The warm milky aroma of cardamom drifts through the air as spiced tea bubbles in a steel pot. Behind the counter is Amarjit Singh Thind, known to friends as Ambi, carefully tending to his brew.
At his chai bar in Sydney's north, Ambi serves more than tea — each cup carries a sense of memory, connection, and gratitude.
"I give a cup of chai for free to veterans and serving members of the armed forces because I am a veteran, too," Ambi tells SBS News.
"This is my way of giving back."
Bill is among the grateful recipients of Ambi's free chai. He actively served in the Australian Army for over a decade.
"My family has a long military history, and a relative actually survived Gallipoli. On Anzac Day every year, I think of him and the many others who lost their lives," he says, toasting Ambi at one of his chai bars.
"Ambi's offer of a free chai is a small gesture but really means a lot to me and others who have served and still serve."
It's decades since Ambi served with British forces in Germany during the Cold War, but he says the memories remain vivid.
"In 1979, after I had finished basic training [in the United Kingdom], I was deployed to one of the British Army of the Rhine RAF bases where we maintained communication centres," he says.
The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the designation for British occupation and garrison forces in Germany following both World Wars.
"We were always on standby to ensure the planes got off the ground," he says.
"Those were probably the best years of my life, quite frankly. I volunteered for everything and enjoyed all the adventures that followed."
Building a chai business in Australia
After his years in uniform, Ambi's next chapter didn't come all at once. It began quietly, over cups of chai shared with others, before growing into something much larger.
After migrating to Australia in 1989, Ambi set up an IT training business, building a new career far removed from his time in the army. He later coached a women's hockey team where his passion for chai began to take shape in a new way.
"At the training sessions, we'd sit down together - myself and a bunch of young players," he says.
"They admired the flavours and the spices, the smells of the chai. However, initially, they did not know what it was."
Chai is a fragrant, spiced tea beverage originating in India. It is traditionally made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic spices, such as ginger, green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper. The tea and spices are then steeped in hot milk, which is usually sweetened with sugar.
"Down the track, my chai became so popular that I took four flasks to training, and that became a tradition," Ambi says.
"Then, in 2019, I embarked on an ambitious project to set up a little chai cafe, and the business has grown ever since."
Today, Ambi runs multiple chai bars in Sydney and the ACT, with plans to expand further, including into Melbourne and the UK.
For him, chai is also deeply tied to his personal history and the journey of South Asian communities around the world.
Following Kenya's independence in 1963, the Kenyan government under President Jomo Kenyatta required British passport holders, particularly those of South Asian descent (Kenyan Asians), to either apply for Kenyan citizenship or leave the country within a set period.
Many chose not to take up Kenyan citizenship, spurring a significant exodus of the community from Kenya, with many relocating to the UK.
Ambi and his father were among those who left.
"The plane actually was on the tarmac and I remember running with my dad to board the flight. It was the last plane out of Nairobi," he says.
"My mother and brothers were in England, so we moved there."
Chai, he says, has remained a constant thread through his life across Kenya, the UK, India and Australia and continues to hold special significance for many South Asian communities as both a cultural ritual and a social connector.
"It is very warming, and if you're feeling under the weather, chai is phenomenal," says Ambi's customer Bob, who migrated from the UK.
"It reminds me of my mum making tea, but this is a special way of making it. The spices are just wonderful!
It brings back memories of home and brings everyone around the table.
Ambi says the strength of the flavours in his chai lies in the authenticity of its preparation.
"When I started, there was really no authentic brewing of chai in Sydney. Most places served chai made with powder and syrup and a bit of cinnamon thrown in," he says.
"Our chai is handcrafted, and we mix all the spices, brew it with water, add milk and then serve it piping hot, just how mum would have made it."
With the world often dominated by headlines of conflict and uncertainty, Ambi says his chai bars have become something simpler — and more human.
"Togetherness, connectedness and teamwork, that's what we are all about.
"Over a chai, we sit and talk and get to know each other. It brings the community closer, I am very proud of that."
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