Meera Prakash, granddaughter of Andavan Pichai
Meera Prakash is the granddaughter of Sri Andavan Pichai. She was born in Chennai, India. The day she was born, the legendary Meera Bai’s life was being celebrated, so her grandmother named her Meera and said that she will be spiritually inclined.
Coming from a deeply spiritual family and a long line of philosophers, writers and scholars, Meera Prakash, from a very young age had a leaning towards enquiring about the why and wherefore of existence and continues to probe into the mysteries of life. Meera has been influenced by: Her great-grandfather, Sri Sankara Narayana Sastry, a Vedic scholar and philosopher, and the author of ‘The Age of Sankara’ , ‘Bhoja Charitram’ etc. ; Her grandmother, Sri Andavan Pichai, a modern day Saint composer; Her mother Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy, a music composer who has penned several Padams and Varnams for dance. Meera used to visit her grandmother along with her siblings regularly in Chennai, and the Vaishnavi Shrine, and also in Rishikesh, and used to ply her with questions about life. Her grandmother used to tenderly and patiently nurture her curiosity. She gave Meera the Guru Mantra on the banks of the Ganges and told her that each day will be considered a success if even for a Kshana (nano second), she could think of God with devotion. Meera has tried to apply this in her daily life. Andavan Pichai’s easy acceptance of everyone, her gentleness towards all creatures influenced her greatly. Her parents, Sri A.R. Kuppuswamy and Kamakshi also guided her path with their practical and philosophical view of life.
Meera Prakash is a writer of philosophy and religion and poetry. Meera has been a columnist on Religion for the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida. Her poem ‘What am I’ is part of the anthology ‘Echoes of Yesterday’ published by the National Library of Poetry (it is also part of her collection of poetry called ‘The Journey’). Another poem ‘Mother Earth’, also part of her anthology ‘The Journey’ was also published in the Democrat and many magazines in 2001, and has been recited by her on YouTube. Her poetry reflects her inner struggle and view of life. Meera Prakash has also written a novel ‘Amina’ set during the partition time of India based on the personal experiences of her parents who were right in the midst of it, and was lauded for it by the Toronto Pulp Fiction.
Meera Prakash learnt Indian Classical music from her mother, Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy, and has been an All India Radio and Television artist. It is her interest in music, especially her grandmother and mother’s kritis, and her devotion to them that made her bring out a lot of Andavan Pichai’s songs, seyyuls, shlokas etc. in the Book ‘Sri Andavan Pichai’s Arul Padalgal and Arut Daiva Vaku” in 2016 along with a set of 5 cds with over 250 songs. She also released The Musical Legacy of Kamakshi Kuppuswamy in 5 cds in 2020, which includes all her varnams and Padams-varnams.
With her grandmother’s blessings, Meera started her writing career. She is the author of five books entitled: The Quest for Happiness through the Essentials of Religion, Tales from Indian Mythology, The God I want to Love, An Angel for Life, (the last two Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan), and OM – Our Cosmic Connection (Published by Shipra Publication).
The late Dr. S Ramakrishnan, the General Editor and Executive Director of her book ‘The God I want to Love’ said this of her: “Meera Prakash is one of those young minds who, though impressed by the gains of science, is not willing to abandon the quest for reality. She dwells on the problem of religious faith vs. scientific fact with a refreshingly probing mind…She is modern, in the sense of being curious and inquisitive, yet she is not willing to discard the truths of religion based as the latter are on experience, as she herself acknowledges.”
Meera Prakash’s new book, ‘The Many Loves of Rama - The Selfless Monarch’ has come about because she had an epiphany while attending a discourse on Ramayana. She has researched on the various characters in the Ramayana and their attitude towards Rama from many angles. The book has taken shape after 3 years of research and has been published by Garuda Publications and released on April 21, 2023. This book is available at www.Garudabooks.com, Amazon, FlipKart and other platforms. The book also has a sequel in the works.
Currently, Meera is working on releasing the English bio of Sri Andavan Pichai based on hand-written notes by Andavan Pichai herself. (Sri Andavan Pichai made her daughter Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy the repository of all her works, who, in turn gave the copyright to her daughter, Meera Prakash. Meera has made her niece, Preeti Vinayak, and her nephew, Hrishikesh Ram, co-copyright holders.) Meera devotes her time to her writing and music. She periodically uploads videos of Sri Andavan Pichai’s songs sung by her mother, Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy and the Bhajan Mandali, and her nephew, Hrishikesh Ram on youtube.
Meera also records and teaches Shlokas on various Hindu deities. She has released a set of 5cds entitled ‘Daily Prayers’ recited by her. She has uploaded many of them on You Tube.
https://garudabooks.com/the-many-loves-of-rama-the-selfless-monarch