Shivani Verma (born May 31, 1972), better known as Brahma Kumari Shivani, Sister Shivani, or BK Shivani, [1] is a teacher in the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement in India. [2]
Shivani Verma (born May 31, 1972), better known as Brahma Kumari Shivani, Sister Shivani, or BK Shivani, [1] is a teacher in the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement in India. [2]
Verma was born in Pune. Her parents began following the Brahma Kumaris when she was a child. She began to attend meetings in her early 20s. [1]
She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate in electronics engineering at the Savitribai Phule Pune University where she was an academic gold medalist, then completed a master's degree in computer engineering from the Maharashtra Institute of Technology. Initially, she worked backstage at the production of Brahma Kumaris television presentations in Delhi, where senior teachers would record the teachings. Then in 2007, due to the unavailability of other teachers, she was asked to start answering the viewers' queries herself. [3] In 2007, a pay-to-broadcast television series Awakening with Brahma Kumaris was produced for the Aastha channel, in which BK Shivani was interviewed by co-host Kanu Priya. [2] [1]
Her TV series of conversations with Suresh Oberoi was adapted into the 2015 book Happiness Unlimited: Awakening With Brahma Kumaris. [4]
BK Shivani travels in India and abroad, appearing at charitable events ranging from the promotion of organ donation [5] to parenting programs, [6] as well as Brahma Kumaris events. In 2017 she was named as a goodwill ambassador of the World Psychiatric Association. [7]
She has the YouTube channel called BKShivani. [8]
She received the Women of the Decade Achievers Award by ASSOCHAM Ladies League in 2014 [9] and the Nari Shakti Award in 2019. [10]
The Brahma Kumaris are a spiritual movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, during the 1930s. The Brahma Kumaris movement was founded by Lekhraj Kripalani. The organisation is known for the prominent role that women play in the movement.
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