Very Very Tasty Tasty
Tasted the chilly fog in the morning!
Tasted the chilly fog in the morning!
There are only two steps that are needed to reduce issues in one’s life!
There are certain times when resisting the need of having a hot cup of tea is almost impossible!!!
And from how I see it, the 7th year is going to be extremely exciting, and happening, and set a strong base for years to come!
Here is some tea for everyone who has been a part of the journey in some form or the other!!!
Happy Birthday Chai ki Dukaan!
Salva is one of my favorite photographers on Flickr… The moment I saw a Tea photograph on his stream, I knew I had to request him to let me post it on ChaiBaaz!
In Fred’s words, “A portrait of a chai wallah (tea maker), in his shop, in Haridwar. I took this during my stay in Haridwar for Maha Kumbh mela 2010, last April. This little chai shop had become a shelter for me, when the crowds and the sadhu camp became a bit overwhelming. In a way, it was like spending time, not just in a chai shop, but at the man’s home itself, as the tiny shop seemed to tell of the man’s life story with photographs and objects displayed in every corner.
He said he had seen many Kumbhs in his life before, and was no longer impressed by the whole thing. Yet, he admitted that for his little business, Kumbh time was the best !“
Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world
The english word tea traces its roots to the name for tea in the Chinese Amoy Dialect: Te (pronounced tay). Cha is the Mandarin Chinese word for tea. Some countries use both. It’s not unusual to hear someone in England request a “hot cup of cha”.
I bet we all remember our first times— first cycle ride, first prize, first drink, first salary, first kiss, first lie… first this & that…
But I also remember my first cuppa tea! 🙂 🙂
Because it occured to me after a long wait and lots of anticipation!!! And it happened in too special a way to forget!!!
Okay now, lets begin from the beginning.
For me, tea meant……
…a fancy drink
…a childhood tabooo
…an elders delight
…an enigma
Yes, I was not allowed to have tea. This rule courtesy my grandma; she did not like her children to have tea- and I a kid to her ever. So I never ever had a sip of tea for 27 odd years of my life! (Wonder if that’s some sort of a record)
Anyways, I know I was always drawn to this mysterious drink, its woody color and the-then indefinable aroma. Tea was like an enigma for me, something I’d always associate with adulthood (!), choice (!!) andmaturity (!!!) Weird? But that’s what it was for me. Those delicate tea sets were equally fascinating, uhhhh, forbidden too! I had watched my elders and cousins sipping their tea and wondered how it tasted. Imagined if it tasted anything like horlicks and decided that it certainly tasted better. Assumed if tea tasted like hot-chocolate and conclued that being the elder’s drink it was, it was bound to have a better (read: less sweetened) flavor. The days passed by and I simply belived that I wasn’t cut out fora cuppa tea (ironic, haa)… But I’m proven wrong. 🙂
Animesh (my husband), an avid tea lover himself, never liked the idea of us having different beverages.(Him: Tea; Me: All except tea) So early one morning, he handed me a tea mug and asked me to taste it. (“your introduction to tea”, he quipped) He was kind enough to say that I could leave drinking if I did not like it!
So I sipped.
Relished.
Loved it.
And thanked Animesh for my first cuppa ever!! I love him so for this special cuppa and for this perfect moment. 🙂
Three weeks down, I have travelled across six states, eleven cities and stopped at a number of tea stalls. Needless to say, I enjoyed every single cupppa tea I had.
Proud to be the new kid on the tea block, though still experimenting with tea types and snacks to go with chaii. I liked samosa n plain marie biscuits so far…
Here, may I ask the readers of this post: would you tell me whats your favourite cup of tea & snacks? I’d love to try it out 🙂
I want to thank Om for letting me tell my tea-story @ chai-ki-dukaan. For letting me be a fellow chai-wali on your blogspace. This whole experience is awesome. Thanks buddy! 🙂
P.S. Two days back, I asked amma (my grandma) as why she kept me away from this wonderful cuppa. She chuckled and said “Some things are worth the wait”
I agree, amma!!
Some tea-pics now:
My first tea-mug @ Home, Hyderabad 🙂
Chai at a dhaba on way to Patni-Top (Jammu)
Bollywood Masala Mix & Truck-Driver Especial Chaii @ Cha Bar, New Delhi.
Chai ke Glass @ Cha Bar
* Posted by Mayuri
Am out on a longish drive this weekend, and drove a almost brand new Ford Fusion yesterday for about 5 hours straight… I am surprised with the smoothness of the car, never expected Ford to be this smooth… will write more when I am back !
If there were a few reasons why I want to go back to India, not being able to park my car and have tea/food in a dhaba would be in the top 5… What a blessing it is to enjoy a different kind of food and tea, every 100 kms in a open air dhaba… and here, all you get is Subways, Wendy’s, McDonalds and so on and so forth… sab kuch ek jaisa !
Another reason and very silly one that is, would be not getting the proper hair cream… I have not been able to find any hair cream that I like so far here in the US.. my biggest issue is the huge number of options for almost every issue for your hair, and not one which says non sticky hair cream !!! aargh…
Anyway, this weekend I managed to find something from Garnier that looks and feels like my favorite Parachute After Shower… though this one does not smell as nice as Parachute… Monday morning when I used it, I was so happy !!! finally !!!!
Oh and one more… the 10 rupe ki champi that I get at my hair dresser !!!
I going to move out of my comfort zone and path of least resistance at work soon… It is for doing the right thing, so hoping it works !!!
Please welcome a new member to the Chaibaaz Family.. Chandan Dubey (चंदन दूबे )
She is from Banaras and currently based out of Hong Kong and has a blog called Girl About Home. Go to her blog and you would be able to effortless wander around all the text and photographs that she has there… Something to look at whenever you need to view some refreshing colors ! Needless to say, the same thing is true about her flickr stream too !!
Welcome to the Chaibaaz Family Chandan 🙂 I kind of like your name like this :चंदन चायबाज़
And, finding members for the Chaibaaz family is something that I really like to do.. .Random thing number 1 🙂