It Gets Letter By Chance
For years, people have been asking me why I moved to India. Today, I realised that instead of saying “meaningful work,” “love,” or pointing to photos of breathtakingly exotic landscapes, I should just start showing them this:
It’s the local chaiwalla. His shirt reads, “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets letter by chance.”
These guys always seem to have something equally profound written on their t-shirts, despite the fact that none of them ever smile, and rarely ever even speak to a single one of the hundreds of customers waving crumpled receipts in their face each day, jostling to be the first to get a steaming cup of chai.
Many people would never take the time to digest this peculiar brand of wisdom, as most are simply mesmerised by the chaiwalla’s exaggerated performance of pouring chai back and forth from one metal cup into another to create just the right amount of froth. In fact, watching a group of uncles spacing out at the tea stall has become one of my favourite pastimes. It’s a rare quiet moment in a city of millions. Once everyone’s receipts have been collected, a complete letting go of conscious thought ensues as we wait for the tea to be prepared.
Moments like this remind me not to take reality quite so seriously. It’s almost like we all walk around clutching our ideas of what’s real or what’s “true” as tightly as we possibly can, striving for a kind of control over our circumstances that is only achievable when we give up the serendipity and humour. Imagine if we tried to look for logic or meaning in this t-shirt!
Actually, it’s beautiful to hold reality in our hand the way we would hold a hot glass of tea — gently, gripping only the edges so as not to spill the glass or burn our fingers. Not necessarily trying to understand or master anything — but rather savouring the sips, one by one, until the sugary sediment at the bottom of the glass softens our palate and we walk away satiated and energised by this small pleasure. A moment made sweeter by its simplicity.
