Chai Pilgrimage
Written by Patrick Shaw, illustrated by Jenny Kostecki-Shaw, with photography by both. 192 page, 11 x 8 1/4, full-color, hardbound book.
Steep yourself in India’s rich chai culture in this multimedia travelogue with illustrated recipes and tips on the art of chai-making!
If India has always beckoned, but something held you back – or if you have traveled to India and feel a longing in your heart to return – make the Chai Pilgrimage through the pages of this book. Patrick Shaw and Jenny Kostecki-Shaw spent four months in northern India, steeping themselves in chai culture. They kept journals, made paintings and took pictures. Using chai as their compass, they also made friends, worshiped at remote temples, and drank a lot of chai. Firsthand, they learned from the extraordinary hospitality of the Indian people that “Guest is God,” being treated as family members in many homes. Inspired by the pungent spice palette, they returned to their northern New Mexico home and created this ecstatic book of art. Every page is a song of praise to the Indian people and the Hindu gods, to the healing chai spices, to the small farmers who grow tea, to every chai wallah in every stand along their journey. Patrick and Jenny captured and translated not just the Hindi language and the sweetness of the people but the spirit of love itself. Every word, painting and recipe is suffused with the pure flavor of devotion. Sit down with a cup of chai and enjoy this pilgrimage to the chai motherland of India!