K. S. Ram
Krish ‘K. S.’ Ram is an author, martial arts enthusiast and an eternal student. He is on a never-ending quest to live a balanced, healthy and peaceful life filled with inspiration, beauty, hope and meaning.
Krish was born in Mumbai, India and grew up in the U.S.A where he earned a Bachelors and Masters Degree from Purdue University. He spent many years in the corporate world, with a successful career in Sales and Marketing. He had to take a break in 2002 when diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. After an intense two years of medication and therapy he was able to earn a MBA and continue his career. Faced with a relapse of Bipolar Disorder in 2009 and declared permanently disabled, he walked away from everything to find a better way to live. He eventually found three very different teachers, who help him understand and manage his illness while training him to control his mind and overcome fear. Very few people of South Asian descent have come public with Bipolar Disorder and Warrior will be the first memoir on mental illness by an Indian American.
K. S. Ram’s memoir, Warrior: The Bipolar Battle, is the story of his three-year odyssey through five countries on three continents on a quest to live as normally as possible given his medical diagnosis. He believes that it’s not enough to be balanced and healthy while living in a monastery, cave or mountain. It is important to face the challenges of life and to succeed while living in society. Krish left the Kung-fu monastery at the end of 2011. Following a period of time wherein he reintegrated into society and put everything he had learned during his journey into practice, he then spent an intensive one-year period reflecting on his journey and writing Warrior.
Warrior: The Bipolar Battle was written in Pai, a little town nestled in the hills of Northern Thailand. It is a creative mecca that artists, musicians, writers and alternative health practitioners call home. Krish had spent many months in Pai while studying with his second teacher and always knew he would return one day. It is a place that has brought him happiness, understanding, love and the thing he craves the most – being normal.
Krish moved back home to North America in 2014 to continue testing his strength in the real world. He now lives on the Western edge of the continent, where the mountains meet the ocean and he can gaze toward the distant lands that brought him hope, faith, strength and a new outlook on life. He knows now that, ultimately, life must be his final teacher, just as he knows his battle with Bipolar will never truly be over. He teaches Tai Chi, is busy at work on his second novel and continues to research mental illness.
He is a voracious reader and enjoys a broad range of fiction. “Entertain me with a great story” is all he asks. Rocky and The Godfather are usually on repeat in his home theater, with The Sound of Music on standby. He loves the color blue, Converse shoes and Coca-Cola in glass bottles. One of his most deserved and cherished awards is that he is the undefeated ping-pong champion of the Wudang Taoist Kungfu Academy in Wudangshan, China.
He is busy at work on his second book and can be found online at http://ksr.am
