I have been to perhaps hundred or more roadside tea stalls all over India, and some have been a favorite place to return to, whenever I am in that city. There are only a very few that serve perfect tea, exactly spiced, and with the correct flavor. Further, there are only the rarest roadside tea stalls that are clean and take the trouble to keep cleaning the premises through the day. Then, there are perhaps the very best that is also brilliantly clean, with perfect tea, clean premises and a very decent chaiwalla. This rarity was just opposite the Mamaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple on the Narmada River at Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh.
What was most striking was that all the vessels shone, and shone brilliantly. All the glasses were clean, and spotless. The tea kettle was shining and the nozzle was perfectly clear. The tea kettles in most other shops are not worth examining if you do not want to miss their cup of tea. The gas stove was also perfectly cleaned up. The entire shop was quite decent and had been cleaned at noon. Amazingly, the sun light was reflecting off the copper and stainless steel vessels and creating an illusion of splendid lumination within the shop. The photograph has done justice to that moment, I think.
I chatted with the chaiwalla, if I may call him thus, and enquired about the cleanliness. He replied that it was his responsibility to be thus, as he was always under the shadow of the Mamaleshwar temple. Which in fact, was true, for the shadow of the temple was over the tea stall. He said that he was forever blessed by Mamaleshwar himself, and thus had a duty to convey his blessings to all pilgrims who would come by.
The cup of tea was perfect, except that he began to serve me in the paper cup. I passed it on to others accompanying me, and requested mine in a glass. Nothing can beat the taste of roadside chaiwalla's tea in a glass or in a cup and saucer. Even if it would be grubby, which it was not at this shop.
What was most striking was that all the vessels shone, and shone brilliantly. All the glasses were clean, and spotless. The tea kettle was shining and the nozzle was perfectly clear. The tea kettles in most other shops are not worth examining if you do not want to miss their cup of tea. The gas stove was also perfectly cleaned up. The entire shop was quite decent and had been cleaned at noon. Amazingly, the sun light was reflecting off the copper and stainless steel vessels and creating an illusion of splendid lumination within the shop. The photograph has done justice to that moment, I think.
I chatted with the chaiwalla, if I may call him thus, and enquired about the cleanliness. He replied that it was his responsibility to be thus, as he was always under the shadow of the Mamaleshwar temple. Which in fact, was true, for the shadow of the temple was over the tea stall. He said that he was forever blessed by Mamaleshwar himself, and thus had a duty to convey his blessings to all pilgrims who would come by.
The cup of tea was perfect, except that he began to serve me in the paper cup. I passed it on to others accompanying me, and requested mine in a glass. Nothing can beat the taste of roadside chaiwalla's tea in a glass or in a cup and saucer. Even if it would be grubby, which it was not at this shop.
