In Delhi, whether it’s a chilly morning of January or a hot and humid afternoon of May, there are certain things which become an indispensable part of your life. Other than Delhi Metro Rail, Khan saab ki chaaye is one such indispensable thing at Mandi House, New Delhi. In the freezing winters of Delhi, holding a cup of the chaaye (tea) in your glove-less hands, not only warms up the palm of your hands, but also, with every small sip of it, your whole body, slowly and slowly, becomes warmer. Few minutes before, what was an extreme weather condition becomes a pleasant experience. Instead of shivering in the cold air wave, coming from few hundred kilometers away, lower hills of Himalayas, you start enjoying the kiss of the same cold wave on your cheeks. As one can cut diamond only with another diamond, the same warm cup of chaaye also energizes you to face the extremely warm weather of Delhi. Hot and humid wave fronts of air, locally called ‘Loo’, can do no harm to you, if you are sipping the same, “Khan saab ki chaaye”.
Certain multinational companies run their businesses on the tall claims of delivering customized products and services. For this, they use high end technology, and hire, highly skilled technocrats and management graduates from premier institutes of the world. On the other hand, in the name of technology, our khan saab uses just a stove running on kerosene oil and in the name of human resource, his only teenage son, Shameem, helps him. Unlike employees of multinational companies, Shameem never went to school; therefore, he is not even a school dropout. But, even in such an unpromising condition, Khan saab ki chaaye is one the highly customized product. You ask and he will deliver. Proportion of milk and water, quantity of sugar, quantity of ginger, duration for which the chaaye was boiled are some of the things which can bring great variation to its flavor. I, and my friends prefer “kadak chaaye”. Now, what constitutes it and how it is prepared, only Khan saab has the copyright! Moreover, if you are his regular customer, you are not even required to make an order every time you visit him, he will notice you coming from the distance itself and by the time you reach him, your customized “kadak chaaye” gets ready with the same and the well-known aroma coming from it.
Other than giving you respite from extreme weathers of Delhi and satisfying your senses, Khan saab ki chaaye perform many more, usually unnoticed functions. Like, while sipping the chaaye, your eyes may meet another pair of beautiful eyes. Again and again meeting of eyes over next couple of days leads to meeting of minds one day. And, at last, what happens in every second Bollywood movie, meeting of minds leads to a decision of living the entire life together. Therefore, Khan saab ki chaaye not only successfully competes with multinational companies but also with already flourishing matrimonial organizations in young India.
Other than the fact, that, few years back, Khan saab ki chaaye was available for three rupees, which now costs seven rupees, nothing has changed. Thank God, certain things remain unchanged in this highly volatile human life of 21st century.
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