ocial work literature has highlighted the importance of culturally appropriate interventions (Boyle & Springer, 2001, p. 56). The emphasis on cultural diversity has brought out limitations of practice models that emphasize on rationalism and individualistic approaches in non Western context (e.g. see, Prasad & Vijayaslakshmi, 1997;Tsang & Yan, 2000;Hart,2002). The emphasis is thus post materialist and the focus is on looking at communitarian sentiments within the broader theoretical and epistemological perspectives of later modernity (Gray, 2008). Social work literature has comprehensively handled the importance of religion and spirituality for practice (see Canda & Furman, 1999;Sheridan, 2003;Rice, 2005). The contention is that faith enables a search for meaning and purpose and the move is back to traditional worldviews, collective values and sense of community (Coates et al, 2006). Faith has thus been a source of values, virtue ethics and morality and a sort of counter view to modernity's perils. One of the core perils is the 'demystification of culture' (Holden, 2002, p. 93) and privatization of faith. This post modern lens brings faith to the foreground and deploys it for practice (Furness & Gilligan, 2010). The connection is established through the practical mysticism of faith and the meaning, intention and motivation in social work (Gray & Lovat, 2008). The other aspect is to appreciate and comprehend the nature of faith based social service provision in varied contexts either complimenting or substituting state provisions (Crisp, 2013) Faith in general and faith based organizations in particular have historically played an important role in Indian civil society (Oomen, 2004). Hindu inspired faith organizations are headed by teachers or gurus, whose charisma is the key to organizational functioning (Copley, 2000). The leanings are Hindu which are suitably re-crafted to cater to modern and at times secular sensibilities. This is done through the use of the parlance of New Age spirituality. The fact nevertheless remains that these organizations are Hindu and popularize the nationalist ideology of Hindutva (Warrier, 2003) -referring to the Hindu sentiment. Gurus or teachers who head these organizations are believed to be avatars or divine embodiments who have an earthly mission. This mission is to serve society and navigate followers and society at large out of difficulties of contemporary existence. Hence social service emerges as an important mandate of these organizations -the Hindu term for which is seva. This seva is panegyric i.e. it constitutes a Hindu expression of the topography of the self where the prototypical act of worship is the glorification of the divine (Warrier, 2003, p.288).

Seva is thus performed with the mandate to bring faith back into the public realm and is mediated actively by faith practices combining philanthropy and rituals (Vaidyanathan, Smith & Hill, 2011). Norms of community organizing around the faith principle are created (Warren, 2009). There is an element of partnership in development goals in a resource limited setting. The performance of seva is enacted through devotees and followers who form the core constituency of Hindu faith-based organizations. One argument is that followers join these organizations in a quest to fill the moral-spiritual vacuum created by modernity (Wilhelm et al., 2007). There is thus a leaning towards a collective style of volunteering vis-à-vis the reflexive (Hodgkinson & Weitzman, 2003). What is also prominent is the bourgeoisie trait -followers and doers of seva belong to social privileged class and ethnic groups (Author, 2012). They align to the organizations by being drawn to the guru/teacher charisma and to counter existential insecurities arising out of conditions of life in high modernity (Knibbe, 2008). Doing service under the aegis of these organizations does two things for the followers; one, it gives them a premium of well-being and life satisfaction (Dierendonck & Krishna Mohan, 2006) and second, it provides them with a sense of contributing to social development through devotion to the teacher. activity that wears down the egotism and selfishness of modernity' (Warrier, 2006: 186). It is also a form of practical spirituality 1 This paper is based on a study done of 1017 followers of twelve Hindu faith based organizations across the Indian subcontinent that have social service projects. (Srinivas, 2008: 258). Here one can also bring in discourses on impure altruism of seva as it entails consuming 'clubbiness' (communitas/network formation) as a private good along with philanthropy as a public good (Rochford, 1989). Seva as Hindu faith based social work in India navigates through the matrix of possible meanings (engaged cosmopolitanism) created by the gurus (Khandelwal, 2012) which allows followers to at once reach out and also personally transform.

