Above the door are the words in Urdu Let’s play together, eat together, let’s do good work together. On the kitchen wall are the words Blessed Are Those Who Wash Up.

Among and above all the signs around the chaos of Ahmedabad in the west Indian state of Gujarat  – Hair Fall Hub, National Omlette Centre, Jewellery Junction, Dental Depot, No Spitting or Honking Here!, Tata this and Tata that, Mango Man, MG Expressway Ahead – Dream Track and Joyride! and Study in New Zealand, there is one which lights up the skyline.

It reads – electricity supply permitting – in English Be The Change You Want To See in The World. Underneath is Love All, Serve All.

The Seva Cafe on the fourth floor of Shoppers Plaza, opposite the Municipal Market is arguably the world’s only authentic Gandhi-themed bar. It is a local based on the Mohatma’s beliefs. The locals all share the Great Soul’s vision.

Gandhi , born in the Arabian Sea of Porbandar, went to school in Rajkot before going to London to study and practise law and then moving to South Africa to set up his first “ashram” (hermitage or place of religious exertion).

One hundred years ago he returned to India and his home state of Gujarat to set up his first ashram in the Ahmedabad suburb of Paldi and then on the Sabarmarti river where he led the 1930 Salt March and the Freedom Movement. It was in Ahmedabad that the father of the Indian nation fathered the nation. He founded a university to produce students who would fight against colonial rule.

There are Seva cafes elsewhere in India as well as in Berkeley, California (Karma Kitchen). But the Ahmedabad one was the first. It is only open from 7pm to 10pm and only serves the first 50 people through the door. It is first come first serve. With the non-violent stress on the serve.

Seva cafe is good for the head as well as the stomach

Gujarat, one hour north of Mumbai by plane,  is India’s only dry state but the Seva is as close to bar as you can get. It has chairs and a counter. It is a service station. It is full of regulars who form a Family of Love. It is an idealised public house.

Along with tax defaulters and eye donors, Gujarat has more youth volunteers than any other state.  The cafe is staffed solely by volunteers. To earn my poppadum, I worked  a shift with a Himalayan bird (Manal), two fragrances, (Foram and Khrisbu) a person of good ethics (a girl called Neeta), one Guru, a red colour (an elderly lady called Kaku) and a Lord (Davesh). I washed and dried thali and karoti plates and lote jugs.

The tables don’t have numbers. They have names – Kindness, Trust, Faith, Prayer, Love and Compassion.

Ornate stone carved walls lining the 11th century Rav-Ki-Vav stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, India. It was selected as a Unesco World Heritage Site in June 2014.Ornate stone carved walls lining the 11th century Rav-Ki-Vav stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, India. It was selected as a Unesco World Heritage Site in June 2014.

“It’s our take on Sikh langar,” explained my friend Nischal.  “Coming here helps internalise Gandhi’s mantra, Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest of God). You pay what you can.  It’s gift economy.  If all restaurants and bars operated similarly no one would sleep hungry. Your meal has already been paid for. What you pay pays for the next person.”

We had lemon and ginger cordial with pasta, cheese toastie and ice cream. We left 10 rupees.

“To lose yourself you must lose yourself in the service of others. In selfless actions. In this place self-orientation gives way to shared commitment.  The fear of scarcity turns into a celebration of abundance. Your chitta or mind become better attuned . This café is good for the head as well as the stomach. It is a place where kindness is given. It is practical idealism. Which Gandhi cherished.”

Two men came in. One worked in cloud computing. The other in related time- embedded systems. The world of humanistic socialism is different from the corporate one. Which rarely awakens all human potentialities. They said Seva represented a chance for some simple living, unconditional love-based giving  and high thinking.

“It is a place to expand my circle of love,” said one.

I practised  Satyagraha (the insistence of truth). I concentrated on Sarvodaya – the welfare of others. I left a Sadhari. A servant of society. Feeling uplifted. Good about myself. And the rest of humanity.

And I hadn’t had a drop. As Gandhi said: “The fragrance always remains on the hand that gives the rose.”

Or rosé.

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