Chillies and Revolution: Glimpses of Kensington on a May afternoon

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"The stone that the builder refused, will always be the head cornerstone.”
(Ernesto Che Guevara)

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[Child pointing to the wall]: "Hey, that's Jesus!"

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Black woman [to Shami]: Salaam alekum.
Black woman [to me]: Are you Muslim?
Black woman [to Shami]: No, she's not Muslim. She'd wear a hijab.
Black woman [to me]: You Hindu?
Me: No
Black woman: Who do you believe in? What God will take you to heaven?
Me: All of them.
Black woman: No, you can't do that. [Pointing to Shami] You pick one man don't you? You have to pick one leader too, someone who will show you the way. Whose your leader?
Me: Gandhi
Black woman: Mahatma Gandhi?
Me: smile
Black woman: Do you pray to him?

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"You have to be someone" (Bob Marley)

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Kensington Market is a veritable melange of grunge, pot, resistance, and spice; where derelict walls bear brazen graffiti and the revolutionary spirits of Che Guevara and Bob Marley still linger; where rickshaws festooned with plastic carnations stand in front of chic French bistros; and the smell of fresh baked empanadas, ground espresso, jerk chicken, and organic chocolate collide; where on warm afternoons the gritty accents of the young mingle with smoky Latino vocals and the rum-laced musings of wise men from Barbados. If you are lucky enough, a peek into a shopper's jute bag can yield surprising wonders: vanilla beans from Madagascar, bracelets made of Icelandic whale bone, dried chillies from Peru, a take-away menu from the Hungarian Thai, a wedge of Swiss Emmenthal, tapioca from Trinidad, couscous from Israel, a rasta hat, and a pamphlet on becoming a Trotyskian revolutionary...

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"At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality." (Ernesto Che Guevara)


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Some Kensington Keywords: counterculture; synagogues; hippies; immigrants; graffiti; grunge; resistance; revolution; pot; eclecticism; falafels; multilingual street signs; organic produce; La palette; rickshaws; eco-cars; funky doors; vintage clothes; the Hungarian Thai; Roach'O'Rama; Ali Baba's House of spices; Cobs Bread; The European Butcher; Big Fat Burrito; pedestrian Sundays; African drum beats; Zimmermans Freshmart; Last Temptations; I Deal Coffee; Urban Herbivore.

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"In this bright future, you can't forget your past." (Bob Marley)