In the joy of others lies our own.

—His Supreme Holiness P. Pujya Pramukh Swami Maharaj, President, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha

Few things illustrate better a man’s contribution to society than what his contemporaries say of him, especially in writing. In this case it is a letter written by BAPS devotee and leader Govind Vaghashia in November 2016 that talks about Paul Singh Husson’s selfless and far-reaching contribution for the Swaminarayan community.

Back in 1993, Govind Vaghashia was President of the Federation of the Indian American Association when he first came across Paul Singh Husson. Six years later he made a phone call to Paul, one that was to prove that faith and love will conquer everything else in the world. When Husson received the phone call in 1999, he had just become the Chief, Environmental Health in the Los Angeles County. The position hadn’t come easy though—Paul had to fight a 14-year legal battle to end discrimination against Indians to get where he was. His historic case was to open the doors for Equal Employment Opportunity for all Indians across the USA. Govind and other BAPS members who were truly inspired by His Supreme Holiness P. Pujya Pramukh Swami Maharaj were looking for 20 to 30 acres of land in the City of Chino Hills to build a Mandir. Chino Hills crossed their mind since it was located centrally and was easily accessible from areas that fell in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside.