There is a chai stall, painted orange, at the centre of the chaos which is Pahar Ganj, Delhi.
Standing, sipping a chai there this morning, I felt like I was in the eye of a storm. All around was the typical, noisy bustle of an Indian city going about its business in the cooler morning hours. The horns of cars, motorbikes and rickshaws contended with loudspeakers blaring absurdly distorted music. Street food vendors worked with an impressive efficiency, feeding the throngs which shared the road space with the honking vehicles, unfazed street dogs, perambulating fruit stalls and the odd holy cow.
The chai wallah at the orange stall happens to make the best street chai in Delhi.
A beautiful thing happened whilst I was sipping the chai. The more the caffeine and sugar and ginger penetrated into me, the more I began to feel at peace in the chaos. And with that peacefulness came appreciation. The world around me was still chaotic but I could also sense a flow, a dance, in the chaos. Somehow the fragmented components of the scene began to be felt as elements of a mysterious, organic whole.
Last time I was here, the orange chai stall was absent.
Sometimes one doesn’t really appreciate something fully until it disappears – paradise lost. If one has the rare good fortune for it to return, then one lives with both the pleasure and that full appreciation. It is thus with our awareness of our spiritual essence.
And so it is with the return of the orange chai stall – paradise regained!
