First Karma Kitchen in Ubud
April 2015 — When entrepreneurs became servers, and service became transformation
On the island of Bali, there's a small town called Ubud. More recently made famous by Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love", Ubud has long been known for its "taksu" (spiritual charm).
As part of the EO network, about seventy established entrepreneurs from around the globe convened in Bali for a unique "Awaken" gathering — to explore the intersection of entrepreneurship and values.
Casa Luna
On the last evening, we all came together to host Karma Kitchen! A celebrity chef in Indonesia — a participant's father — got the group connected to Casa Luna, a hip local restaurant in the center of town. About 25 folks from the participants themselves signed up to volunteer, as the doors opened to the entire public and local community.
In the orientation, Guri and I reiterated the basic concept — of how everyone pays forward for the person after them — but stressed the importance of the spirit of service.
One of the volunteers asked: "What should we be expecting them to pay?" to which we responded, "Nothing." Outside of one or two people in charge of handling money, rest of us have an opportunity to just serve unconditionally with love. We'll let the outcomes take care of themselves.
Action-Oriented Doers
Most of these people had never waited tables at a restaurant, but they were all action-oriented doers. One ran a family business in Indonesia, another was the founder of a cutting-edge software company, a woman headed an ISP in Bali for 17 years. Our aprons were custom designed by fashion designer Cindy Gozali, who was herself volunteering.
All around were big Karma Kitchen posters that articulated the cycle of giving, and on each table were placemats with quotes on generosity.
Doors Open
We had five greeters at the door, and Chokro and Henrique spontaneously decided to go on the streets and invite random passersby. "Even if they don't come in, if they understand the pay-forward idea, that's a great ripple," Chokro remarked, who was also celebrating his birthday. :)
Given the joyous zeal of greeters, in multiple languages, bunch of folks walked in. Soon, the 70-person capacity of the restaurant was full, and we had to open up the bottom floor to handle overflow! Live musicians were jamming, nervous first-time waiters were doing their best to multi-task.
"Since the founders of Karma Kitchen are here, we are all more nervous, because we want everything to be perfect."
— Stephanie, who by age 30 had already started and sold a business, and was now creating a change-maker institute in IndonesiaThe Kindness Table
Everyone had brought many gifts for the kindness table. Seeing the overflowing table, Guri engaged a couple of kids, who then found a gift, attached a Smile Card, and tagged random tables. Initially, the kids were shy, and then they would joyously report back: "They gave us a hug! They even took our picture." By the end, they couldn't be stopped!
For Peggy Dubro, a renowned "practical mystic", that process was a big aha moment: "What if the whole world was like a giant kindness table?"
The Closing Circle
Finally, by 11PM, we all got together for a closing circle. Everyone was feeling a natural high.
"I will never look at waiters in the same way." · "I'm feeling so blessed." · "Those street hawkers, I will at least smile at them every time." · "I've discovered a new way of giving, beyond money."
— Closing circle reflectionsSri, herself a partner at Ernst and Young, was our over-qualified and ever-smiling cashier. When she reported the numbers, we were all happily surprised:
150% Surplus!
In gratitude, they offered it to ServiceSpace, and we paid it forward to the next Karma Kitchen.
Both Guri and I felt incredibly grateful to just witness this whole unfolding. All of us do our little bit in our corner of the world, but it's awe-inspiring to see how you can take a 22-hour flight, land in a small town, and still find that people are motivated to raise the love-capital — and that even strangers on the streets respond to our shared human values.
