Engineer. Former monk. Clarity coach.
Sidharth Krishna Kumar, known as Coach Sid Kumar, helps people think clearly, decide with confidence and live with purpose. His work draws on two very different trainings: engineering and thirteen years of monastic life.
From exam halls and factory floors to the study of the mind
Sid was born in Mumbai and grew up in Chennai and Delhi, preparing, like many Indian students, for competitive engineering exams. At fifteen he picked up the Bhagavad Gita, at first simply to improve his English. Around the same time he discovered personal-development writers such as Shiv Khera, Tony Robbins and Stephen Covey, which sparked a lifelong interest in human potential and purpose.
He cleared IIT-JEE and AIEEE and joined NIT Trichy in 2008 to study mechanical engineering. Alongside his degree he went deep into philosophy, psychology and the Vedic texts, and worked with Herrenknecht, the German tunnel-boring machine maker, on a project for the Chennai Metro.
After graduating in 2012 he joined Tata Motors in Pune as a manager in the Commercial Vehicles business and earned his Six Sigma Black Belt. A year later he made the biggest decision of his life: he left corporate life to become a monk.
For the next thirteen years his work was people development. He mentored young people through nearly a dozen youth hostels and communities, taught in colleges across India, and led youth retreats every year. From 2020 to 2024 he directed a community club in Kharadi, Pune. From late 2024 he worked with students and communities connected to universities in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary, including a retreat in Golden, British Columbia, for about sixty participants.
In August 2026 Sid completed his monastic journey. He sees it not as an ending but as a graduation: the same mission, helping people find clarity, purpose and direction, now open to everyone.
- 2003 – 2005
Music & first books
Grade 5 in Western Classical Guitar and Music Theory, Trinity College London. First reading of the Bhagavad Gita.
- 2008 – 2012
B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering, NIT Trichy
Project work with Herrenknecht on tunnel-boring machines for the Chennai Metro.
- 2012 – 2013
Manager, Tata Motors, Pune
Commercial Vehicles Business Unit. Six Sigma Black Belt, 2012.
- 2013 – 2026
Thirteen years of monastic life
Study, teaching and youth mentoring. Teacher-training and leadership-development programmes completed along the way.
- 2020 – 2024
Community director, Kharadi, Pune
Led education, community-building and youth-development programmes.
- 2024 – 2026
Canada
Courses, workshops and retreats with students and communities in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.
- 2026 →
Coach Sid Kumar
Clarity coaching, talks and programmes for individuals, universities and workplaces in India and Canada.
Structure for the mind, depth for the heart
An engineer's method
Six Sigma taught Sid to find root causes, not symptoms. He brings the same discipline to stuck decisions: define the problem, separate the variables, test the options.
Thirteen years of practice
Daily study and contemplative practice, and years of mentoring young people through pressure, habits and purpose. This is lived experience, not theory.
Two countries, one life
Having lived and worked in both India and Canada, Sid understands the questions of belonging, family and career that come with a life across two countries.
English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil
Pune, India and Calgary, Canada
Online worldwide; in person by arrangement
The 9 PM Club, available on Amazon Kindle
One honest conversation can untangle months of overthinking.
Message Sid on WhatsApp to book a 60-minute Clarity Consultation, or take the free Happiness Quotient first and bring your result with you.