Hindu faith-based social work in India operates through the agency of followers who are considerably also the actual doers of service. My purpose was to understand seva through their lens particularly with a focus on their engagement chronicles (initiation, duration, type of seva, motivation) and perceived implications for self and society. Through the lens of the ground performers, I have discussed the actual performance of seva as a form of faith-based social work in India.

The purpose of the study has been to look at seva as a form of Indian faith-based social work through the lens of doers i.e. the followers of the faith-based organizations.

I used a two stage survey method wherein at the first stage, 12 sites of Hindu faith-based social work in the Indian context were identified within the geographical limits of India covering nine states 3 1 Devotees who practice seva take an active role in the betterment of their local communities. Their performance of seva demonstrates an alternative and non-nationalistic way to perform citizenship. In addition, seva is a devotional practice, for serving others is equivalent to serving Sai Baba, that is, "feeding the divine in the body of the poor" (281). For the many devotees who will probably never make the pilgrimage to Puttaparthi, seva is as an easily accessible pathway that connects a transglobal community to its religious teacher. Moreover, it is through seva that participation in the local life of one's city becomes a sacred activity through the alchemical mediation of the transglobal avatar Sathya Sai Baba. For Srinivas (2012) devotees who do seva and gurus who promote seva are mimetically inclined -a classically Tardean situation. For Tarde (1903: 28) famously, society began -when one man first copied another. 2 Critical literature also points to the fact that these organizations undertake social service to get the benefit of tax exemptions rather than purely altruistic intentions (Warrier, 2006).

. These included Hindu faith institutions as defined by the organizational vision-mission. In all these organizations, followers were engaged in undertaking social service activities along with office bearers/members of the order and were playing varied roles. In the second stage, I used the probability proportional to size sampling to sample respondents within each of these institutions from the lists obtained. With an average response rate of 75.34%, the total number of respondents is 1017.

I used an interview schedule, administered at the respective organizations' project sites. The schedule comprised of basic questions of socio-demographic profile, initiation into the service, seva type, duration, training, views on work done, motivation and perceived implications of seva for self and society. The questions on motivation and perceived implications for self and society were open ended. The qualitative responses obtained were then combined into analytical codes using the Nvivo10 software. The schedule also comprised of a scale called the Self Report Altruism Scale developed by Rushton (1981). The Cronbach ? for the scale is 0.84 for this study. The Likert-type scale contains a list of 14 items to assess altruistic behavior and respondents are asked to rate the extent to which they exhibit listed behaviors (altruistic) on a five point rating {0=never, 1=once, 2=more than once, 3=often, 4=very often}. The score is the arithmetic sum of all the items and higher score indicates better altruism ratings.

I have analyzed the data has been in terms of univariate representation of the socio-demographic profile and cross tabulations and chi-square tests of association of intermediary variables such as initiation, seva type, duration, training, seva view and motivation with background profile variables as independent variables. The dependent variables are perceived implications of seva for self and society as well as scores on altruism scale. I have developed two logistic regression models. The first logistic regression model tests the predictors of perceived implications for self (whether transcendental benefits or material-social benefits). The second logistic regression model tests the predictors of perceived implications for society (faith proliferation or contribution to social development). For the regression analyses, nominal-categorical level predictor variables were suitably recoded into binary or dummy variables. The quantitative data was then analyzed using STATA 12 computer package.

Around 40.02% of the respondents were in the age group of 20 -39 and 12.69% were in the older age this field work was done from February -October 2011. Interesting insights were obtained from there as well as project wise data. The second field work then covered an extensive geographical but the specific thematic area of followers who did service activities in these organizations.

