Thirty-year-old Reshma Thakkar was a single, career-driven woman living in the Windy City, when she realized that something vital was missing from her life. Reshma sought to reconnect with her roots and her Hindu faith.
She boldly quit her healthcare IT job and embarked on a pilgrimage to India, her spiritual homeland. Here, she hoped to connect with others of her faith at the world's largest gathering: the Kumbh Mela.
Every 12 years, 70 million Hindus from all walks of life come together to bathe in a sacred river and purify their souls. By sharing in this ritual, Reshma hoped to renew her faith—a desire she saw fulfilled as she joined the multitude of men, women and children who entered the sacred waters and rejoiced.
"Being in the water with millions and millions of people, all of us yearning for the same thing at the same time, believing that we are all in this together," Reshma says about her transformative experience, "the answer I was looking for was within me the whole time."
After Belief: See Reshma today
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