Served By Serendipity
ServiceSpace
--Pavi
7 minute read
Jun 13, 2007

 

When you think about it – there’s something inescapably strange about dining out. This process of deliberately traveling out of your home to eat under the roof of strangers amidst other strangers. To be served and fed by people you do not know and to whom you will barely speak, in exchange for money, is not when it comes down to it, a particularly soulful exercise. Entertaining perhaps – but not inherently inspiring.

What I like about Karma Kitchen is that it takes that same experience and turns it topsy-turvy. You cannot eat here and remain a stranger. You cannot leave without having conversed with someone beyond the demands of a menu order. And you can’t leave your money behind in exchange for anything you will receive.

We are gathered in a small ring outside the restaurant. The last servers standing :-) In less than an hour it will be midnight. Sima is the first one to speak, “ I’m exhausted, but I feel Great!” she says summing it up for the rest of us.  

Quick rewind to eight hours earlier: Lalita P is in the restaurant surveying Paul Van Slambrouck’s photos. His elegantly framed pictures will rotate off the walls next week and Lalita is planning for their replacement. Before she leaves she throws a wistful glance around the room, “I miss volunteering here so much!” She’s in a busy patch right now lifewise but we can count on her to be back in the mix as soon as she’s able. Karma Kitchen is blessed by a steadfast band of people like her --- who really believe in what it’s all about and who find meaning in being here week after week taking care of the minute details and behind-the-scenes etcs that make it all come together the way it does.

Lalitha V is another one of those people  – she walks in a few moments later bearing bright bouquets of gerberas in various shades of pink and bags of grapefruit, cut strawberries, raisins, almonds and cranberries that will find their way into the Festival Salad that has become such a hit here. She puts a great deal of time and heart into planning the menu each week – making sure that the meal we turn out is healthy, seasonal and appealing to both eye and palate.

We sit around the center table for orientation. A brief silence punctuates the afternoon before we tumble into the sundry details that surround the serving experience. Where are the extra napkins? When do I take the drinks order? Who brings out the plates? Where’s the ice? What’s for dessert? All the servers waiting tables this week are first-timers. But none of them are new to the spirit behind it all so we know things are going to be fine.

This week we have an exciting new development in the kitchen. For nine weeks Karma Kitchen has operated with manual dishwashers. The restaurant seats 38 people and the kitchen has 21 thalli plates. Water, Lassi and lemonade glasses are also in slightly short supply. Which means when things get busy the dishwashers have to go non-stop to keep things moving. No small feat considering that every single dish in the establishment must be cleaned, soaped, rinsed and dried by hand. This week there’s a new dishwasher installed in the back and while some of our hardcore dishwashing volunteers are feeling a little betrayed by this invasion of technology for the most part we’re excited to try it out  :-)

The first guest wanders in right on the heels of orientation. We scatter into our various positions. The evening is officially On. Very soon the front room is full.

A rapid, random  series of snapshots from the evening:

At the end of their meal a table of 9 insists on summoning all servers to the front room, when we arrive, they all stand up and proceed to say “Thank You”… in 8 different languages :-). A man who’s climbed Mt Everest contributes 35 “lucky” cents he found on different streets at different times. A party of three college kids clarifies an important question with Viral, our Maitre D for the evening: “Is it bad karma to come to Karma Kitchen two weeks in a row?”Viral’s smiling answer to above question: “ Of course not! You’re a participant in the generosity!”

David saves the day, rushing out to bring back fresh greens for the salad when we run out. Thanks to Sima –servers have a small deck of colorful cards to dip into and surprise guests with: “52 Ways to Celebrate Life”( illustrated pocket-sized cards each with detailing an inspiring idea to live more fully). As I look across the room, three little girls at one table wave their pink gerberas gleefully in the air. Rohit soon brings out his video camera and mingles among the guests capturing their insights, reflections and spontaneous reactions to the entire experience.

Melinda, one of our long-time volunteers dips into the restaurant (she’s not serving this evening so we’re surprised to see her) she’s carrying a little box of beautifully wrapped homemade lavender-lemon madeleines – each one has a little colored tag with an inspirational handwritten message on it. “To tag the guests with,” she says with a smile. Funny how much joy it brings – serving in these small ways … speaking of which, Hafeez has the rare opportunity tonight to serve his parents. “ At home they’re the ones serving me – it was great to be able to have this chance to serve them this time!”

In the back of the kitchen Rohit and Rish take turns running the dishwasher – it speeds up the process considerably but is still a considerable amount of work and they go at it with unflagging enthusiasm. Meanwhile Pooja’s delicious kheer and Andrew’s delightfully dubbed dessert, Lemon “Love” Bars are in constant demand. Someone who doesn’t quite get the concept but is obviously touched by the experience tries to leave a tip on the table.

Ten minutes past closing time a woman walks in asking if she can get take-out for three. They’ve been at work building a temple and are hungry and tired. No other place is open. We don’t usually do take out at Karma Kitchen. But tonight Viral has us make an exception. Though a couple of the servers still haven’t eaten and there’s not much left over we pack three complete meals for the grateful trio.

The story of the evening though belongs to Ann. A woman who walked in with the express intention of giving something away – she hands Viral two music CDs from her collection. Why is she doing this? The Sufi teacher she studies with has given her a new practice: Give Something Away. Everyday. For A Year. :-)

She has come to the perfect place. As she shares her story with some of the servers, Ro is ready with his video camera and does a special piece with her. Before the evening is over he’s arranged for her to come back in a couple of weeks to give us the update on her 365-days of generosity experiment. Of course we don’t let her leave without loading her up with goodies – Madeleines from Mel, Ankur’s vegan cookbook, a long-stemmed pink gerbera, a stack of smile cards and a special metal ring with “Thank You” engraved on one side and “A Token of Appreciation” on the other.

At the end of the evening Sameer remarks, “ It has the same feeling here as Seva Café, Ahmedabad – a real community feeling – everyone’s willing to talk to everyone else." It’s true. No one seems a stranger under this roof, and no one is served that way. And no one serves that way: many volunteers by the end of the night feel a camaraderie with each other and with the superb Namaste chefs, Kamal-ji and Vishnu-ji.

Clearing up the envelopes from the night I see that one server has found a cosmic-comic way to fill in the checks given out at the end of the evening. Dinner for 4 served by _________. And in the blank neatly filled in is one word: Serendipity.

Served by Serendipity.

What better way to explain how these things work? Because, who but Serendipity masterminds these things? Decides who will next walk through the door and what music will be playing in the background when the person at the table next to yours takes the first sip of his drink, and decides the precise moment at which gazes meet and laughter mingles and gladness rises in the heart and spreads its wide wings across a room?

And the bottom line is that at the end of the meal and at the heart of the moment we are all served by serendipity.

Week after week Karma Kitchen is an adventurous reminder of that odd and splendid truth.

 

Posted by Pavi on Jun 13, 2007


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