He was reciting verses from the Bhagvad Gita at the age of four. Little wonder then that he grew up to become a spiritual leader who established The Art of Living Foundation in 1982, an organisation that is active in 140 countries. From world peace to his beard, Bangalore-based Sri Sri Ravi Shankar fields queries from Malavika Sangghvi .

What is your mission in life?

To put a smile on as many faces as possible.

What advice do you give those who are seeking peace and happiness?

Get rid of stress, know that peace is there where you are and that it's in your heart. Peace is your very nature.

What makes you happy?

Happiness is my nature.

What makes you cry?

When I see the ignorance and small-mindedness. I cry at the top of my lungs, saying hey come on wake up, there's so much inside of you, don't sit and mourn about yourself. Go out and do something for the people around you.

Is Sri Sri more popular with the girls than Enrique Iglesias?

That you'd be able to answer.

Do you know who he is?

Is he a singer?

Do you ever have a bad hair day?

I don't remember having one.

What would you want to be reborn as?

I still have a lot of time here, so that I will decide later. I keep that choice open.

Do you have a recurring dream, and if so what is it?

I see the whole world as a dream, all the phenomena, even this moment that we are talking could be a dream.

Any unfulfilled dreams?

I don't think we should seek fulfillment in dreams.

Does the world need religion?

Whether it needs religion or not, it is indispensable, and you have to work around it. Dismissing religion will not work, it has not worked in Russia for 40 years, what is needed here is harmony.

Who does the future belong to?

Whoever has gone through the past.

Who do you draw inspiration from?

Any one who is in front of me.

How does one find a soulmate?

By first finding your soul.

What is intuition?

It is the tuition that you get from inside!

Why is so much attention given to your celebrity disciples?

We have reached out to 20 million people, and not all 20 million are celebrities. We have reached out through sewa and the five H pro gram. Now we have started chemical- free farming.

Farmers borrow money to buy pesticides and fertilizers and they go bankrupt and commit suicide.

We have started a village-to-village campaign to teach farmers to start chemical and pesticide-free farming and natural farming using leaves as pesticides. It has done wonders. We have adopted 25,000 villages.

Do you wonder why the media goes on about your celebrity disciples?

The media needs celebrities.

What is the definition of God?

G-O-D! Generator, Operator, Destroyer.

Is the Sudarshan Kriya just simple hyperventilation?

I just smile at people who say that, they need to study more. If some one is a full scientist there's no problem, if the person is not a scientist, even that's not a problem, but a half scientist, they become agnostics and atheists.

What is the one thing that the world needs today?

It needs many things. Like harmony. It is the lack of spirituality that is causing the disharmony. Either people become aggressive and violent because of it, or they become depressed and commit suicide. The answer for this is spirituality.

Is spirituality against marriage?

You can get married. Then both of you can be spiritual.

Recently you had Pakistani and Iraqi disciples visit the ashram and participate in meditations...

They thoroughly enjoyed the understanding. They thought Hindus were idol worshippers, that there is no depth of philosophy in Hinduism.

Here they understood that it is more than just idol worship and that it is in no way in conflict with their own beliefs. It has built bridges.

What is going to be the impact of your international women's conference in February?

Women always make an impact wherever they go. I have to wait and watch. I am sure they're not going to sit back. Women are really proactive; they shake societies and countries.

What lies behind the beard?

I haven't looked behind the beard. I tell my disciples, the swami's hair is his antennae and the beard is the earthing, it's just a uniform.

Any last message for the reader?

Compare the problem to a dog, the solution is its tail, if you don't see its tail, just wait for a while, it will wag itself. Then you will see the solution.