<p>When we look around urban India, we find a lot of educated women who not only manage the household but also extend a helping hand in the family business or sometimes take up a modest job to keep themselves occupied and contribute to the family kitty. Meera Ravi, the proprietor and the chief counsellor of Prerana Academy, started her life in Bangalore almost on the same lines a quarter of a century ago when she married a businessman from the city. <br /><br />A Delhiite and a postgraduate in Book Publishing, Meera found little time to think of her own career even as she busied herself helping out with the tyre business of her husband’s family. Soon she had her own little family to care of, which gave her very little or no time to think of other career options. Seventeen years passed and the caring, loving and observant woman in her found that she had more time to spare to explore her latent dreams of reaching out to people and helping them to overcome their problems. <br />She realised that she had all the ingredients of a good counsellor in her. She was able to lend a patient ear to the woes of others and also had the equanimity to put herself in the shoes of the other person and empathise with his/her problems and find a plausible and practical solution. <br /><br />Getting trained<br />Her meticulous nature prevented her from launching into her chosen career without any prior training. Meera believed that anything worth doing was worth doing well; this motto inspired her to take up several courses related to her pet project from various organisations. A look at her academic credits in her area of expertise reveals that she has touched on just about every aspect of “counselling skills” through a dozen courses and is presently pursuing her postgraduate in psychology to hone her skills. <br />Her counselling premise also happens to be a place with picture perfection with all the amenities and infrastructure to counsel children and adults with equal ease and in comfort. When Meera speaks about her passion for counselling, it is easy to note that she takes a special interest in each person who comes to her and brings about the desired change in them over a period of time. <br /><br />Her area of specialisation happens to be “Child and Adolescent Counselling.” She has been counselling children with behavioural problems besides helping parents and children have better communication with each other. She also visits various educational institutions for counselling. She conducts workshops for parents, teachers and students. Her sole aim is to reach out to the lonely and distressed, whether they are children or adults, and empower them to have a better life. <br /><br />Though Meera counsels for schools and corporates alike, she finds her workshops with the parents of Montessori going children very fruitful for, she thinks that many a seed of value system and careful upbringing of children can be sown effectively during these sessions.<br /><br />Her fluency in English, Kannada and Hindi and her ability to analyse handwriting and drawings have strengthened her counselling skills. Her columns in a local journal called JNR Today address problems of her readers who consult her through the magazine. <br /><br />As an author<br />Meera Ravi has authored three books — A Guide to Study Skills, Teaching through the Heart and COUNSELLING — What, Why and How. The fact that her third book has an updated second edition within a span of one year speaks for the success of her books.<br />Meera feels that what she is today is because of the unconditional support and inspiration she received from the two men in her life — her father and her husband. To put it in her own words, “there is no she (Meera) without the two Hes in her life.”</p>
<p>When we look around urban India, we find a lot of educated women who not only manage the household but also extend a helping hand in the family business or sometimes take up a modest job to keep themselves occupied and contribute to the family kitty. Meera Ravi, the proprietor and the chief counsellor of Prerana Academy, started her life in Bangalore almost on the same lines a quarter of a century ago when she married a businessman from the city. <br /><br />A Delhiite and a postgraduate in Book Publishing, Meera found little time to think of her own career even as she busied herself helping out with the tyre business of her husband’s family. Soon she had her own little family to care of, which gave her very little or no time to think of other career options. Seventeen years passed and the caring, loving and observant woman in her found that she had more time to spare to explore her latent dreams of reaching out to people and helping them to overcome their problems. <br />She realised that she had all the ingredients of a good counsellor in her. She was able to lend a patient ear to the woes of others and also had the equanimity to put herself in the shoes of the other person and empathise with his/her problems and find a plausible and practical solution. <br /><br />Getting trained<br />Her meticulous nature prevented her from launching into her chosen career without any prior training. Meera believed that anything worth doing was worth doing well; this motto inspired her to take up several courses related to her pet project from various organisations. A look at her academic credits in her area of expertise reveals that she has touched on just about every aspect of “counselling skills” through a dozen courses and is presently pursuing her postgraduate in psychology to hone her skills. <br />Her counselling premise also happens to be a place with picture perfection with all the amenities and infrastructure to counsel children and adults with equal ease and in comfort. When Meera speaks about her passion for counselling, it is easy to note that she takes a special interest in each person who comes to her and brings about the desired change in them over a period of time. <br /><br />Her area of specialisation happens to be “Child and Adolescent Counselling.” She has been counselling children with behavioural problems besides helping parents and children have better communication with each other. She also visits various educational institutions for counselling. She conducts workshops for parents, teachers and students. Her sole aim is to reach out to the lonely and distressed, whether they are children or adults, and empower them to have a better life. <br /><br />Though Meera counsels for schools and corporates alike, she finds her workshops with the parents of Montessori going children very fruitful for, she thinks that many a seed of value system and careful upbringing of children can be sown effectively during these sessions.<br /><br />Her fluency in English, Kannada and Hindi and her ability to analyse handwriting and drawings have strengthened her counselling skills. Her columns in a local journal called JNR Today address problems of her readers who consult her through the magazine. <br /><br />As an author<br />Meera Ravi has authored three books — A Guide to Study Skills, Teaching through the Heart and COUNSELLING — What, Why and How. The fact that her third book has an updated second edition within a span of one year speaks for the success of her books.<br />Meera feels that what she is today is because of the unconditional support and inspiration she received from the two men in her life — her father and her husband. To put it in her own words, “there is no she (Meera) without the two Hes in her life.”</p>
