Vinesh Saxena

Mr Saxena was born in 1945 in a small town called Bisauli in India. He was the youngest of 10 children. He had 3 brothers, a sister, two half-brothers and three half-sisters. He started primary school in the 4th year. His father was a retired government officer on a moderate income. The house he lived in had large rooms and extensive grounds. There were trees full of orange and pomegranate trees. His father also owned a large orchard of mango and guava trees. Unfortunately, Mr Saxena's father had little contact with his son. He had little interest in him, to the point of hesitating to pay his school fees. This lead to an event who marked Mr Saxena: a teacher refused to issue his final report card because his father had not paid the school fees.

 

From the very beginning of his life, Mr Saxena was a different child. He was always pensive, he didn't believe in having many friends. He was gifted at school. He passed his secondary education with honours. He ranked 17th in the province of Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1959, he was awarded the Post-Metric Merit Scholarship by the government, which was given to only 200 students in India. This scholarship supported his studies until he obtained a degree in engineering. After completing his B. Sc. he attended the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. Mr Saxena finally finished 25th in the Uttar Pradesh provincial intermediate examination, 9th in the B.Sc. at Agra University and 3rd in the engineering programme at the New Delhi Institute. He thus obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering. Afterwards, Mr Saxena wanted to continue his studies in another country, Canada. He wanted to do a Masters in Engineering at the University of New Brunswick. His father agreed to pay for his plane ticket to this destination, which was to change his career path.  After graduating from the University of New Brunswick, he went on to complete an MBA at McGill University.

​

Armed with his qualifications, Mr Saxena pursued a brilliant career with Pratt & Whitney, where he spent 25 years. A lifelong supporter of education and aware of its importance, Mr Saxena also taught part-time courses at Concordia and McGill universities alongside his full-time job. He also developed a vast real estate network throughout Longueuil, which has now been sold. He loved to spend his time on the stock market and tradding. He worked all his life to build his fortune. 

 

From his first marriage to a Quebec woman, he had 2 children, Denis and Lisa, who now head the foundation. After divorcing in 1989, Mr Saxena remarried in 1995 to Meera Trivedi. 

​

Mr Saxena and Mrs Trivedi both had the same dream: to create a foundation to give back some of what life had given them. Mr Saxena created the Vinesh Saxena Family Foundation in 2004. The Foundation had 3 objectives: to alleviate poverty, to promote education and to address fundamental issues. These objectives are still the 3 pillars of the foundation today. 

​

In 2010, Mr Saxena and Ms Trivedi joined and studied at the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Canada in order to be able to give yoga classes. A practice that has accompanied them since the beginning of their lives. Once they had completed their yoga studies, they set up free yoga sessions. The sessions are still available today.

​

Throughout his life, Mr Saxena has asked himself many questions about the soul, life after death and the existence of God. From his youth, Mr Saxena distanced himself from religion in order to study it more closely. He came to the conclusion that one must embark on a quest and look beyond all religions (man-made) to deepen one's own spiritual quest for truth. During his life, he also established and followed seven major principles.

​

Vinesh Saxena passed away in 2022, leaving his foundation to his children, Denis and Lisa, and his wife, Meera. Through the creation of the foundation, his story continues to be written every day through the help he provides.