A few months ago, a casual discussion among a gathering of friends at the Awaken circle was the seed of thought for the Hyderabad chapter of Karma Kitchen. Out of this conversation sprang forth lot of enthusiasm, cheer and dedication among a family of friends that we now proudly call Karma Kitchen - Hyderabad (KKH). We started having regular email discussions with Sheetal Sanghvi, our KKH mentor, a Karma Kitchen and Service Space veteran. He introduced us to a wonderful catalogue of readings and videos to inspire and motivate us to take that giant leap of faith, faith in the power of unity, service and generosity.

Several frantic and excited email exchanges later, a group of volunteers met at Mitravan - a centre for holistic awareness at Secunderabad. Padmini Patell and Bomi Patell were our kind and generous hosts, who took it upon themselves to provide the necessary time and space to express our qualms and possible solutions for setting up a functional kitchen space for the pilot run of KKH.

Our meeting commenced, possible menu options discussed, suggestions thrown in every now and then, heartfelt exchanges from volunteers about what starting KKH would mean for them, all went on for about 90 minutes. Volunteers tapped into their inner abundance and we collected our seed money, to embrace a sense of inclusion with a gathering of complete strangers of all ages who were willing to give this ‘crazy’ idea a try. All this, to test our own spirit of generosity to serve the community with a lot of tender love and care.

One of the highlights of our discussions were insightful thoughts focussed on the central theme that is generosity. Many questions were introduced - How do we celebrate the spirit of service through Karma Kitchen? What can we understand about Karma Kitchen that makes it different from langar at our local Gurudwara or neighbourhood Soup Kitchen?

We clearly needed to address these critical points of enquiry, as our guests were going to ponder about the same. Rightfully so, one of the answers to these queries was addressed beautifully through a discussion with one of our email respondents.

In response to a blast of the KKH poster, KKH volunteer, Suchitra received this email:
 

"Nice concept ... I have heard of this before ... probably more appropriate in rich western countries ... but what bothers me with this concept is that ... the people who go to restaurants on Sunday are not necessarily the people who should be recipients of my generosity ... the very fact that they can afford to go to a restaurant tells me that they are doing OK (if not good) ... The people who deserve our generosity are the people who cannot afford to go to restaurants ... Let us get one or two or even three dosa/idli trucks one Sunday and pay for them and let them feed the whole village of Gandipet ... I am willing to pay for that (even 50% of the total bill) ... If I am missing something I am willing to be educated."

Our response:

Dear X,
How interesting that you mention dosa-idli truck -- one version of Karma Kitchen is collectively cooking and serving meals to those on the streets. A young man does it every week in Pune. If you are keen to start one like that, we can put you in touch with someone in Secunderabad who is keen to do so. Let us know.

Another version of Karma Kitchen has been running in Ahmedabad for a number of years now -- Seva Cafe is pay-it-forward every single night and 100% of profits go towards social projects. You may have seen the programme that the History Channel did recently. In fact, there are about seven in India, and KKs can be found in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai, in different formats :)

Regarding generosity -- there are many kinds of generosity, right? This particular version, and Karma Kitchen Hyderabad, is not just a chance for people to experience what it is like to have had your meal completely paid for by a stranger (and one you may never meet or know, in the pay-it-forward system), but it is also an opportunity for the volunteers to get together and serve with joy -- from cutting to cooking to setting up, serving and washing up. And a chance for everyone to build a sense of community with people you may not usually meet and strike up conversations with...

So whether on the streets or in a restaurant, we would be happy to have you join us either as a volunteer or a guest :)

31st March 2017

The Karma Kitchen Pilot run took place at the beautiful terrace space of Mitravan. In those rare moments of self-doubt the negative nelly in me would bark - "What on earth do I know about cooking for more than 4 people, that too with barely enough money? Are we being over-ambitious and naïve?" Little did we know the eventful evening would calm our nerves and convince our heart that people are far more generous than we give them credit for. Both luck and love came to us in the form of two more Karma Kitchen and Service Space veterans, Sheetal Vaidya and Nisha Srinivasan, who delicately hand-held and walked us through the event before dinner service. The volunteers gathered in a close-knit circle and spent a few minutes in blissful silence that resonated through the entire group.

We served our patient guests with food that we put together with love, and paired it up with the pay-it-forward bill that read Rs.0 - the quintessential Karma Kitchen mantra. The evening ended with many experiences about the pay-it-forward concept. We were now slowly beginning to gain a firm grasp on what Karma Kitchen was all about. Before we wrapped up for the night, we sat around in our circle of faith to share and contemplate. Immediately the energy within the volunteer circle transformed, and as a result the course of our thoughts - Karma Kitchen just had to have a home at Hyderabad.

The pilot run said it all, and many weeks of persistence rewarded us well, with our new home. We found Kavitha Mantha, the wonderful curator of SAGE Organics at Jubliee Hills, Hyderabad. Kavitha had recently started an Organic Cafe right next to her store, and without so much as a passing thought opened up her kitchen and heart to let us continue our tryst with service and generosity.

14th May 2017

We now had a wonderful kitchen, a gorgeous dining area for our guests, a well-stocked organic grocery store next door, and with over-enthusiastic volunteers to boot we were all set for round 2 of KKH. After much deliberation and good-natured banter we opened our doors to the public. Our most important volunteers - the kids, with their beaming faces, ecstatic spirits, feeling determined and equipped with heart pins welcomed our guests to come in and sample our humble spread.

Though the number of guests we served was rather tepid, we soon realized that their generosity yet again had an upper hand over our trepidations.

After toiling an entire day over the nitty-gritty of what we hoped would be the ‘perfect’ lunch service, I went home and picked up a book to nurse my aching toes and calm my frazzled temper. In the first leaf of the book was a quote by Khalil Gibran, that read, "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."

Enough said, I think the rest is history.

Here is a sneak peak into the day that was.

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love is put in the giving.” ~Mother Teresa



“I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression.” ~Maya Angelou



“For it is in giving that we receive.” ~Francis of Assisi



“Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing.” ~ Rumi



“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” ~Rabindranath Tagore