Memories

Posted on 28/04/201603/05/2016 Posted in HanielTagged Ahmedhabad, Feelings, Haniel, life story, People, Reality, Stories, tripLeave a comment

Sorry for being away for a while. Was a bit occupied with my studio test and interview for the National Institute of Design and my travel back home. My stay in Ahmedabad this time was a life changing experience in many ways. I got to meet a lot of interesting people, had a lot of fun and expanded my skills and imagination. Now that I’m home, I miss Ahmedabad and all the people who made my stay so wonderful. Here are some things that I enjoyed and learned during this trip.

Knowing Hindi is important. But, not so much if you are always with your friends 😀
Don’t fuss about learning new skills. You will acquire the skills you need in the right time.
Midnight snacking in aunty’s shop and relish
First surprise Birthday celebration (It was my first birthday away from home) and Shreya’s Birthday song “Haniel ka birthday hai. Haniel ka jaeb cut ni wali hai” which made my Birthday pretty well known.
Holi celebrations are pretty messy 😛
You can enjoy tea time even if you don’t drink tea. All you need are friends.
Tom and Jerry games with Vishal. (Dude, I love pulling your leg) 😀 😀
Great friendships bloom out of nowhere.
Exploring things without inhibitions.
Onion + Vinegar = ‘Bad combination’. (I don’t know how they eat it)
Don’t try to change yourself too much. People love you the way you are. Have some patience.
Hard work and determination commands more respect than skill and natural talent.
Shank 2 survival ends at level 30 (seriously!!! I thought there would be tougher levels 😛 😉 )

I hope that I have covered almost everything. Will add things if I remember or my friends remind me.

With lots of love and memories… Haniel

Seva cafe

Posted on 13/04/201613/04/2016 Posted in HanielTagged Ahmedhabad, Destinations, Feelings, Haniel, People, Reality, Seva, Seva cafe, StoriesLeave a comment

My friends were asking me accompany them for dinner. I was a little irritated by the invitation. I almost never say ‘no’ to my friends. I asked them, “Where are we going?”. “Seva cafe” was the answer. “The serve food for free, you can pay if you want”, he added. I was wondering, ‘ who would run a cafe in the middle of this city for free!’. My curiosity was piqued. I agreed to go along with them.

30 mins later, I was on the top floor of a building that had a pretty confusing layout. we had to go up and down twice before we got the right elevator to reach the place. The place was pretty tranquil and calm. There was not a lot of crowd and my mind still refused to believe that they were not charging people in this place.

We got to a table and took our seat. A lady with a very pleasant smile welcomed us and asked for our order and things went on as they would in any normal cafe. While my friends were eating, I just took a look around the place and found it quite interesting. I asked the lady if I could talk to the person in-charge. She asked me to talk to Baskar who was the coordinator of the place.

Couple of minutes later, A man with a very big smile came to our table and shook my hands and introduced himself as Baskar. I said that I would like to write an article about the place in my blog and would like to meet him the next day. He readily agreed and asked me to meet him after 3:30 p.m the next day.

We finished eating, my friend said that we are done to the lady who was serving us. She brought the bill like any normal place. I bought it from her and looked at the bill. There was no price written on the bill. We left a small amount with the bill and left the place.

The next day, I along with two of my friends went to Seva cafe at 3:30 p.m . We were asked to wait for Baskar. I took a few pictures of the place.The kitchen was very clean and there was even an exchange library. Seva cafe impressed me more.

Baskar came and started to work on the food of the day. We asked him if we can help to which he agreed readily. We started to chop vegetables and talk to Baskar. I asked him about the place and how it runs.

He explained “Money is not the only thing we can give to others. If we intend to give and share, there are a lot of things around us. Food and service are something that can be shared easily with people. This is the way we run things here. There are four regular employees and everyone else is a volunteer. We don’t have customers, we have guests. We are not employees, we are a family”

“And what about the money to run the place?”, I was wondering. Baskar said, ” We don’t expect people to pay money. When you do the good you do with all your heart and love, people will help you run the place. People volunteer to serve others with all their heart. We don’t ask or force anyone to do stuff for us.”

When we were talking four other volunteers joined us. I just enquired about them. Two of them were localities, one was a student in college and the other was an American touring India. One of my friends had to leave early and the other one was staying with me. We decided to volunteer for the rest of the evening. Around 7 o’clock, people started to come. It was a closed get-together for people from two different service groups.

We watched their activities and started to serve food around 9. The gathering came to a close at 10. I got to witness the dedication and the service of people who worked and volunteered in Seva cafe, first hand. After all the guest left we helped to clean up the dishes. It was a fun evening, working with people I barely knew to serve people I didn’t know.

We came to the end of our day in Seva. We sat in a round to have our food. I was reminded of my school days.We prayed for the food we were having. Baskar said “we should be thankful not only the people who made the food, but the people who grew them and all those who were involved in getting the food to us. If no one else claps and says that you did a good job, tap your shoulders and say job well done to yourself.”

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of going to Seva cafe, having food and then volunteering. I even got a heart badge for serving as a volunteer. Hopefully, Seva will continue to be a place that will serve and delight people with food and love.