From my personal experience it was very much the case that I was asked to give a hand and so I thought I'd chip in and at the same time use it as an excuse to brush up on my DIY (trust me I don't do much in terms of handy work at home!).

The work got off to a quick start and the time seemed to pass so quickly, as I worked away in the main hall to the sound of some very peaceful music that was playing there. Every once in a while I would also be graced with a lovely live performance of bhajan from Sumatiji as she sang while curiously wandering around to see what was happening.

I truly felt that my time and energy was well spent as not only did I get to offer my services to such a worth cause, I also got to learn a few things from the others; many of whom seemed to DIY experts in my eyes!

I feel that although it is good to make monetary donations to worthy causes, often the best donation we can make is to offer ourselves in the form of Seva. It can be anything from providing our expert advice, getting involved with organising events or even doing some decorating… basically making our time and service available in whatever way we can.

We get so much from attending classes on a weekly basis and whatever donation that we might make for Wednesday CHYK classes only just covers the cost of the venue rental. I personally feel that I get a lot more from attending CHYK classes and to simply cover the cost of running the class is not enough. At the end of the day as much as I may not have attended Chinmaya Mission long enough to deeply understand or know the CM pledge by heart, I feel I can't possibly chant "a life of sacrifice and service, producing more than what we consume and giving more than what we take" on a weekly basis AND MEAN IT without putting in that little extra effort and lending a hand every once in a while.