Below are glimpses into the lives of ordinary people leading exemplary lives. Most of these profiles were written during a walking pilgrimage and offered in the spirit of gratitude.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock
"And the way to be happy, is to make people happy. And to have a little heaven right here," Shrutiben Shroff sings.

Gauva Uncle of Kantidara
"Inspirations? The sky because it's infinite. My mom. The sea because it flows effortlessly despite taking on all burdens."

Les "No Traces" Kaye
"We can't change the world. But we can take care of what we can touch."

Courage Under Fire
"Yes, I'm ready to die. Or anything else. If we all keep on fighting, we will all kill each other." Hamida Chandul exclaims.

Dr. Ramnik Doshi
"I haven't been sick for the past fifty years. No cold, no flu, no diarrhea, no sore throat, nothing." What's his secret? "To live with joy" he confidently reports with a big smile.

Harisevak Dass
"I don't ask anyone for anything. I never have. Expectations is what creates problems."

With One Heart
Forget the harvest. As much as you seek, that's how much you'll be obstructed. Don't seek Enlightenment. Just bow.

Devadosses: A Special Kind of Grace
"Believe in your Dreams," she says, not once but many times.

Dwarko Sundrani
"Gandhi had many many weakenesses. But he had one strength --when he found truth, he wouldn't let it go."

Two Thoreaus of Sakwa County
"We did not want to exploit -- or be exploited. So we just moved out of the city."

Smallest Big Story of Goraj
"Our bottom line is joy. We are here to share our joy in the world," Vikrambhai Patel says.

An 80 Year Old Hand
"Do you know the Truth about life. I'll tell you -- whatever happens is the truth. That's it."

A Day in Thane with Father Joe
"We began contributing in a small way and continued to take small positive steps forward instead of looking for giant leaps."

Experiments in Grace
"Goodness always prevails. Life is great, isn't it?," Jagdish Shah triumphantly asks.

Gordhan "Ironman" Patel
"I have one princple: whatever you don't like in others, make sure you don't do that yourself. That's it. No karma, no God, no after life, nothing doing."

Wings of Love
"Like the in breath and the out breath," she says, "you gather the light and give it out. That's just the way it works."

Ramdass Maharaj
"A still mind is what gives me joy. There is so much joy that you won't believe it. Nothing else exists there. That is home."

Swami "anti-Swami" Sachchidanada
"If anything, the purpose of life is to solve problems. If you don't have your own, solve other people's problems."

To Serve with Love
"Much of what we do is like planting trees under which we may never sit, but plant we must." ~~motto, Reaching the Unreached

Q&A With Kanti Shah
"Necessity used to be the mother of invention. Today, invention is the mother of necessity."

Prahlad "No Fears" Patel
"No set prayer. I let it happen naturally. First, I make a full bow to all the realized masters and ask them to help me realize my true nature. Then, I sit in silence and let prayer happen."