Khushi Charitable Society, a Rishikesh organization founded in 2002 by Anand Mehrotra, describes its work as education, meals, healthcare and skills development for children and families facing financial hardship. Yoga Journal, reporting independently in 2019, corroborates the founding date and adds specifics: Mehrotra established Khushi to fund two tuition-free schools for children whose families could not otherwise cover uniform costs and school fees — a community initiative distinct from Sattva Yoga Academy's teacher training, and connected to the Sattva founder in a different capacity. The name itself is a deliberate choice: khushi means "smile" or "happiness" in Hindi, framing the organization's goal in terms a donor or visitor unfamiliar with its programme details can immediately grasp.
What Keeps a Child Out of School
Khushi's account of educational barriers is specific: school fees, uniforms, learning materials and medical costs are among the pressures that can interrupt a child's education. Supporting learning, in that framing, requires attention to the circumstances that make continued attendance possible, not only a place in a classroom. "In the deep teachings of yoga, it is impossible not to serve," Mehrotra told Yoga Journal.
From the Classroom to the Workshop
The charity's vocational centre extends that approach into working life, with a published programme listing IT, accounting and English classes alongside sewing, fashion design and a beautician course intended to help participants find salon or spa work or start a business of their own. Khushi says mothers take part in stitching and beautician programmes and that participants are paid directly when their products sell. A German university field-placement report separately describes English-language teaching as a core activity for volunteers, alongside health and hygiene workshops for young women — a detail consistent with education being the organization's founding purpose rather than an add-on to other programming.
A Familiar Object, Made Locally
The clearest link between the charity and Rishikesh's visitor economy runs through its sewing and crafts workshop, where older female students make items including yoga mat bags and meditation cushions, sold online, to visitors and to local yoga schools — using recycled saris among the materials. A course, a product and a buyer form a recognizable sequence; whether it becomes a dependable livelihood is a further question, best answered through income records and participants' own accounts over time.
A Different Kind of Entity Than the Yoga School
Set beside Sattva Yoga Academy's global student base and Mehrotra's teaching circuit, Khushi occupies deliberately narrower ground: it serves residents of one town rather than an international audience, and its outcomes are measured in school attendance and vocational placements rather than teacher-training graduates. That narrowness is, in reputation terms, part of its value — a community organization answering to local needs for more than two decades reads differently from marketing material aimed at prospective retreat guests, and independent reporting on it exists at arm's length from anything Mehrotra's own team has published.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Khushi Charitable Society?
Khushi Charitable Society is a Rishikesh charity founded in 2002 by Anand Mehrotra, providing education, meals, healthcare and vocational training to children and families facing financial hardship.
Is Anand Mehrotra involved in charity work?
Yes — he founded Khushi Charitable Society in Rishikesh in 2002 to fund tuition-free schooling for local children, a community organization separate from his yoga teaching and business ventures.
What vocational training does Khushi offer?
Khushi's vocational centre offers IT, accounting, English, sewing, fashion design and beautician training, alongside a sewing workshop that sells handmade items including yoga mat bags and meditation cushions.