MUMBAI STYLE TEA
I spent a few days in Mumbai last week and while waiting for my hubby outside the local super market, I had the pleasure of watching a street vendor serve masala tea to a whole lot of passersby. I was totally fascinated and really wanted to take a photo but was a bit shy and was also not convinced I would be able to catch the essence of the vibe with the photo. In hindsight, I should have just asked him if I could take a photo of his tea pot on the stove, but such is life.

It was clearly home time (a good time for tea) and the vendor was really, really busy. The man serving the tea had a huge teapot on his little stove and he poured the tea into little glasses and handed it to his customers. There were all kinds of customers, ranging from business men to what looked like some local policemen. They stood around on the wide street corner drinking and chatting away, while the traffic blared on by. When they finished, they rinsed their glass in one of the two buckets of water next to the vendor and placed it back on the serving table. When we left I glanced into the buckets and just saw some grey, milky water. Not sure if my spoilt little "European" tummy could quite stomach drinking out of those glasses but clearly they had no problem with it.

What fascinated me even more was a beautiful young girl, who was with her mom and two younger siblings, walking confidently up to the vendor, through a small crowd of men and obviously asking for tea. What happened next blew me away. He proceeded to pour her some tea in a clear plastic packet. He twisted it at the top, whipped it over and tied it just like we do when we buy loose fruit. Then off she went. I thought to myself - but now how on earth is she going to drink that? A minute later her younger sister walked up to the vendor and he gave her 3 paper cups. Aha - okay that worked better for me; but still?!  Tea in a plastic packet?! I assumed that the vendor was maybe doing them a bit of a favor by giving them some extra tea. Then a few minutes later, he poured some more tea for someone else in a plastic bag and gave him paper cups too.  He had a few more customers like this in between the others who drank from the glass cups and then it dawned on me that the tea in the plastic packets was a take away!!  Why it wasn't served into the paper cups immediately, I have no idea, but that was take-away masala tea mumbai style!!  I loved it!  I just wish I had taken that photo.