Yesha Shah
Skokie, Illinois · Pharmacy Student
"Over the last year, I stopped dwelling so much on the external factors I can't change and chose to focus on things I can change in myself. This has helped me feel more at peace."
Yesha took one and a half years off from pharmacy school to volunteer full-time on the rebar team. She was assigned to co-lead the team — a role she had not sought, but embraced fully. When measurements changed mid-project and the team grew frustrated, Yesha found her anchor in the example of those around her. Her teammates Manisha, Shital, and Vimla embraced every correction as the fastest path to growth. Gradually Yesha did too. She began to see criticism not as a wound, but as a gift — and in that shift, volunteering became something more than seva. It became a practice of becoming.
Harmiksha Patel
Brampton, Ontario · Nurse
"My gurus have always said: 'In the joy of others lies our own.' The simplest means to find peace is to give it to someone else first."
Harmiksha was volunteering when her family received devastating news — her father Snehal was diagnosed with cancer. He passed the following year. Rather than withdraw inward, her family chose to strengthen their bonds through open communication and shared spiritual reflection. Her mother Seema, sister Shiva, and she leaned on their guru's teachings and on each other. Through grief, she discovered that devotion is not only practised in a mandir — it is practised in how we show up for those we love.
Parth Desai
Edison, New Jersey · Medical Student
"When you are blessed to have someone so genuine, so pure, so noble in your life, it is not enough to appreciate them. You must try to follow their example."
Parth grew up in Westchester County moving from apartment to apartment as his parents worked low-wage jobs. Amid that uncertainty, his spiritual connection with Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj became his compass. Their life stories taught him selfless service, resilience, and practical devotion. When he moved to Edison for college, the BAPS community became a home. He volunteered as a children's activities teacher — mentoring students through religion classes, staying in touch as their lives unfolded. At Akshardham he found a place not just to serve, but to become.
Akash Patel
Charlotte, North Carolina · Business Consultant
"I'm volunteering at Akshardham, amassing spiritual wealth in the form of contentment and inner peace to pass on to my daughter. My wealth will fade, but this legacy will endure."
Akash grew up with his mother as the family's sole provider — working two jobs, raising two boys, never asking for anything in return. That hardship shaped his drive. He climbed the corporate ladder, bought his mother a car, took over her mortgage. But when daughter Prapti was born, a question arose that no promotion could answer: what legacy would he leave her? The answer led him to Akshardham. He and his wife Vandana volunteered side-by-side, with Prapti growing up at the site. The wealth he was now building had no balance sheet — only a daughter watching her parents serve.
Nilkanth Rao
Rosedale, Maryland · Manager
"Every stone we place, every stone we dip, is an offering to God."
Nilkanth volunteered applying finishing touches to the stonework under the guidance of experienced artisans. His days had a sacred rhythm: morning arti in the mandir, personal prayers, then the construction site. Evenings brought him back for arti again — sitting with swamis and fellow volunteers as ordinary conversations drifted naturally toward the spiritual. For Nilkanth there was no boundary between the devotion inside the mandir and the labour outside it. Every act of seva — chisel in hand or palms folded — was the same prayer expressed in a different form.
