A Lot Happens Over A Cup Of Chai!

“Ek cup chai la na”, is something that you would hear every morning in an Indian household. Most of us cannot imagine beginning our day without ek cup chai. Though a Chinese herbalist discovered chai we Indians make some world class tea. From plain back chai to an exotic masala chai we have it all as per over mood.

If you have ever thought about why we Indians are so obsessed with chai we probably will have some great tales to share. Here are few reasons that came to my mind while pondering over why we Indians love chai so much…

Chai is always our best travel buddy

Image sourced from rediff.com

Indian mothers take extra care about what they pack to eat and drink while going on a trip. Our mothers will always make sure that she packs a flask filled with garam chai.

Once that is exhausted she would ask the chaiwala to refill chai in the flask. Chaiwala is the one who wakes you up early in the morning during a train journey by shouting, “Chai chai” in his nasal noise. If we travel by bus we would make sure that the driver stops at good tea stalls. Many of us actually plan a long drive just to have that one cup of strong chai that gives us a good kick.

We love gup-shup over chai

 

Ek cutting chai as we call it in Mumbai is just a reason to meet our friends. The idea of meeting people at the naka or calling them home too is to enjoy a cup of tea over a lot of gossip. Chai pumps up energy into every college goer. Midnight studies are planned so that we can have chai at regular intervals. People at work wait for tea breaks so that they can catch up with people around to talk. If it is raining then tea is a must! Sipping that chai while it is drizzling makes many of us philosophers, poets and photographers.

Our bad boys ask chai along with a good bribe

“Kuch chai pani pila do yaar…” you will be familiar with these words if you are an Indian. Our cops as well as bureaucrats throw this line on us if they are in a mood to be bribed. Sigh! Such is the power of chai.

We can finalise a rishta while sipping down ek cup chai

Rishta, a marriage proposal is always discussed over chai in India. If you have to introduce your lover to your family it has to be over chai and an elaborate lunch. A popular Bollywood song was also composed around this concept. Take a look to understand how chai ends up fixing up relationships positively!

Chai made us say, “Jaago re!”

A renowned tea brand rolled an advertising campaign few years back that hit the Indian political system very hard. After this campaign, “Jagoo re” has become those two words that often pop up over an intense conversation over chai. Take a look at the campaign…

Hmm! enough said, I think we should grab ek cup chai and rest back to enjoy the weekend!