Cup full of joy — tea time in India
Tea is more than a beverage for Indians. It’s an emotion, an obsession. Many stories, conversations and moments of bonding unfold over a cup of chai at tapris (kiosks) across India every day. Here are some snapshots.
A man delicately holds his cup of chai in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on a cold, foggy morning. The environment-friendly kulhad (earthen cup) leaves a mellow earthy smell, accentuating the chai’s taste. India consumed approximately a whooping 1.2 billion kg of tea in 2022.
Tea gets heated in a familiar aluminium kettle at a tapri in Khunti, Jharkhand. The smoke coming out of the clay chulha (stove) adds a surreal, mystic vibe to the roadside stall.
A vendor in Palamu, Jharkhand, prepares kadak (strong) chai. Besides tea, many of these stalls generally sell biscuits, samosas, kachoris and jalebis. The tea industry in India employs over 11 million people directly or indirectly.
A vendor fries samosas in a big cauldron in Aurangabad, Bihar. Across India, people love having tea with hot and crispy samosas.
In Latehar, Jharkhand, a woman prepares the next batch of onion pakodas at a tapri next to a busy highway. It is a site for many travellers to catch a break on their journey and have chai and snacks.
A man in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, watches the tea getting ready. Chai making is an art, requiring the maker to know the perfect blend of tea leaves, sugar and milk, and in the case of masala chai, other ingredients such as ginger and cardamom.