Seva in Sikhism

United Sikhs doing rebuilding Sewa in South East Asia

Seva is the essence of Sikhism. If there is one solitary word to sum up the Sikh religion, I would unhesitatingly pick seva as the operative word. Seva is the voluntary service to fellow beings without any expectation of reciprocation. It is deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of the Sikhs. Seva is what shines in Sikhism above all. I can say it without any exaggeration or the fear of contradiction that the extent of seva that is found among the Sikhs is rarely found in any other religion. The accent is upon the word, `Voluntary'. That makes the Sikhs unique.

It has often been seen in India that whenever there is any natural calamity on a large scale, the Sikh organizations are the first to reach there to provide succour to the affected people. After the devastating earth-quake in Katchh in the Gujarat State of India in 2001, the Sikhs had put up some of the biggest camps to provide free food to the quake-affected people. The contributions to run those camps were voluntary. The Sikhs from all over India came forward to foot the bill to run those camps. On such occasions, their largesse is not bound and constricted by the thoughts of serving only the Sikhs. They serve the needy. That is but one of the examples. There are far too numerous examples of their wonderful spirit.

During our travels of North America, my wife and I had seen numerous examples of seva. From small things to big things - the philosophy behind seva is always there among all Sikhs. We choose one of the examples of the many that we came across.....More