Serving through Music with Nimo Patel (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

This uplifting song “Grateful” was written and performed by hip-hop artist and humanitarian Nimo Patel, in collaboration with the acclaimed musician from the United States, Daniel Nahmod. It’s just one of the hopeful and energetic songs Nimo created through his “Empty Hands Music” project, aiming to “spread seeds of goodness in the world through selfless service, music, and love.”

Nimo, an Ivy League school graduate from the United States, with a successful career in both the financial world and the music industry, eventually turned away from the established path and found his calling among unexpected friends in India. What compelled Nimo to change the course of his life, and what was he searching for in India? Let’s find out as he speaks to us from Ahmedabad, India, recalling his upbringing in the US.

Nimo began to write songs and perform in high school, gaining fame as an MTV rap and hip hop artist. Nimo explains what motivated him to continue pursuing his musical talents after college. It appears that on the surface, Nimo’s life was smooth-sailing, and he was well on his way to achieving his dream, but beneath it all, he found himself somehow unfulfilled. At the advice of his father, Nimo went to his ancestral city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, India. There, he not only found healing, but also a purpose.

“And I've been volunteering here for the last 13 years of my life and serving. We serve, we work with underprivileged children and women from very under resourced communities. They are like our little brothers and sisters or mothers, and we're just all working together to support their upliftment, to help give them opportunity and holistic development as human beings and our brothers and sisters and mothers. And it's been the biggest blessing of my life to spend time with Manav Sadhna and the communities here.”

As we have already heard, not only is Nimo a compassionate humanitarian, but also a gifted musician. Let us hear another of his thought-provoking songs, “Being Kind.”