On February 4th, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV passed away at 88 years of age. He was not just the spiritual leader and guide for the Ismaili Muslims, but a patron and symbol of ethics and pluralism for the entire Muslim community.

If you do a Google search on him, you’ll see his name associated with the Aga Khan Foundation, Aga Khan University and Hospital and Habib Bank Limited. He was a beacon of hope and source of inspiration for millions. He served his people and more importantly the wider society for over 67 years and constantly spread the message of peace, pluralism and prosperity.

Growing up as part of this community, it was ingrained in me to serve those around me. And the core purpose of this service was often to uplift and enhance the quality of life of those in the community. I would say, that's where my “impact” driven mindset comes from where I appreciate and thoroughly enjoy designing things that have a wider and grander impact on the lives of people.

With the passing of the Aga Khan IV and the succession of the Aga Khan V, a sense of realisation has come to me that one of my purposes in life has to be to serve. Each time I’ve served in my community, whether that be as a Boy Scout or as a fitness insturctor, I’ve felt immense gratitude and just overall good vibes.

You might think I am preaching here. My intention is anything but that. After all, half the purpose of this newsletter is to document my thoughts and ideas, with the hopes that it benefits the future me and those who might need to hear the same message.

But why am I writing this and why I am sharing my thoughts on the notion of service? Because all of us can play a small part in trying to make the world a little less shitty for some and little more positive for others. Service towards your community can be at any scale and in any form. Ultimately it just needs to be driven by kindness and work towards a positive outcome. You could connect someone looking for a job with a contact that might be hiring or you could commit an hour or two per week to counsel some kids who can’t afford formal academic counseling.

The idea is that it could be anything. What might make your effort even more meaningful and special (possibly) is doing that random act of kindness, with some aspect of commitment for a fixed duration, for someone you do not know. That's when the real impact of community service kicks in.

As I write this, I realised “community service” was something we were almost forced to do in school. Who would’ve thought, it might just be the cheat code we needed to be happy?

Goodbye