Seva as a Form of Faith-Based Social Work in India groups of 60 and above. Around 62.24% were women and 35.40% were men. Around 2.36% claimed that they did not fit into the prescribed gender binaries. Around 33.33% were married, 23.33% were widowed and 23.33% were ever single. In terms of education, majority (62.73%) had bachelor's degree and 34.61% had masters level and professional qualifications. Majority i.e. 81.71% were in employment (service or self employment), 15.34% were retired and 2.75% were never employed/homemakers. Majority (95.18%) belonged to the socially privileged groups. Around 62.73% were living in major cities and 34.71% in small towns of the country. Majority (79.06%) were Hindus and among those who belonged to other religions 6.88% were Christians and 6.19% were following Jainism. In terms of monthly per capita expenditure calculated in Indian rupees, 43.36% were in the higher bracket of 10001-20000. Around 44.64% were in the expenditure bracket of 5001 to 10000. Roughly 9.54% were in the highest bracket of 20001 and above. Hence in general respondents who undertook seva in the faith-based organizations in India were middle aged adults, mostly Hindus and belonging to socio-economically privileged background. Women who did seva were a significantly high proportion such that we can speak of feminization and bourgeoisie nature of Indian faith-based seva.

IV.

In terms of seva type, majority i.e. 51.62% did office work pertaining to social service projects of the organizations and 23.89% undertook field site volunteering. Around 11.11 percent were actively involved in publicity work of the organizations. In terms of differentials in type of seva undertaken vis-à-vis background characteristics, age had a significant association with seva type (?2 (24)=693.2093, p<0.0000). Respondents in the younger age groups did more of office work and those in the older age groups were more engaged in institutional publicity. Men engaged more with office work and women with field site volunteering (?2(8)=37.5217, p<0.0000). Occupation of the respondents also had a significant association with seva type -working professional doing more of office work and retired people doing field site volunteering and publicity work (?2(16) 561.5451, p<0.0000).

Initiation into the organization was by family (17.50%), guru teachings/ charisma (23.11%), institutional publicity (29.11%), through social networks (15.44%), serendipitous (7.96%) and through fulfillment of an instrumental need through the organization such as that of stress relief or healthcare/alternate therapy (6.88%). In terms of looking at initiation into seva vis-àvis background characteristics, age of the respondents had a significant association with form of initiation on the Pearson's chi-square test (?2(30)=4750.6494, p<0. 0000) -younger people initiated by families and older adults through institutional publicity and fulfillment of instrumental needs. Similarly sex of the respondents also had a significant association with form of initiation (?2(10)=21.8264, p=0.0160), with women more inclined to seva through teachings and institutional publicity. Similarly occupation of the respondents also had a significant association with form of initiation (?2(20)= 678.2754, p<0.0000) -for retired people the initiation was largely serendipitous and fulfillment of an instrumental need probably of activity engagement and healing. For working professionals, the initiation was a combination of family influence, guru teachings and institutional publicity. Ethnicity of the respondents also had a significant association with form of initiationinstitutional publicity influencing the minority groups more (?2(10)=21.1949, p=0.0200). More residents in major cities were attracted to guru teachings and institutional publicity and residents in small town were associated through family influences and social networks. This also speaks of the proliferation of faith institutions in urban topos. Hence place of residence also had a significant association with form of initiation (?2(10)=20.3649, p-0.0259). Similarly religion also had a significant association with form of initiation (?2(30)=57.3023, p=0.0019). Whereas Hindus had a range of reasons to be initiated into the fold, non-Hindus were largely attracted through institutional publicity, which speaks of the bridging tendencies of these organizations. Monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) as an indicator of class was also significantly associated with form of initiation. Respondents in the higher MPCE bracket more attracted through institutional publicity and guru teachings (?2 (25)= 53.5121, p=0.0008).

