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Management

Shiva Kumar
Founder and Executive Director,
ePuja Web Solutions Private Limited

Shiva Kumar is currently the Founder and Executive Director of ePuja Web Solutions Private Limited – India's first online portal that offers access to religious ceremonies and remedy rituals across 3600 temples in India.With over two decades of experience in the field of Sales and Marketing, Shiva brings with him insightful networking skills and a deep understanding of the Indian culture. His core strength remains his ability to understand diverse Indian geographies and their cultural and traditional expectations.

His strength emanates from his constant involvement with cultural bodies and temples across India, which started more as a passion, but evolved into a serious life pursuit.
Shiva has been an avid traveller as well and has a profound interest in Indian Temples. With ePuja, Shiva brought his two life passions together, touring over 4.5 lakh kms across the length and breadth of India to form a formidable network of Temples. From this vision and passion emanated the evolution of ePuja as a comprehensive portal offering immediate online access to a wide range of temples for devotes within the country and overseas.

With ePuja, Shiva hopes to bridge the ever widening gap between spirituality and daily living that occurs given the paucity of time we face and the increased pressure of work and life. Shiva believes his vision of having such a portal would empower us to stay in touch with our spiritual side with over 7000 pujas being made accessible for remedies to normal salutations being readily available at a click of a button. His aim with ePuja is to offer the service of convenience to one and all so that the younger generation too can understand the science behind Indian culture and ritualistic traditions to benefit from them, as their ancestors have done. ShivaKumar is a Graduate with a Bachelor in Commerce Degree from the University of Bangalore and lives in Bangalore, managing the day to day activities and puja completions personally.
Chetan Merchant
Chairman and Managing director,
ePuja Web Solutions Private Limited

Chetan Merchant is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of ePuja Web Solutions Private Limited – India's first online portal that offers access to religious ceremonies and remedy rituals across 3600 temples in India.

With over a decade of experience in the field of Sales and Marketing, Chetan brings with him profound experience and in depth expertise that spans across a variety of sectors. His core strength remains his ability to understand customer needs and manage expectations while ensuring a motivated team to deliver quality under all situations.
Chetan's previous work experience includes leading successful teams across Indiainfo.com, ING Vysya Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Tata AIG Life Insurance and ICICI Bank. His last assignment prior to ePuja was at Development Bank Singapore (DBS), Mumbai, where he headed Client Acquisitions.

Chetan is an avid sportsman with a keen interest in cricket and is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Parmananddas Jivandas Gymkhana(P.J.Hindu Gymkhana), Mumbai Chetan Merchant holds an MBA in Management (Marketing) from Chetana Institute of Management, Mumbai.
With ePuja, Chetan aims to bring back the diminishing spirit of spirituality in India by providing easy access to religious rituals across Indian temples.
Rikin Parekh
Director,
ePuja Web Solutions Private Limited

Living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't. This attribute is most evidently visible in Rikin Parekh, a young visionary who has already achieved a few milestones in his life.

Rikin joined ePuja as a Director in 2015, although his enterprising career started as a senior analyst with a stint at Notz Stukie & Cie. A firm believer of the notion that a high potential and scalable idea should see the light of day, he went on to fulfil his dream and co-found Maverick Equities in 2006. Rikin along with his childhood friend have nurtured Maverick Equities, and the firm is now recognised as a credible and trustworthy institution.

He is also the leading lad at Gitesh Textiles Pvt. Ltd., which owns Morpeech, a rising brand and an enterprise having a strong foothold in the dynamic fashion and ethnic wear industry.

A keen interest in technology also made Rikin an investor at www.qiddle.com which is the only app based closed user network for mothers in India . This venture too is taking significant strides in it's own right.

Rikin comes with a Masters degree in Finance from KJ Somaiya Institute of Mgmt, Mumbai, and has done his Bachelor of Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai.

A keen interest in photography and a love for travel are some of the ways he likes to spend his leisure time.

Advisory Board

Sharda Balaji
Founder,
NovoJuris Legal

Sharda Balaji is the Founder of NovoJuris Legal, lawfirm focused on emerging companies in technology. In the last decade, NovoJuris has worked with more than a thousand businesses including high profile unicorns and exits. NovoJuris is ranked amongst the India’s top 50 lawfirms by RSG Consulting and amongst India’s top 10 in the number of venture capital transactions.

During Sharda's earlier employment with Intel India, she was responsible for South Asia operations, cross border M & A, offshore fund formation, IP and many others. In Puravanakara Projects raised about Rs. 900 crores through IPO. Her stint with Manipal Group was in a range of businesses like education, healthcare, lifestyle and consumer goods, brand valuations, real estate and more.

Sharda was an Independent Director at Faiveley Transport, world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of railway products, such as brake systems, doors, couplers and many others. Faiveley is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris.

Sharda is on the Governing Council of TIE Bangalore, continues on the advisory board for many technology and tech enabled companies and an active angel investor.

Sharda is a Lawyer and a Company Secretary, along with degree from Institute of Chartered Secretaries, UK. She has a Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights from National Law School of India, Bangalore and an advanced certificate course in Copyrights from World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Purvesh Krishna Shelatkar

Purvesh has been an inspiring story of an outstanding multifaceted individual, with core disciplines of proficiency being astrology and finance. A firm practitioner in astrology as a science, Purvesh stands apart due to his ability to relate basics of multiple disciplines to proactive assessment of situations and providing timely remedies for any type of trouble.

Purvesh brings with himself a lethal combination of astrology and finance. His accuracy in forecasts in both these abstract disciplines defies probabilistic variations. While his skills in astrology come from an early interest in the discipline, he is also a trained professional in finance with formal management degree in Finance. What further makes him valuable is his experience as a practitioner and the intersection of these two fields and his deep engagement in the field of management education and social reengineering.

Purvesh is networked in cross lateral strata of society with these multiple engagements. Most of the time bringing his expertise and network as a “problem solver” or “exit route during trouble”.

His work in the field of water, education, health and women empowerment makes him a valuable societal resource.

e Puja Web Solutions is privileged with his association as a key resource in terms of setting our sight to bigger good, while further strengthening our core values. We look forward to his mentoring and guidance in our strategic journey.
Dr. Mrudul Gokhale
CA, L.L.B.

Dr. Mrudul Gokhale is a veteran in the finance industry with over 32 years of experience in commercial banks and NBFCs. She holds a doctorate in ‘Basel II implementation in Indian banking industry’ which is related to capital adequacy commensurate with the risk profile of an institution. She is a chartered accountant and law graduate. She was heading the Treasury function, Risk Management, Credit and Critical exposure management. Her last stint was with L&T Finance, where she was heading operations department. Later she set up and institutionalized operational risk management framework for the company.

She takes keen interest in astrology, religion and Hindu philosophy. She is avid reader of scriptures and upanisads. She is practicing ancient yoga and meditation techniques. As an astrologer she has guided many over the years.