A lot can happen over a cup of tea
A
fragile disposable wheat-tinged cup of tea couldn’t contain its equipoise. The dark, over boiled and over sweetened tea inside the cup started prancing upon watching Priyanka Chopra dance on Desi Girl, a number from the movie Dostana. Her svelte manoeuvres embarrassed the desi tea.
It introspected, “If the desi girl of today can be so glamorous, why should I succumb to the sweltering heat of railway stations, bus stands and roadside kiosks?” The very conventional tea was tired of being peddled by the clumsily dressed up vendor. It no longer desired to be the monopoly of the tireless as well as the lousy rhetoric orated by the betel-infused mouth in a monotonous cry, ‘Chai, chai, garam chai’, wanted a desperate makeover.
That is how the decaying tea rose from its ashes like a phoenix. It, with an ingenious resolve and acute determination decided to give a stiff competition to its cousins. Coffee, cappuccino, and latte were already enjoying uninterrupted attention. The desi tea refined itself. It rose to the pedestal of precocious sophistication. It made its presence felt in subtle places such as malls and posh markets. The tea aficionados warm-heartedly welcomed the tea in the cafes.
It made a red carpet entry in the cool places like ‘Chai Pe Charcha’, ‘Chayos’, ‘The Tea Place’, ‘Tea Trails’, ‘Chai Pyali’, ‘Tea Talks’ and many more. These upscale tea cafes offer tea in vibrant flavours.
Tea, which was once a household morning and evening ritual, was happy to receive a dignified welcome by its connoisseurs. There was a bleak phase when tea was looked down upon. Especially, youngsters had an air of pride as they asserted their dislike for tea with an indifferent shrug. It was common to hear, “I don’t like tea. I drink only coffee.” Tea, in its wrath and fury, couldn’t digest this disgrace.
The crowd has dispersed from Café Coffee Day, Costa, and Barista to these contemporary tea cafes. These cultured places not only take minute care of their ambience but also of the diversity of their prominent product. The unique variants of tea such as Gulkand tea, Ceylon tea, Irani chai etc. can be relished in the unique cutlery. It’s an era of variety when kulhad chai enjoys space with tea cups imported from Sri Lanka.
In the experiential time of today, tea cafes bustle with enthusiasts. The recently evolved concept of book cafes is gaining momentum. Tea and coffee houses have been encouragingwriters and readers to luxuriate in the inviting ambien ce with the hot beverage and books. It’ s certainly a renaissance of the brown being clubbed with the black and white.
The cafes whether tea or coffee host many sentiments. People bond and break up, write and read, meet and part over a steaming cuppa. Tea leaves and coffee beans have evolved with time. The monopolistic competition between the tea and coffee with their diverse variants allows me to quote, “A lot can happen not only over a cup of coffee but also over a cup of tea.”