Mohan Ashtakala is an initiated Hindu Vaishnava priest and has lived in yoga ashrams across India. His goal is to expose the authentic narratives of the Yoga tradition through the medium of modern, page-turning novels.
He edited a monthly newspaper in Denver, Colorado, for thirteen years and has been published in the Denver Post, the Himalayan News, and other newspapers and magazines.
He has organized conferences on science and spirituality and has presented at interfaith gatherings, diversity conferences and at various churches and schools.
Mohan lives in Calgary, Canada with his wife Anuradha, son Hrishi, daughter Gopi, and Lila, the family’s Boston Terrier. He can sometimes be spotted absent-mindedly chanting mantras in the city’s parks.
1) When Mohan was twelve, he put together a one-page family newspaper and sent it out to family members. A career was born!
2) When Mohan was young, he attended Loretto Convent in Calcutta for one year. This is the same institution that Mother Theresa once served. (Nope, I never met her. By that time she was well on her way to sainthood, and I was, well…not on my way to sainthood.)
3) Mohan has lived in many different cultures: North Indian, South Indian, Bengali, English Canadian, French Canadian and American. He even spent two years in an Inuit (Eskimo) village on the Eastern shore of the Arctic ocean. That makes him either broad-minded or confused.
4) Mohan’s father wanted him to be an engineer or a doctor; actually both! Mohan turned out to be just a writer. Sorry Dad!
5) Mohan once touched down in Lebanon in the middle of a civil war. The plane landed and immediately took off as the airport was about to be shelled. A funny thing, all the soldiers at the airport looked like Saddam Hussein, right down to their mustaches.
6) Mohan has a degree in Accounting and worked in that field for several years while indulging in his passion for writing. As an accountant, he was a pretty good writer of fiction.
7) Mohan once spent three months in a temple ashram in Bali with his family. Beautiful Bali!
8) Mohan has presented about Hinduism in various churches, high schools and diversity conferences. A few of them even invited him back!
9) Mohan has a son and a daughter. Both are certified yoga teachers. Yes, it runs in the family.