Every morning, going down street with an empty stomach,
crossing a tea shop and smelling the sweet scent of tea merging into milk, I
can’t help turning into the shop to have some tea and biscuits.
Some people say that it’s considered as tea as the national
drink of India. Indian people from the north the south have tea every day. As
one of the world’s largest tea growing nations and the second largest consumer,
tea for them is as familiar as water. Chennai people are not an exception where
tea shop culture has been existing for quiet long time. The heat of the city
seems not to be a problem even they are drinking hot tea in the noon. There are
thousands of tea shops across Chennai, from the narrow nooks and crannies to the
main roads, from the small markets to the shopping centers.
In a narrow road called Mosque Lane that is opposite
Cheapauk Stadium, there is a small tea shop named Devi Tea Stall. Nobody knows
the reason why this store is always full of customers from the beginning to the
closing. They give a simple answer: “Because it (tea) is super”. I cannot be sure
that Devi is the best tea shop in Chennai but the best among shops I’ve ever
tried.
Sajeevan (40 year-old), who is the owner, said that the
stall has been in business for 45 – 50 years. He inherited the stall from his
father. “There is no secret, but the good quality of material”, he said. With
just Rs. 6, you will get a cup of tea with a great flavor: not too sweet, not too
strong ginger, not too acrid. All the tastes are enough for a word “superb”!
The customers are mostly people who are living near the tea shop. They just
come then are attracted by the flavor of tea and the humor of the owner.
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