Learn to Serve: Give-Ananda, the Joy of Giving

One of the most prominent yogis of the 20th century was a medical doctor in the Himalayan town of Rishikesh. From his small free-service hospital next to the Ganga river, he launched many teachers of Vedanta that are well-known in modern times. It was said of this doctor, Swami Sivananda, that he used to love serving others so much that his name should rather be "Give-ananda," the swami who gets his joy from giving to others.

We could all be give-ananda, if we knew how. We are all born with an endless capacity for the joy that comes from serving others selflessly. But not many of us are fortunate enough to experience it; we live our entire lives without ever learning to serve. We look for satisfaction from our work, wealth, and experiences. Late in life, some of us might arrive at the futility of the endeavor, but by then, it is too late, and we find ourselves set in our habits of consumption and complaining.

We started HCI as a school for Karma Yoga, the yoga of selfless service. Our vision is to enhance the quality of life in the community by reconnecting with each other through service. In this process, we are ourselves learning to create a service-learning organization.

The building process has been educational; our team is "learning to teach" the program that is "learn to serve"! When we began the program, it was just a handful of us with minimal funds and only a sense of what we wanted to build. We had to build everything from scratch: our website, board, curriculum, and volunteer network. Everything was new, and everything was done freely, with no expectation.

People are attracted to visible enthusiasm and selfless service. The more people met us, the more they wanted to be associated with the program. Our ambitions grow yearly, and somehow the vision has become clearer and dearer in this process. All this from no expectations and selfless action.

I believe that true satisfaction comes from doing things for others. Money cannot buy it, and time cannot steal it. We invite all our readers to learn to serve and taste the joy of selfless service.

Gaurav Rastogi, MBA, ERYT-500

Dean & Faculty Member, HSCI

Gaurav Rastogi is an entrepreneur with twenty-five+ years of executive experience. He has led executive roles at large companies and startups as a professional. Mr. Rastogi holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a Mechanical Engineering undergrad from Delhi Technological University (DCE). He is the author of three business books and several podcast episodes on the future of work. He is a Dhyana meditation and yoga teacher (MBA, ERYT-500) and has taught in Silicon Valley for more than ten years. Mr. Rastogi is also a Board Member and Dean at Hindu Community Institute.