In terms of duration of service/seva, majority (95.18%) of the respondents had been serving for eight years and above. Age had a significant association with duration of seva undertaken (?2(12)=22.2279, p=0.0353). Middle aged adults had longer duration of service. Respondents belonging to socially privileged groups also had longer duration of service vis-à-vis the minority groups (?2(4)=2034.0000, p<0.0000). This was also so for Hindu respondents who had a longer engagement vis-à-vis the non Hindus (?2(12)=456.8767, p<0.0000). Respondents dwelling in major cities had longer duration of seva undertaken visà-vis those in small towns (?2(4)=27.7229, p<0.0000). This was also so for respondents in the higher expenditure brackets who had served longer compared to their counterparts in lower expenditure brackets (?2(10)=29.8617, p=0.0009). Hence in general a socioeconomic privilege was associated with the length of seva.

Majority (62.24%) had not undergone any specific training for the work. However 35.40% said that they had done some form of training for the work and initiation into the organizations. In terms of training for social service or seva, participants in the younger age groups had undergone training vis-à-vis the older adults who proposed that they operated volitionally (?2(12)= 26.3914, p=0.0094). A higher proportion of men had undergone some form of training or the other for service activities (?2(4) = 2034.0000, p<0.0000). Similarly currently employed professionals had participated in some form of training for service activities of the institutions vis-à-vis the retired people (?2(8)=24.4933, p=0.0008). City dwellers had participated in training visà-vis those who lived in small town who had mostly done small orientation sessions or had no training (?2(4)=19.6197, p=0.0006).

This seva was predominantly viewed as an offering to the guru/teacher (72.47%) or as participation in a noble mission (9.14%), as giving meaning to life and existence (9.34%) and for building a sense of communitas (anthropologist Victor Turner's concept which talks of community or we feeling) with fellow followers and the organization.

The motivation to continue doing seva came from guru charisma (35.59%), transcendental benefits (21.93%), channelizing of altruistic intentions (21.44%) and having a sense of communitas and belongingness to the faith group. In terms of motivation, occupation of the respondents had a significant association with the motivation to do seva. Younger respondents were more prone to get motivated by guru charisma and transcendental benefits. The core motivating factor for older adults was a sense of belongingness to the faith group and commune. Similarly among the currently employed individuals, guru charisma and transcendental benefits were the main motivating factors. For the retired people who were followers to these organizations, the motivation was derived from a sense of belongingness to the faith commune. Occupational status had a significant association with motivation to undertake seva (?2(12)= 29.9018, p=0.0029. Religion of the respondents also had a significant association with motivation to undertake seva (?2(18)=38.0876, p=0.0038) -Hindus being more attracted to guru charisma and transcendental benefits.

Implications for self were perceived in terms of transcendental benefits (39.63%), guru proximity (29.30%) and social networks emerging from the faith group (31.07%). Perceived implications of seva for society were of the order of: divine transference (22.91%), proliferation of guru charisma and pure altruism (22.62%), material benefits and contribution to social development (33.82%) and expanding of follower/devotee base through service (20.65%).

On the self reported altruism scale, majority had good scores in the range 29-42 (74.24%) and around 10% respectively had moderate and very good scores.

In terms of the scores on the self reported altruism scale, age of the respondents had a significant association with the score range (?2(180=65.7745, p<0.0000). A higher proportion of the respondents in the age group 20-49 had good scores and very good scores were more prevalent in the older adults. Around 16.18% in the age group 60 -69 had poor and moderate range scores which could be explained by the fact that entry into older adulthood may be marked by other stressors and hence altruistic tendencies may not surface adequately. Similarly 8.33% of the retired respondents had poor scores on the scale. However 16.67% of them also had very good scores and hence both extremes were observed in this occupational category. Around 75% of the respondents currently employed had good scores on the scale. Occupation status of the respondents had a significant association with the scores on the altruism scale (?2(12)=33.6508, p=0.0008).

