Madhulika Khandelwal began her Siddha Yoga practice in 1970, when she met Baba Muktananda in Gurudev Siddha Peeth in India. Her parents opened the very first Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in New Delhi in 1978.

An accomplished academic scholar, Madhulika has offered seva in the SYDA Foundation as a translator and transcriber for the Hindi language. She has also served as a host for Siddha Yoga satsangs and as a cook at the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in New York.

Madhulika is an associate professor of immigration and ethnic studies and the director of the Asian/American Center at Queens College, City University of New York. She has taught at a number of universities and is internationally recognized for her original research on the impact of immigration in the United States and the changing dynamics of South Asians and their global diaspora. Madhulika holds a PhD in history from Carnegie Mellon University.