02/11/2012
Adieu.
Its time for closure. its time to walk through the open door, walk away- maybe to look for other doors, maybe into the horizon, smiling, excited for the possibilities to come. But before we do that, lets hold hands and sing to the time that has been.
Cafe Kaffee kuchh turns 4 today. And also today, we announce our closing.
Its hard, really, to take stock of the past four years of this little cafe of ours. its hard to really absolutely tell how we feel. There were times when the cafe buzzed with love, energy, ideas, celebration and of course, coffee. There were times, too, when it just stood there, with open arms, hoping for someone to come warm the cushions and dirty the dishes. There were times of discussions, arguments, experiments, action and passion. There were times when the volunteers just gazed at the empty tables, helpless but hopeful, trying hard to make it work.
But all that doesn't matter, it doesn't matter why we are where we are, what matters is that the cafe, is. And we want to celebrate that.
Lets celebrate that Chandigarh, the city that is known for being the most commercial city, opened its arms to the cafe four years ago and always provided a strong scaffolding to it. Lets celebrate all the wonderful volunteers who gave their heart and time unconditionally and washed dishes, prepared scrumptious food, organised activities, cleaned up, and politely asked for help when they needed it. Lets celebrate gift economy and that we managed to stay true to it, opening ourselves to each and everyone who came to the cafe. Lets celebrate the love that inspired many to start something, or just initiate a dialogue about something they felt strongly about. Lets celebrate everyone who ever came to the cafe and reached out to a stranger, striking a conversation that lasted for hours. Lets take joy in the energies that came together and synthesized into a wonderful idea.
and in the end, lets celebrate how Chandigarh and its people have grown, that a space like the cafe is not its need anymore. The cafe was started four years ago from an angst of a young person, not having a space open enough to hear what she had to say, where people like her could meet each other and feel safe, she felt a need for such space.
Now four years later, as I take all my learning from the cafe forward in my life, i feel a sense of closure from the space I created with the help of some amazing friends and which many others continued to nurture even when none of the people who first started it were not around.
The City has moved on, it has different and bigger needs now, and we know so many beautiful people in the city addressing those needs. So its a good time to say goodbye, make way for more possibilities and feel proud of having started a movement of sorts. From all the things that running the cafe has taught me, the biggest thing would be to love, to fill myself with love and gratitude for every experience and person that i met through the cafe.
So now i don't need one fixed location for opening a space like the cafe, i can bring that energy to my home, to my community, my workspace and wherever i go. And I hope you do too.
We'd love to hear your experiences with the cafe….. like a love letter to cafe kaffee kuchh :) You could do that online, on our Facebook group.
We will open one last time at its present location. we say that because all of us hold the cafe in our hearts and it goes where each of us goes. Sumedha and I are bringing a part of it to Delhi and others, too, are taking a part of it with them and keeping the love alive.
watch this space for more details about the last cafe.
we hope to see you there. because we love you :)
-Sukhmani
