It Changed My Life: Flying high through the burning pain

Aviation consultant's spirituality and friends saw him through health problems and divorce

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Mr Priveen Raj Naidu fell in with the wrong crowd after his father left the family. But being in AirAsia encouraged him to dream big, and he is now on a mission to empower others.
Mr Priveen Naidu Raj had helped start AirAsia in Singapore. He later left the airline to become a polytechnic lecturer. He subsequently founded a branding outfit for the aviation industry, which he sold to a corporation for a handsome profit.
Mr Priveen Naidu Raj had helped start AirAsia in Singapore. He later left the airline to become a polytechnic lecturer. He subsequently founded a branding outfit for the aviation industry, which he sold to a corporation for a handsome profit. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO
Mr Priveen Naidu Raj had helped start AirAsia in Singapore. He later left the airline to become a polytechnic lecturer. He subsequently founded a branding outfit for the aviation industry, which he sold to a corporation for a handsome profit.
Mr Priveen celebrating his 40th birthday earlier this year by spending half a day with students from a village on the outskirts of Bangalore in India (left), and meditating (right) while on a trekking trip in Bandung, Indonesia, in 2016. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PRIVEEN NAIDU RAJ
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Priveen Naidu Raj wanted to end it all one evening three years ago.

He was at the end of his tether, his world upended by a litany of medical problems: chronic epilepsy, motor neuron disease and fibromyalgia.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on December 02, 2018, with the headline It Changed My Life: Flying high through the burning pain. Subscribe