Hello
Hi, I am Yug. I was born in Kapadvanj, a small town in Gujarat, India. My family moved to Australia in 2009 when I was three and I have been here ever since.
I am studying neuroscience, and somehow I have ended up working in finance in investment banking. Who would have thought a neuroscience degree would land me there. I am not complaining about it, but it was not the plan.
This site is a diary of the places I visited on my trip back, and a bit of the history behind each of them.
What I actually want to do
The long term goal is to run my own industrial business. That is the part people usually expect to hear. The reason behind it is the part I care about more.
If that works out, I want to use the money to fund people living on the streets in India. The poverty there is at a level that is hard to describe until you have seen it up close, and the thing that stays with me is that none of it is deserved. The privilege I have been handed is not something I earned over any of those kids. They deserve it exactly as much as I do. They just were not born where I was born.
The person I take the most inspiration from for this is Steve Irwin. Not the animal side of it, because his family already has that covered better than anyone else could. I want to do the same kind of thing for underprivileged kids, anywhere in the world. However much money it takes to get those kids up in life, that is what it takes. That is the actual purpose. Work, in my eyes, is just the means to get the money to do it.
Every Sunday
I volunteer every single Sunday at my local temple. Some of it is the kind of thing that sounds impressive on paper. I have spoken with the Prime Minister and the deputy Prime Minister, and with MPs and councillors who come through. That is not the part I look forward to.
My favourite part is always the kids' assemblies we hold. We tell them stories from Hinduism and then play a bunch of games. That is it. That is the whole thing, and it is the best few hours of my week.
They call me Yugu Bhai. Yug is my name, Yugu is the nickname, and bhai means brother. I have been going to these assemblies since I arrived in Australia in 2009, and as soon as I was old enough I started running them myself. Now I am the one passing things down, whether that is help with school, getting through VCE, working out university, or just life. They come to me for all of it.
Doing this gives me more purpose than anything else in the world.
In the joy of others, lies our own.
Pramukh Swami Maharaj
That line is more or less how I try to run my life.
My journey
Kapadvanj, Gujarat
Born here, in a town in the Kheda district of Gujarat.
Australia, 2009
Moved over at three years old and grew up here.
Delhi
The first stop of the trip, and the busiest place I went.
Jaisalmer
Out into the Thar Desert on the 24th of January to see the fort.
Udaipur
South into the lakes and palaces of Mewar.
Chittorgarh
A day out to the fort the rulers of Mewar left behind.
Gujarat
Anand and Balasinor, the towns my family comes from.
West Gujarat
Across Saurashtra to the temples at Gadhada, Sarangpur and Gondal.
Get in touch
If you want to ask me anything about the trip, about any of these places, or about the volunteering, I am happy to hear from you.
- yugp1707@gmail.com
- Mobile
- 0403 217 202
Glossary
- Bhai
- Brother. Added after a name in Gujarati and Hindi as a friendly and respectful way to address someone.
- Mandir
- A Hindu temple.
- Pramukh Swami Maharaj
- The spiritual leader of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha from 1971 until he passed away in 2016.
- VCE
- The Victorian Certificate of Education, the final two years of high school in Victoria, Australia.