The city of tea lovers

We, the Bangalees, are fond of gossiping, discussing and planning to change the world over a cup of tea. There is a saying that Dhaka is addicted to tea. Who refrains from taking this sweet, milky hot cuppa, sometimes mixed with caffeine? Liquor tea is here the most-wanted drink item and, therefore, tea stalls on every street corner are a common sight, because anytime is tea time. People are used to tell that a cup of tea can make pretty much anything better. In my view, Dhaka sees the mushroom growth of tea stalls to feed its growing tea-loving people. Even, a rickshaw puller claims to drink up to 20 cups a day. If it can give them the power to fight their way through Dhaka, there must be something special about it.

Our roadside tea stalls are there to offer us cheap teas and snacks. These small businesses provide raw tea, it is no milk, often with spices or tea with milk, scalding hot and often served with light snacks to be eaten quickly before workers dash on to their jobs. The roadside tea stalls have become a part of our day to day life. These shops becomes a part of local history as many local people gather there regularly to have a cup of tea and debate and discuss on many issues from local to political. The local tea stall becomes the witness of almost all the happy and sad events of the neighborhood.

There are many types of teas that we devour ourselves into from the roadside tea stalls from raw tea, milk tea, masala tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, pineapple tea, tulsi tea, chocolate tea, seven colored tea, malta tea, orange tea, Green chili tea to mint tea and many more. The most common is the milk-tea of course. For snacks, we have again many Deshi versions of them, which we love to nibble such as, Luchi, Paratha, Dal-puri, Alu puri, the most famous Shingara, Shamucha, Nimki, Papor and a whole lot of pithas.