April 25. “Button, what is the meaning of seva?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea.”

“Seva means tending to living beings be they humans or animals selflessly.”

“There are very few people who can do that.”

“My mother was one person who comes to mind when I speak of seva. Throughout her life, I saw her genuinely caring and being there for living beings around her. From her in-laws to her neighbours, animals on the streets, even plants–she tended to them without batting an eyelid. Even my in-laws were like that. And the people they cared for weren’t just family. I remember my father-in-law going out of his way to help anybody in need, even strangers on the streets”

“How wonderful. But times have changed. The human race has become self-centered and extremely unfeeling.”

“I remember an incident concerning my father. One day he returned home minus the sweater he had worn to work that morning. When my mother asked him where he had forgotten his woollies, he said that he had given it to an older man who was shivering in the cold. The other item he would often come home without were umbrellas! No, it was not that he lost them in the bus or tramcar in which he travelled to work and back but given the thing away to someone more needy!”

“I guess such people still exist!”

“I would like to think so!”