the tea is long over, the memories linger

chai, tea, chaha, cha

some prefer tea to champagne. i prefer champagne any day, imagine clinking glasses of tea rather than bubbly 2 celebrate

ive had tea at hundreds of different places[as have most of us have] but then some places r just more memorable than others.ofcouse there is always the tea made at home which all indians swear by

my first real encounter with tea outside of the santuary of home was outside GLC[government law college] bang opposite churchgate station.when i entered sydenham in 99 one of the first college things i was introduced 2 was the cutting and bun maska[will dedicate an entire blog 2 this]. the chai walla outside glc can be truly called as a master brewer of tea.it was sheer brilliance that the tea tasted so good every day.many a study session,event deadlines and exams were made bearable due 2 him. sadly he is no longer there due to stupid bmc rules but god bless u where ever u r.

the common humble tea. ive had tea in the most fanciest places,to the most down drodden as well as the most unimaginable.

there was a chai wala o/s gamdevi police station[ donno if he still exists]who had the most bitter and over brewed tea.one day after much coercing he told me that some police inspector liked tea this way.he ordered tea innumerable times in a day frm this chai wala and his colleagues too started drinking such tea.this bitter and ekdum kadak chai slowly became the norm.

one of the better places to really enjoy teas[ yes teas as there r lotsa varieties, each better than the other] is tea centre at churchgate. many a study session at sydenham was concluded in the tranquility of the tea centre.a couple of friends loved this place.some of the teas i really liked were the quawah[kashmiri tea] with rose petals et al. a friend loved 2 expreriment and ordered new exotic teas every time.once he was stuck with an english high tea flavoured with apple and butter.

but most of all, its never about the tea.for me its always been about
the ambience[tea always tastes better when its raining]
the people[college days and that cutting which people would share]
the locale[better on a cold winter morning at mahabaleshwar than on a stuffy mumbai afternoon]
the situation [the team meeting just before the deadline with cups of sugary death wafting about admist heated arguements with dollops of passive smoke]

the tea is long over, the memories linger

think about it...