as one of the top students in the States of Punjab, Haryana,
and Himachal), music, drama, and dance (Kathak), and for winning state-level contests in speech, classical music, and poetry. She was elected
Student Body President in school, and college. She also became the only female elected to the Executive Committee of the Dept. of English at
Punjab University, Chandigarh.
• Cultural Background
In addition to academics, Manjula’s upbringing was culturally enriched by music, art, and literature. Music, in particular, has been prominent in
her life, starting at the age of three with lessons from her mother, Dr. Kamala Mair, (Ph.D., Literature -- a scholar, poet, accomplished musician,
and social activist), and continuing through college, leading to a degree in both Classical Vocal and Sitar, in addition to the ancient language of
Sanskrit. Manjula regularly gave classical music concerts and taught music in the U.S. for a few years.
• Community Service
Community service is also deeply rooted in Manjula’s upbringing, with her grandmother as an active member of All India Women’s Conference,
Lucknow, and her mother, Dr. Mair, as Founder/President of All India Women’s Conference, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. As the Principal of
D.A.V. Girls' College there, Dr. Mair dedicated her life to the cause of higher education for girls, giving her time, talents, and funds to the
college. In the later years of her life, she headed a ladies’ Samaj in Gurgaon, where she was a regular exponent of the Vedas, and where she
also started a free sewing school for under-privileged girls, which continues to run in her name.
Manjula’s father Dr. Om Prakash, a strong proponent of cultural enrichment, also exemplified a life of giving as a physician taking care of the
poor, and helping many as a family member.
Over the years, Manjula has organized community events and led several initiatives. As a volunteer/Program Director at the American India
Foundation, founded under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, she helped launch the Service Corps Program, and joined a delegation to
India led by President Clinton. As the Chair of Special Events at ICC (Milpitas, CA) for three years, she founded and ran a highly successful
singing club as the Chair, bringing the community together on a weekly basis, often featuring well-known local artists and celebrities appearing
as guest singers.
• Entrepreneur
Manjula was the Founder/CEO of Saicom, Inc., a successful software services company in Fremont, CA, serving many well-known high-tech
companies in Silicon Valley from 1991 to 2001, which she sold to pursue her passion for community service.
• Current Involvement
Manjula serves on the Advisory Board of the Northern California Chapter of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, a well-known NGO running one-
teacher schools in remote and tribal villages across India.
As the Founder/President of the Chai with Manjula organization, Manjula is working passionately towards developing initiatives to promote
giving/philanthropy. The weekly TV show currently airs on Public Access Television in the Bay Area. This is a mere ahuti (offering), in the yajna
(journey, in this context) of life, in the spirit of *Idanna mama.
*“Idanna mama” …a Vedic verse (in Sanskrit)
Translation: Whatever I am offering is not mine. None of this wealth, this power, education and belongings are mine…all are from the grace of
Ishwar (God).
“If you find it in your heart to care for someone else, you will have succeeded.”
- Maya Angelou
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