It was an early Sunday morning when a young group of people descended upon Ealing Road in Wembley to launch the Free Chai initiative in London. Why? Simply to encourage the act of giving.

After a recent trip to Ahmedabad in India, many of these individuals were taken away by a non-profit organization, Seva café. This experiment relies upon humble giving and runs upon a volunteer system. Through acting as a volunteer and cooking wholesome meals with true love and care, we realised the power and joy that comes from ‘doing’. Seva café hopes to promote the message that every meal is a gift, which has been paid for by a previous guest. Ultimately your meal is free. If you donate any money to the cause you are in effect paying for a stranger’s meal. Seva Café allowed us to develop the idea of doing a selfless action for a stranger out of love, rather than necessity.

In an attempt to spread our message we decided to lovingly serve free chai in Wembley to strangers on the street. The aim of the event was to see the different reactions we invited and hopefully to encourage our society to be more selfless. The reactions of people were varied. While many were surprised at this delightful offer, most people were gracious to have a warm drink in the cold. One couple were so inspired that they bought some food for the volunteers to give out along with the chai.

Through more people participating in the joy of a selfless action, we hope to create a chain reaction by which every good act given is received, multiplied and ultimately nourished throughout the greater community.

More information at www.connectindia.org