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Ranjit the Elder’s soul was experiencing a severe drought, and his parched soul lamented and longed for refreshment. His parched soul needed to be quenched of his desperate thirst for goodness. Ranjit the Elder gazed momentarily at his servant Govinder and thought to himself how, if ever there was a personification of the goodness that he longed for, it was …

After Badrudin and Mr. Warnakulasuriya had left Mr. Warnakulasuriya’s tailor shop on Rawalpindi Road, to go to the Colonial Club to meet with Mr. Chatterjee about building a school in the Khyber, the Chaiwalla and the Chaiwalla’s ten-year old son, who served as an apprentice in Mr. Warnakulasuriya’s tailor shop, made their way to the train station. As they walked …

The five of them, the Maharaja Ranjit the Elder, his servant Govinder, the young man from Nawanagar who was going to journey all the way to Africa, the Chaiwalla and his ten-year old son, all threw their empty mud cups toward a grassy area where there was soil and tree trunks, and then sat down under a tree to say …

…“Chai! Chai!” “Ah! Chaiwalla is coming. Now we can have our morning tea.” “I didn’t hear anything…” “…they’ll serve the British sahibs in first class before they get to third class…” “Chai! Chai!…” “See! I told you Chaiwalla is coming!” “Papu, don’t wake up your mummy, let her sleep till chaiwalla brings tea.” “What do you mean ‘serve the British …

On the edge of the Sacred Forest, on Day Four of the Great Trek of young Raj and his beloved friend, Lakaji the Elephant Elder, these two friends, were now joined by the Chaiwalla, the Chaiwalla’s son, Maharaja Ranjit the Elder and his servant Govinder. As the others stood in a semicircle and faced Lakaji the Elephant Elder, the noble …

Thus it was, that in the years and decades to come, the renaissance and rebirth of the province of Nawanagar was restored bountifully. As the fortunes from the ivory hoards of the Sacred Forest were sold for money, as this money filled the treasury, there was the ability to pay for and to reinstate the guilds and craftsmanship of a newfound …