Chai Time Baqwaas

Enough of my come backs....I disappear and then all of a sudden wake up to realize 'Oh...I got a blog too!'...though mostly it is because I am busy, but I miss blogsphere...my blog friends...their blogs...my blog...everything!! :-( ...Okay...as usual...I am writing on my blog after a long time, so ofcourse I am over excited and like always I HAVE to tell you, how in this absence I had so much to write on my blog but could not due to time constraints (read laziness).

So...finally to something extremely silly as it may seem, but what is it that has coaxed me enough to blog again? Well...stupid 10 day break which sounds only so boring that I could die....have lots of work...which still seems so less compared to the time I have. Anyway....blah blah blah... :P ..... So before I start off with my latest peaceful outing... I'de like to share some random silly thoughts that crossed my mind.

I am very serious about adding a label 'auto ride' to my blog because I travel for over one hour everyday in an auto and that is one time of the day when I find peace with myself....I think...observe...enjoy music...and relax...its 'my' time. Since I get so many random thoughts and interesting observations during that time, every time I write about that particular thought, I'll label it 'Auto Ride'...(Bela is so right....I am so random...I say and do anything...just out of the blue...huh...whatever) Apart from that...I am bored and I have forgotten all that I was about to blurt....oh yeaaah...wait wait....I am a happy person because I am concentrating on my work more than my grad...and I am loving each moment of it. And this brings me to my CHAI TIME!!

I had to write this article on chai wallahs and instead of first visiting the most famous SHARMA ki CHAI of the city, I visited Channilal ki Chai. God Damn!! Honestly, I am not a tea drinker as such (Kashmiri chai being an exception), but sometimes I like it. More than the tasty tea of Channilal (which, according to me is better than Sharma's) that I was served, it was the whole feeling of being there.

I mean...have you ever heard of a chauraha...a four way crossing, in one of the most posh areas of the city being named after a chai wallah? This was more because of his generosity than his tea speciality. Channilal Lodhi served tea and breakfast to government officals in 1972 during some strike which lasted for a good 62 days, for free. He had hundreds of officials coming every morning to his little tea stall, he ran into losses, but Channilal went on to form an unbreakable bond with his people. He still does, which has earned him a chauraha named after him. Though his tea stall has shifted from the CHANNILAL chauraha to a place more peaceful, just a few meters away.

Looking like a typical choti chai ki dukaan, with bun makkhan, samosas and bis-koot, sipping his tea sitting away from the hustle bustle of life, the traffic, away from life seems like the best thing to do after a stressful day. I have never enjoyed tea more than what I did yesterday. It was a peaceful moment. Everyone else feeling the same. I, being the only woman in that place, with a crowd that may not be what we would generally call 'educated and decent', and not even for a single moment did I have anyone staring at me, invade my privacy or make me feel uncomfortable.

Infact, when Channilal came to his shop, I was already sitting, sipping tea, reading and looking around, like time was all mine. His worker told him twice or thrice, 'yeh ayin hai aapse milne ke liye', but he just quietly sat, without coming into my notice and let me enjoy 'my' moment 'my' tea. Spending a few minutes talking to him made me realize how old shopkeepers, chai wallahs gain loyalty, its all because of their modesty, genuineness, love and dedication. How I wish we had some people like that still left in this world, or atleast come to my notice more often. The whole experience feels either like it was a dream or a trip to another planet. I may sound like I am exaggerating, but it was so different from my pre conceived notions of a chai stall. The peace, privacy, chai and relaxing 20 minutes spent there, were blissful. And when Channilal says the secret of his famous tea is just his love for people who come to his stall, and their love for him - you know it is, you know the secret ingredient is the love with which he makes his tea.

This also raises one more question in my mind, why is chai so important for people? Why are they so particular about 'their' tea? They seem to like just one kind of tea, slight difference in the taste of their tea, get ready to face that person's bad mood. Chai connect is funny, amuses me. But I think one more visit to that place and I'll join the 'amusing' league of people, sans the answer ofcourse. :-)