Place of residence also had a significant association with the altruism scale scores (?2(60=21.6508, p=0.0014). A higher proportion of the residents in major cities had good scores vis-à-vis their counterparts from smaller towns. A higher proportion of those who were initiated into the organization and its social service work by their families, guru charisma and institutional publicity had good scores vis-à-vis those who were initiated by social networks, serendipitously or through fulfillment of an instrumental need. Specifically 14.81% of those who were initiated serendipitously in the organizations had poor scores. This could be due to the fact the engagement was by chance and not a well thought out and self directed venture. Form of initiation into the organizations also had significant association with altruism scale scores on the Pearson's test (?2(15) = 65.2961, p<0.0000). Seva type also had a significant association with self reported altruism scores (?2(12)=45.1187, p<0.0000). A higher percentage of those who did office work (75.62%), field site volunteering (81.89%) and made donations (76.47%) had good scores. This is vis-à-vis those who did publicity work (59.29%) and specialized services (58.82%).

In the logistic regression analysis conducted to predict whether the perceived implications of seva for self was transcendental benefits or material-social benefits, a test of full model against a constant only model was statistically significant (Table 1). This indicated that the predictors as a set reliably distinguished between those who perceived seva as giving transcendental benefits vis-à-vis material benefits (LR ?2(12)=87.98, Prob>?2=0.0053). Prediction success was 66.53% (pseudo R2=0.6653). The z test showed that seva type, duration and training made a significant difference to the prediction of whether the implications were perceived as transcendental or

Seva as a Form of Faith-Based Social Work in India material-social. To look at the effect size of the said predictors, the odds ratio of the predictors such as age, sex, occupation, religion, seva type, duration, training, views on seva and motivation is greater than one. This means that for young and middle aged adults, women, in employment (paid and self employment), Hindus, doings hands on service/work (field service or related admin), doing seva for a longer duration, having not undergone specific training (i.e. doing it volitionally), viewing seva as an offering to the guru/teacher and deriving motivation from guru charisma and perceived higher benefits, the perceived implications for self were of the order of obtaining transcendental benefits.

In the logistic regression analysis conducted to predict whether the perceived implications of seva for society was faith proliferation or contribution/partnership in secular social development goals, a test of full model against a constant only model was statistically significant (Table 2). This indicated that the predictors as a set reliably distinguished between those who perceived seva as proliferating faith in society vis-à-vis contributing to general social development goals (LR ?2(13)= 92.86, Prob>?2=0.0050). Prediction success was 64.44% (pseudo R2=0.6444). The z test showed that seva type, duration and training made a significant difference to the prediction of whether the implications were perceived as faith proliferation or general contribution to social development. To look at the effect size of the said predictors, the odds ratio of the predictors such as age, sex, education, ethnicity, place of residence, religion, form of initiation, duration, training, views on seva, motivation and perceived implications for self were greater than one. This means that for young and middle aged adults, women, with at least bachelor's degree level qualifications, belonging to the socially privileged classes, residing in major cities, Hindus, initiated by filial ties or through guru charisma, serving for a longer duration, viewing seva as an offering to the guru/teacher, deriving motivation from the guru charisma and perceived higher order benefits and perceiving transcendental implications for self -the perceived implications of seva for society would be that of faith proliferation. This faith proliferation is then believed to percolate into social welfare and development.

Hence in general, the findings point towards a feminization, bourgeoisie orientation, urban locus and Hindu dominance in the performers of seva or social service in Hindu faith-based organizations. The general perceived benefits of seva are transcendental gains for the doers and faith proliferation for society which in turn would automatically trickle down to social welfare and development (as that is believed to be the working philosophy or underpinnings of faith).

V.

