serves<\/a> different types of chai. Thursday\u2019s celebration was Elaichi Co.\u2019s third-ever Chand Raat.<\/p>\n\u201cWe have a really lively, vibrant community gathering this evening, and that\u2019s really what Chand Raat is about,\u201d said Elaichi co-founder Zainab Joyo. \u201cI grew up going to Eid bazaars every year with my family where we would shop for clothes, jewelry and get our henna done \u2014 and so now we get to create that space here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With more than 650 RSVPs and people coming and going throughout the evening, Joyo said the celebration was Elaichi\u2019s biggest Chand Raat to date.<\/p>\n
Elaichi served its signature karak chai throughout the night. Co-founder Muhammad \u201cMojo\u201d Joyo described chai as a \u201csocial connector,\u201d much like how various community members and vendors described Chand Raat as a togetherness festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very community-based event,\u201d said Gull Hasnat, who attended the event. \u201cAs an immigrant myself, one thing I look for every Eid is a sense of community and togetherness, celebrating with people from similar-ish backgrounds who are ending this whole month and coming together to just feel this sense of oneness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roughly nine South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African-based vendors also participated in the event, supplying halal street food, South Asian cookies, artisan-crafted jewelry, henna and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe common thread between all of these vendors is that they are somehow South Asian or (Middle East North African)-based,\u201d Zainab said. \u201cThat was really important for us because we\u2019re trying to uplift the South Asian community, but that also means providing a platform for other small South Asian businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of the vendors wove social impact into their work, supporting initiatives ranging from environmentally friendly production to funding disadvantaged communities in India, as well as supporting humanitarian efforts in Palestine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Elaichi loves bringing the community together and like-minded people who eat and celebrate small brands,\u201d said Hyperbole Accessories founder and designer Gazal Kothari, who sold artisan jewelry as a vendor.<\/p>\n
The henna booth by Bay Area artist Ananya Mehendi was one of the most popular attractions of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Elaichi\u2019s founders, the evening mirrored the very purpose their cafe served: cultivating a place for conversation, community and connection to cultural heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the end of the night, the celebration reflected a space for cultural connection, community building and a shared tradition in the heart of Berkeley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that they opened a place which doesn\u2019t just represent their roots, but they\u2019re also constantly trying to keep connected to those roots through events that invite people from their culture, people from their roots and bring in that sense of togetherness,\u201d Hasnat said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Community members and vendors filled Elaichi Co. last Thursday night for a Chand Raat celebration featuring food, shopping,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[105402,105398,86053,105397,105404,105401,105403,8477,9066,105400,105405,143,145,144,3783,105399],"class_list":["post-232467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-ananya-mehendi","tag-chand-raat","tag-eid-al-fitr","tag-elaichi-co","tag-gazal-kothari","tag-gull-hasnat","tag-hyperbole-accessories","tag-india","tag-middle-east","tag-muhammad-joyo","tag-north-africa","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-palestine","tag-zainab-joyo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}