My Personal Journey into Seva

I didn’t want to leave.

Seventeen years ago, I was exposed to a world of spirituality; it was the time of my birth. My parents have always been spiritual, so this virtue has been passed on to me since before I can remember. To me, spirituality, in its essence, is a philosophy of life. It teaches a way of living that makes one pure, peaceful, and powerful; it makes life wholesome. I know that now, but my complete acceptance of this path has been a journey revolving around a key aspect of spirituality: Seva.

Seva, is the act of selfless service, whether to uplift a single soul or to reform society on a larger level. Though known by different names in different religions and cultures, the concept is one: giving, and only giving, without expecting anything in return.  My parents have always ensured that I was involved in Seva. As a child, Seva meant packing meals for destitute laborers, donating old clothes and toys to children in poverty, and distributing blankets to itinerant workers in cold winter months. Joining my parents, I visited orphanages and hospitals for specially-abled children. On my 9^th birthday, I set up a campaign to raise money for underprivileged children. My life gave me multiple opportunities to practice selflessness. Living in a privileged and comfortable place like Dubai, these opportunities opened my eyes to the suffering in the world and, more importantly, to the fact that I can make a difference by helping.

However, I began to realize that although I did happily offer Seva, those opportunities were handed to me on a silver platter. I was a doer, but a passive one - merely letting my parents drive my journey into Seva. It was all extrinsic. 

Then, the moment of actually embracing Seva wholeheartedly occurred. It was an inflection point beyond which Seva became something I wanted to offer from within, without the influence of anybody else. In February 2021, during what was meant to be a five-day visit to the ashram on my 13th birthday, I inevitably fell in love with the place. The world at this point was in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic. To protect those inside the ashram, it was sectioned into two demarcated zones: an inside-zone, for those who had completed a mandatory quarantine period and tested negative, and an outside-zone, for visitors like myself. The day before we were scheduled to leave, I told my parents I wanted to stay on, and move to the inside zone. This would require us to quarantine for 14 days at least. As expected, they reminded me why I should not: I only had enough clothes for a week, my school would resume in a couple of days, my school books were in another country, and so on. Regardless of its impracticality and almost impossibility, I persisted with the idea, persuading my siblings, too.

My desire to prolong my stay at the ashram had actualized.

By the evening of that day, my fate had been finalized. Our 5-day trip had been extended indefinitely! I was elated. After attending school online until 5:30 PM (owing to the pandemic), I wanted to make the most of every other moment: evenings, weekends, and the spring holiday. So, I decided to take up some responsibilities, a job of sorts to help the mission, which at this point was functioning like a self-sustaining unit as only a few (who had completed a mandatory quarantine period and tested negative) were allowed to come inside the sanctuary. There were no workers, no helpers, and no cooks. There was plenty to do: preparation of meals, grain cleaning, tiffin delivery, sanitization seva, waste disposal seva, horticulture-related work, repairs, and maintenance, amongst others. It was the perfect place to practice Seva. And this time, I was not being coaxed into it by my parents. It was the other way around!

Of these, I, alongside many other youths, was assigned the “tiffin delivery” seva. We would drive around in a little golf buggy, place fresh tiffins with hot cooked meals on everyone’s doorsteps, pick up the used tiffins, and return them to the central kitchen. For this service, we were assigned the name Dharampur Dabawalas.

The joy I got in this simple act of giving was boundless. Quality time with like-minded youth: we had fun while doing meaningful tasks, such as providing people who were locked in their homes with meals to sustain them.

I wanted to do more, and soon was initiated into the Audio Video Department to offer my skills in technology. I reached out to someone who could help me get started, and he told me to visit the admin building.

I reached the admin block with excitement bubbling within me. I entered the two-storey old building and found the stairs on the left of the entrance. Eager, I stepped down the stairwell, which kept descending in a spiral, multiplying my giddiness. Floors and floors and floors later, I finally reached the basement and found the room I was looking for: ‘AV Archives’. I peeked inside the translucent window and realized that I was beholding the beating heart of the Mission, the hub of the Audio-Video (AV) Department. Dozens of devotees and dedicated Sevaks (those who practice seva) were seated in front of computers, all in the process of editing videos on complicated programs. 

I walked into the room, which appeared like a NASA control center to me! Although I was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the operation, it was elating to receive my own desk and computer space. My task was to review footage of a previous year’s Makar Sakranti celebrations (a harvest festival) and make a video showing the event's highlights. I got straight to it, learning editing tips and tricks from the expert editors around me.

Until I embraced it, I didn’t feel I was truly doing Seva. Before, it was being asked of me. Now, I was driving it. The weeks passed, and my skills with the AV Department developed. Doing Seva myself felt different - I was enjoying it a lot more. I learned the true reward one gains from offering their skills selflessly: intense satisfaction.

One Saturday, as part of the regular evening activities in the Community Garden, an announcement was made that a couple of memory videos would be shown. Watching on from the crowd, I was utterly shocked when the video that began playing was the very one I had made in my first week! Following that, another video played, which was one of mine too. In the midst of the audience, made up of 800 members, the Vice-President of the Mission, Nemiji, announced that these videos were edited by a ‘young boy from Dubai…’

I had gotten into true Seva during my time at the Ashram. But watching my offerings from the audience - that moment was its proof. It was a validation. Nemiji told everyone my entire story that day, but I consider that day to be the beginning of my story, my journey into Seva.