Straight From The Saucer- Beginning the Day with Irani Chai

One of my brothers is some kind of a jetsetter. He flies in and out of Hyderabad quite frequently, at least once a mont, to other cities and countries. On the days he has to catch a plane it befalls upon me to play the role of his chauffeur. But I look forward to this brief pleasure of driving his car, a Honda City. Before the GMR airport sprang up I would have dropped him at Begumpet but now I drop him at one of the starting points for the buses to airport from the city.

The day before, he was flying to Tanzania and had to catch a flight to Mumbai at eight in the morning. Which meant he had to leave home a little before six to catch the airport shuttle near Keyes High School which itself was near ‘Blue Sea’ restaurant. It gave me an idea that would have me start the day with a cup of Irani chai. It had been quite a long time since I had Irani chai into my circulatory system first thing in the morning. After we left home and until I parked the car near ‘Blue Sea’ after dropping my brother, it was a cup of hot Irani tea that was floating before my eyes all the time.

Lucky are those who get to drink Irani tea so early in the morning I thought as I sipped the delicious milky brew that the waiter brought to my table. It was a cloudy morning and the hot tea warmed up the insides in no time. I had an entire table to myself and the staff had that early morning eagerness to serve. The guy had brought the tea within seconds of my ordering it. Hyderabad must be the only place in the world where one can order a cup of tea without opening the mouth to speak. One needn’t even know any language. Just lift the forefinger and the cup of tea appears as if by magic. But this magic works only in the early mornings.