The findings of the study highlight the seva doer profiles and the perceived implications by the doers of seva for self and society. There is a class and ethnic superiority in doers of seva akin to 'new age' philosophy followers (e.g. Ababou, 2005). The fact that majority were Hindus is a marker of collective style embedded in the faith -its structural set up promoting the likelihood of follower/doer engagements 4 . A higher proportion of women in the sample can be said the reflect women's greater propensity towards authoritarian aspects of faith 5 These personal gains are defined by doers of seva in terms of four broad premiums -sense of well-. These faith-based organizations function as enclave communities where women are able to reproduce faith norms. However a more in-depth analysis of the gender lens is required to understand the feelings of belonging, the real respect of women for the organizations' obligations and the ensuing creation of their subjective/objective identities vis-à-vis men. The respondents' marital status did not have any significant association with aspects of seva. This is contrary to findings of faith volunteering studies in the western context which have proposed that single individuals are more prone to volunteer with faith organizations vis-à-vis currently married (e.g. Granqvist & Hagekull, 2000) Family is a site of formation, maintenance and transmission of seva patterns. But a more important initiating/motivating factor is the teacher charisma and institutional ideology and its publicity. There is a sense that this association will help mitigate existential deprivation (see also Dein & Barlow, 1999). The longer duration of seva performances can be explained by a close association between acts of seva and identity affirmation of the doers (in relation to the faith-based organization). Seva is viewed as a sort of life dedication and prayer commitment. Training though limited is more of an exercise in transcendence and lifelong security of the charismatic grace and less of formal skill inputs. This is different from faith-based organizations in the western context where training is for capacity building to respond to the changing socio-political scenario (Brudney, 1992). Motivation is through an impure altruism of sorts -as it entails a combination of consuming 'clubbiness' with the faith-based organization as a private good and philanthropy as a public good (see Bowman, 2004). These 'stayers' (Namini and Murken's (2009) For social work profession in general, this formulation of seva is a re-assertion of the culture of faith volunteerism and volitional cultures that effectively contribute to social development. The higher end scores on the self reported altruism scale also affirm the same. The need thus is to recognize these culture patterns as integral to practice of social work in differential contexts. Seva may not be free of ideological baggages A further discourse is required on how this moral orientation and virtue ethics in relation to faith-based organizations influences sociopolitical attitudes of doers of seva. In terms of the perceived implications for society at large, the moral tone dominates. Seva is seen as metaphorically reflecting faith and cultural orientations (obtained from the organizations' ideologies and teachings) onto a perceived technolologized and depersonalized cosmos (Dawson, 2006) which requires change. It is collectively recognized that seva can be instrumental in scripting that change and partnering in larger welfare/ development goals. 8 -as it combines the needs of interior dispositions of performers and an external orientation based on sociopolitical needs. The fact nevertheless remains that in the complex Indian social milieu with a range of social issues warranting attention (covering broad domains of education, health and livelihood), faith-based organizations can contribute reasonably in a resource limited setting. Seva done by followers is a means to substantially and tangible contribute to the social welfare and development goals of the organizations. The need is thus also to include this discourse in the social work curriculum so as to develop competence in partnerships, faith incumbent social work and strategic competence in handling it 9 6 Specifically, drawing from Dierendonck and Krishna Mohan (2006), it can be said that what is experienced is a sense of eudaimonic wellbeing with a focus on inner resources and the self or true self. 7 See Krause and Bastida (2009) for an elaboration of the term. Spiritual connectedness is broadly an awareness of a bond that exists between fellow seva doers and followers. 8 There is ample critical discourse which talks about the Hindu nationalist flavour of seva. Scholar's criticisms point to the fact that through these social acts schematic images and mental frameworks of an ideal Hindu defined social order is constructed (e.g. Zavos, 2000). 9 Several authors in the contexts of US and Britain have emphasized on the inclusion of relevant material in relation to religion and spirituality in the social work curriculum (eg. Patel et. al. 1998;Furness, 2003;Canda et al, 2004, Furness andGilligan, 2010;Bhagwan, 2010). A similar discourse needs to be developed in the Indian context.

. Although religion and spirituality are not explicitly included in the curriculum of social work in India, references to human diversity and culture and ethnicity are made where there are traditional indigenous knowledge and practices (Gray et al., 2007). Connections of faith-based services and social justice issues remain critical which cannot be ignored in micro or macro practice (Bhagwan, 2013).

The dysfunctional or negative aspects of faith are not discounted and those too must be addressed as challenges 10 1. Ababou, M. (2005)