Born in Bombay in 1963 to an Irish mother, Ellen Mary, and an Indian father, Admiral Perbodh Nath Agarwal, Meera grew up in three of the best and top-tier cities of India, Mumbai (then Bombay), Delhi and Pune, and spent the later part of her youth in Ireland. “My father was a problem solver – he wouldn’t ever give up and would never say no. And my mother is probably the most giving person. She’d find some positivity in everything. Her presence has something to make any person feel elevated. She is my inspiration!”
Excellence and leadership could well have been her middle name – right from childhood till date. A student of the Cathedral and John Connon School, she served as head girl for most of her school years. And the streak continued in college too. She took admission in the United World College in Canada for her Diploma in International Baccalaureate (Hons) and in 1982, returned to India to graduate in Economics (Hons) at the prestigious Jesus and Mary College in New Delhi. In her second year of college, she was elected the vice-president and in the last year, she was elected the president of the student body. Graduating out in 1985, she went to the US in 1986 to pursue MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Boston University School of Management and a diploma in Executive Education from Harvard Business School. “I started my MBA after marrying my high school sweetheart, Vikram Gandhi, in 1986. In 1989, three months after giving birth to our first child, Kiran, I returned to study for MBA and graduated with flying colors. In fact, 25 years later, I was awarded the most outstanding alumni of Boston University.” The Gandhis moved to New York in 1989 and welcomed two more kids, Kanika in 1993 and Kabir in 1997. In 2007, she went back to school – this time to Harvard Business School for an Executive Education diploma, which gave her the knowledge and experience to begin the ambitious projects that she’d undertake in the future. “By this time, I had started doing a lot of social work with the New York City ballet, the Asian society for the homeless and many Indian charities as well.”
She wasn’t, however, new to social work. It almost came naturally to her. She was also encouraged by her mother to get into the field. At age of 16, when many struggle to find their path, some choose to develop themselves with sports and other hobbies. Meera, a student of grade 10, a good dancer herself, opted to volunteer to teach dance at Ashadaan, a shelter for abandoned and differently-abled children, the destitute and HIV+ by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. This was her first encounter with less fortunate children. “It felt like I had entered a new world where things were different from my side of the world, where the basic amenities were amiss. It moved me a lot and I wanted to do something for them.”
What began in her school times led her to start a small preschool in Mumbai in 1998 and returned to the US in 2000. “That’s when we bought Eleanor Roosevelt’s historic townhouse on Park Avenue and renovated it.”
The Beginning of an Experience
In 2008, the young family had to move to Hong Kong for Vikram’s job in investment banking. This is where life took a 180-degree turn for Meera. “I felt like something was lacking in my life. That I felt disconnected, and I really needed to do more”, she says. It brought the couple to embark on a new journey together and establish The Giving Back Foundation in 2010.
Eventually, she also set upon to write a book, Giving Back, which chronicles all the 75 charities she was feverishly working with, and released it in 2011. She has also talked about the people who inspired her to commence on this path – some friends, some philanthropists. Cherie Blair, an English barrister and writer, wife of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair and the former First Lady of the UK, wrote the foreword of the book.
She has also released another of her books, 3 Tips: The Essentials for Peace, Joy and Fulfilment, which is based on lessons she has learnt from her mistakes. “I loved working on it as I could bring what I learnt in amalgamation with a sense of humor. It makes it a little tongue-in-cheek book.”
Later on, she also made a riveting documentary, Giving Back, wherein she narrates her life and talks to some globally inspirational people, such as Cherie Blair; U2 singer, Bono; human rights activist, Kerry Kennedy; a former Dean and Professor Emeritus of Religion at Middlebury College, Steven Rockefeller; actress, Patricia Velasquez; founder of Doula to Accompanying Comfort and UWC’s Phyllis Farley; actor and singer, Juliet Hanlon; philanthropists and industrial leaders, Lord Raj Loomba and Peter Raj Singh of the Loomba Trust, etc.
“The book and documentary are both based upon my journey with 10 outstanding charitable leaders who influenced my life. I also started a fragrance and candle line called Giving. It found the success it deserved.”
In 2011, the Gandhis were back in India. “It was strangely tiring for me – moving to a new country every two years was a turmoil; I was then flying to Wales where my daughter, Kanika, was studying and next to Georgetown, where my eldest child, Kiran, was; in between, I’d find time to fly to London where my youngest, Kabir, was at boarding school… It was tiring!”
This was also the time when Vikram and Meera mutually decided to separate, though they continue to be friends and amicably support each other’s growth. She started meditation to reclaim her calm. “It took me some time but I began to understand life and it all seemed natural to me.”
Giving Back – With Aplomb!
“We are to the universe only as much as we give back to it”, she says while discussing her extraordinary and joyful journey with The Giving Back Foundation. “There was a fulfillment of sorts.”
Meera’s rendezvous with social work began when she was in school. “When I was 16, I participated in a two-week school project to interact with special children in Byculla. We had to help get the children ready, feed them, bathe them and put them to sleep in the afternoon. The project ended but I couldn’t stop myself from going there every Saturday till I was in Mumbai for high school – it was cathartic for me. Being able to commit to those kids and living up to my commitment was itself an achievement. I never could imagine the way it made me the person that was kind of an aspiration for me!”
What added to her catharsis was her meeting Mother Teresa when she was merely 16! “Oh that was some moment… though at that age I did not quite realize what an icon she was. She was an inspiration. I also loved that nice satisfactory feeling I had every Saturday and then there was my mother to encourage me. I think that once we understand the joy of giving, it becomes a part of us, our being.”
Meera currently enjoys success in different aspects of life. Her children are stars in their own right. Kiran, a drummer, owns Madame Gandhi, a record label and also her stage name. She performs all over the world with some leading and upcoming performers. Kanika, a biomedical engineer, heads the Organic Food Trade Commission in Vermont. Also a beach volleyball coach, she coaches around 16 female players. Kabir, a topper of his math class at Harvard. A feminist and believer in equality, he works for a financial company.
“Success to me is a way of life. If you do things with hard work, dedication and attention to detail, you are bound to be successful. It is nothing but how much you want it…”