Jyoti Shenoy

She is the granddaughter of Gurpur Hanumant Prabhu (a well-known tobacco merchant and tile factory owner) and Ullal Narayan Mallaya (a famous cloth merchant and ayurvedic herbal medicine practitioner) of Mangalore, India. Born on 6 November 1955 in Bombay, India, to Freedom Fighter Gurpur Nagesh Prabhu and Susheela Nagesh Prabhu, she was named Prasanna (meaning cheerfully enlightened).

She grew up in a traditional middle-class family but had little peace during her adolescent days due to circumstantial problems surrounding the family. The house that she lived in was not very spacious and she had no corner for herself. She thus depended on the generosity of her friends to permit her to use a room in their house during the study hours. She did her eleven years of schooling from Little Angels High School, Sion, Bombay (1961-72) and went to the S.I.E.S. College, Sion, Bombay (1972-76). In 1976, she successfully completed her bachelor's degree with honors majoring in economics from Bombay University.

Both she and her parents wanted to follow the traditional Hindu custom of matching horoscopes and seeking an arranged marriage. This they did in the month of December 1976 within six months after she had got her B.A. degree and found a perfect horoscope match.

The prospective husband, Aroon Shenoy, was a Chemical Engineering 1974 graduate from the renowned Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He was, at that time, pursuing a Ph. D. degree in England under the British Gas Scholarship. He made a visit to India in January 1977 with the intent of seeing the girl who might become his wife. He met her on January 23, 1977. Aroon was so much taken by her sincerity and charm that within a matter of two hours he decided that she was the right one for him. The two were engaged on January 30, 1977 and were married on February 6, 1977. Following the custom, her name was changed from Prasanna (meaning cheerfully enlightened) to Jyoti (meaning the light from a lamp). In March 1977, she left for England accompanying her husband who was then in the process of getting his Ph.D. degree.

With the view of taking a short relaxing break of a month or two after the strenuous years of preparation for the Ph.D., they decided to make a trip to India before taking up the assignment in USA. The trip was a disaster for them instead of being a relaxation. It turned out to be the most stressful period of their life. They reached India on November 2, 1978 and within four days the in-laws sat down in a conference with her husband and her father to dictate terms as to how she should dress and that she should not wear basic cosmetics. Her own parents' emphasis from her childhood of not replying to elders as a mark of respect, prevented her from answering her in-laws even in a polite fashion. She, therefore, kept mum and bore the injustice silently.

In January 1979, she went to Houston, Texas, USA, for a year's stay. In 1980 she returned to India and settled down in Pune for next five years. Her husband joined the National Chemical Laboratory as a research scientist, and was entitled to an accommodation from the organization. He was, however, allotted an accommodation which was to be shared with another scientist and his family.

During the first three years of their sharing accommodation, she learnt Hindustani Classical Music and secured a First Class with Distinction in the vocal and written examinations in each of the three years. She was called on a number of occasions to sing in musical variety entertainment programs and also to compere (MC) in them.

During this period, she also put together the book, HELPFUL HINTS to make your life comfortable, easy and cheerful, which later made it to the bestsellers list in the year 1993. She was invited to be the Guest of Honor and Moderator for the debate on the Concept of Marriage, Bombay, India in 1985. From 1983-85, she worked as a Travel Cell Assistant at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune.

The Shenoys spent the next three years in Gainesville, Florida, USA. Within a week she took a job as a clerk at one of the convenient stores operated by Munford, Inc. Seeing her abilities and sincerity, she was promoted to the acting manager's position within three months and then to the position of the Office Store Manager within another three months. Her hard work was well appreciated. She was awarded an appreciation pin by her supervisor and the vice-president of the organization actually gave a pat on her back with the remarks that she should consider this as a pat from Mr. Munford himself. He also told her that Munford, Inc. was fortunate to have her as an employee and wished they had another 100 employees like her.

After three years of rigorous round-the-clock work, she returned to India for a period of two years. Her husband was at that time the Divisional Executive - R & D of a multinational company and was generally very busy. She spent the major time learning and trading in stocks and shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This gave her a great deal of experience and reasonable financial remunerations.

In 1990, her husband got an invitation from the Japanese government inquiring whether he would be willing to join one of the leading universities as a visiting faculty for three years. He was the first Indian to be offered such a position. There she learnt conversational Japanese and joined the KI Academy as an Assistant Teacher to teach English to Japanese kids. She also participated in the International Singing Competition representing India and was awarded the second prize for her solo which she sang without any musical accompaniment.

Returning from Japan in September 1993, she settled down in her newly bought house in Pune. Her ever growing thirst for knowledge was so great that she always looked for avenues to broaden her vision and talent. In 1995, she joined the three-month Jazz Dance and Aerobics course conducted in Pune by the Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts.

In 1998, her husband joined a research center in the USA. She thus left India with him once again. While in USA, she received three distinguished awards of being included in the 9th Edition of the Two Thousand Notable Women, being selected for inclusion in the 15th Edition of World Who's Who of Women and being nominated as one of the 2000 Outstanding Writers of the 20th Century.

Jyoti is a person who is a balanced blend of traditional and modern values. She is a highly talented and very enterprising person, and has shown her prowess to learn and perform in a number of different activities. She is a very conscientious worker, and extremely disciplined by nature. She proved to herself that no matter how many hard blows are delivered in life, it was always possible to stand up once again if there is a firm determination, a clear-cut goal and an untiring will to succeed.

Contributed by Dr. Aroon Shenoy, 2000.