On August 15, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the Independence Day speech from the Red Fort in Delhi. He told the crowd: Main aapke beech pradhan mantri ke roop mein nahin, pradhan sevak ke roop mein upasthit hoon. In the official translation: “I am present amidst you not as the Prime Minister, but as the Prime Servant.”
Medals for Service
India’s armed forces honor distinguished service with medals named for seva, service. The Param Vishisht Seva Medal is awarded for “distinguished service of the most exceptional order.” Below it come the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal. All three date from January 26, 1960. The highest was first called the Vishisht Seva Medal, Class I, and took its present name in 1967.
Since 1980, operational service has had its own series, headed by the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal.
The service is selfless in name, and it is ranked in three classes.
Gandhi’s Talisman
“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test.” The test is to “recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen” and to ask whether the next step will be of use to him. “Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.”
The note is one of the last that Gandhi left, in 1948. Its wording varies slightly between editions. It appears on the opening pages of most NCERT school textbooks, Oneindia notes.
Not Me But You
The National Service Scheme was launched on September 24, 1969. It brings students of colleges and senior secondary schools into voluntary community service. Its motto is “Not Me But You.”
A government summary from Assam gives its aim: “Development of personality through community service.”
Trustees of the People
“The Tata Trusts hold approximately 66% of the equity in Tata Sons,” the trusts state. Tata Sons is the holding company of the Tata group. The group’s heritage page describes the view of its founder, Jamsetji Tata, that “the community is not just another stakeholder in business, but is in fact the very purpose of its existence.”
In 2017 Ratan Tata recalled: “Mr. JRD Tata often used to refer to Tata as being the trustees of the people.”
The Water Cup
From 2016 to 2019, Paani Foundation held the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup in Maharashtra, “an annual, 45-day competition.” Villages competed in watershed management and water conservation work. “At the heart of this competition was ‘shramadaan’ (voluntary labour).” In all, “more than 4,700 villages in 76 talukas had joined the movement for change.”
Kar Seva at the Golden Temple
Kar seva is “the voluntary contribution of physical labor towards cleaning and construction operations at sacred tanks and temples,” in the words of the Sikh Encyclopedia.
In March 2004, the sacred tank of the Golden Temple in Amritsar was cleaned by kar seva. “Devotees from far-flung areas including abroad visited the Golden Temple to participate in the kar seva,” The Tribune reported. According to Gulf News, “Within three days, volunteers cleaned every inch of the tank, carrying mud in anything they could put their hands on.”
The Squirrel’s Stripes
While Rama’s army built the bridge to Lanka, “a humble squirrel carried tiny pebbles, contributing in its own way.” Rama stroked its back, and three lines appeared on it. Amar Chitra Katha notes that the story of the lines “originated in the Ranganatha Ramayana,” a Telugu retelling of the epic.
In 2025 a statue of a squirrel was installed at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Men You Command
Field Marshal Philip Chetwode spoke at the inauguration of the Indian Military Academy in December 1932. His words are known at the academy as the Chetwode Motto. Two of its lines read: “The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.”
Not the Fruits
Karmany evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana. In a standard translation: “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.”
The line is verse 47 of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna speaks it to Arjuna on the battlefield.