Jogiraj

“Very few people recognize the calling of their life, and even fewer gather the courage to follow it,” says Jogiraj, founder of the Malhaar Centre for Performing Arts. “I feel fortunate I could do both.”

For eight years, he built Malhaar alongside a full-time career. What began in 2008 as a passion took shape through large-scale Indian musical productions in Dubai, bringing more than a hundred artists on stage, including works like Rooh-e-Ishq and Jashn-e-Awadh.

“We have only one life, and it deserves to be spent doing something that brings both joy and meaning,” he says.

In 2017, after a corporate journey spanning National Geographic, MTV, Nickelodeon, Zee TV, and OSN, he stepped away. When he told his wife Mily, she did not hesitate. “If this gives you purpose, go for it. We’ll figure the rest out,” she said.

For Jogiraj, that decision was surrendering to something deeper within.

The name ‘Malhaar’ comes from an Indian classical raga associated with rain. “In a desert land, we wanted to bring the essence and emotion of that rain through music,” he says.

Today the center teaches 14 disciplines to students aged three to 82, with an integrated performing arts curriculum reaching thousands of children across UAE schools.

The transition brought sustained uncertainty. He and Mily invested their life savings to begin. Partners Kruti Shah and Chaitali Sarkar stood by them.

“Entrepreneurship demands that you understand everything, from finance to people to operations,” he says. “That was a big learning curve, and it still is.”

There are days of doubt. “You question everything, even break down.”

Yet each morning pulls him back.

Validation arrived in a specific form. A tribute video to the UAE was shared by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and acknowledged by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. “They don’t erase the struggles, but they remind you why you started,” he says.

The journey shifted something internal. “What started as a personal calling has now become a shared responsibility,” he says.

There were stretches so consumed by building Malhaar that he did not notice his son Addi growing up. “A strong brand is not about visibility, it is about trust. It should be able to stand, grow and continue even when the person is no longer there.”

Looking back at what he has built, he says, “There is a fulfillment in knowing that what you are building has a purpose beyond you.”