The best way to find yourself, Ghandi is often quoted as saying, is to lose yourself in the service of others. Despite its humble origins, this quote has become a common aphorism, repeated in schools, charities, religious organisations and the pages of dubious self-help books the world over. But what does it really mean to “serve” others? And what do we “find” out about ourselves in the process? As my journey across India draws to a close, I have been reflecting on these questions.
While visiting a school in one of Ahmdebad’s largest slum communities, a student gave me a handmade paper necklace. Written on the necklace was a reminder of the values of service. To be positive change in the world, to truly serve others, we need only: beauty, trust, love, compassion and hope. The parts of our trip that will stay with me the longest – and have helped me find my own spirit of service – have been our visits to several NGOs, each of which have embodied one of these core values.
Beauty – Mitti Café
Founded in 2017 by 24-year-old Alina Alam, Mitti café was started with a mission to provide opportunities for adults with physical or intellectual disabilities to gain economic independence and dignity in their everyday lives. Using specially-designed kitchens and training programmes to equip their employees with the skills needed to confidently work at Mitti café, the company has now served over 10 million meals across 35 locations. It also provides low cost karuna meals in the very communities many of its employees come from. Listening to the passion with which Alina spoke of the need to realise the unique beauty and talents each person with disabilities brings to their work, and the smiles on employees’ faces when they spoke of their work was truly heart warming.
Truth – Navdayna
It is easy to serve others when your work receives universal approval. However, Navdanya is a place founded on not simply speaking truth to power, but being unafraid to act on behalf of the food system’s most vulnerable members too. Established by self-professed “eco-feminist” Vanadana Shiva, Navdanya has worked to increase the agricultural biodiversity and therefore financial resilience of some of India’s poorest farmers. We were very lucky to have an opportunity to meet Vandana in person, who made it clear that we will never achieve global food secuirity until we ensure universal food security until our food system is organised to look after both people and the environment.
Love – Manav Sadhna
For me, as an aspiring high school teacher, our visit to Manav Sadhna’s residential school for slum children holds a special place in my heart. Providing day schooling to more than six and half thousand children, and a variety of health, nutrition, financial and educational programmes in the wider community, Manav Sadhna has now expanded to serve more than 54,000 people in the Gugarat region annually. It was an immense privilege to spend the morning eating, dancing and talking to the school children of MS, with whom, despite the language barrier, we were able to exchange many laughs. As the school’s dance and drama teacher Nimo so eloquently put to us, so long as we foster an expectation of love first, then success, everyone has the chance to soar.
Compassion – Jaipur Foot
People from all over India journey to a non-descript corner of Jaipur’s commercial district to find Jaipur Foot: not simply to receive a prosthetic limb, but gain a new sense of mobility and freedom. No matter the caste, faith, occupation or income of the individual, Jaipur Foot will measure, make and fit any prosthetic limbs required, completely free of cost, and all in under three hours. Shri D. M. Mehta, founder and current owner of Jaipur Foot, told us that often in life people help one another with the expectation of it being repaid. True service, on the other hand, is when you help someone without ever expecting anything in return except joy.
Hope
The spirit of service to others has been well and truly on display throughout our trip. Yet despite the incredible diversity of social enterprises, community organisations and NGOs we visited, all agreed that the most powerful message we could take home with us is one of hope. In order to create a better tomorrow, we must be willing to not just imagine a better tomorrow, but be brave enough to realise it through our actions. As the back of our paper necklace so aptly summarised:
And so, it is that spirit, that hope that we can change the world by learning, to love and to serve, which I will be packing on my way home.