Entries from September 2009 ↓

Image via Wikipedia

Many thanks to the delightful Quote Garden for the wonderful selection of quotes this week! Enough to warm even the hardest of hearts…!

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. ~Benjamin Franklin

If you want to be happy, be. ~Leo Tolstoy

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~Palmer Sondreal

Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy. ~Robert Anthony

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

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Cover of Remember, Be Here Now

I came across this beautiful site today, Chai Pilgrimage and the quoted post and images below, due to the ineffable blogging of the strange and endearing world-tribe leader of inspired marketing, Seth Godin, and his quirky daily blog.

I loved imagining thousands of people descending on this quaint and unassuming (hyper-targeted, and totally lovable) blog by two wonderfully endearing devotees of Chai and, one of my own beloved great uncles, Neem Karoli Baba Maharaji, the joyful and lovable mystic made famous by Ram Dass, writer of the classic and essential book on enlightenment, yoga and conscious living, Remember, Be Here Now (which i was in no small way surprised to see was ranked at #3,073 in sales volume among ALL books on amazon at the time of this writing, which is no small feat, but is probably not that surprising considering the way things are changing in the world these days, and of course how brilliant and lovable the book is. But i digress…

I’m going to make this short and sweet, so you can look at the pretty pictures

Do what your heart calls you to do, and do it with all your heart. Then follow your inspiration and your joy in pursuing that calling, and try not to be shy! The world wants to hear what you have to say, and we NEED to hear what you have to say, because we’re human. If it’s not out there, we definitely won’t be able to find out about it – then how can we derive the great joy you may like us to derive out of it.

No doubt, when you follow this time-tested principle you WILL have a wonderful life – if not necessarily on the time schedule you’d ideally like it to arrive. Just trust and try to have faith, and let the small triumphs keep you moving forward.

Just remember the Chai Wallah – hyper-focused to bring excellence and service, so proud of his/her small contribution to the benefit of humankind, and so humbly working at their trade with little regard for the opinions of others. There is a recipe for a good life.

That’s all. Hope to see you around these parts again soon!

A wallah is one who performs a specific task. A rickshaw wallah drives the rickshaw, a dhobi wallah washes clothes and chai wallahs, you guessed it, they make chai. Chai wallahs are everywhere in India. Everywhere. From busy urban street corners to hidden alleyways, at bus depots and railway platforms and walking through the train car, along riversides and on footpaths that lead to pilgrimage sites in the middle of nowhere — when you need a fresh cup of tea, the chai wallah is always near.

Chai wallahs take pride in their chai. After all, each and every day, it is their responsibility to sustain and nurture the masses by providing the beverage that keeps India running.