Whether it is returning from a late night bash or the last film show, a break from long hours of studying or just a lazy stroll to enjoy the chill, there is always room and mood for 2 am chai in the freezing nights in Delhi. A trip to the various tea haunts of the city is one of the favourite winter things of night-crawlers.
Roaring engines and modified bikes zoom around during this time to the famous chai wala in Yusuf Sarai, who is also popular with the nocturnals for his varieties of paranthaas. “We go there mostly when we are bored at night and have nothing to do. Seeing bikers do their crazy stunts is an exhilarating experience in itself,” says Piyush Kelkar, a Mumbaikar, who now calls Delhi his home.
The trend which earlier was mostly popular amongst the college-going crowd is fast catching up with young professionals too. Manas Bhardwaj, who is an event manager, gets late on most nights and en route to home visits chai stalls near AIIMS or the one at Shivaji Stadium. He says, “Nothing can be as much fun as sitting and sipping piping hot ginger tea at Delhi’s dhabas. My friends and I usually hang out in Connaught Place and end up at a tea stall behind PVR which stays open throughout the night.”
While tea lovers swear that gulping down milky concoctions is routine in mornings, at night the same becomes an experience. Divya Seth, a die-hard chai lover, is studying in Shivaji College and puts up in Rajouri Garden. Her midnight jaunts take her to a small tea stall near ESI hospital, Raja Garden where time slips by over glass after glass of masala tea. She says, “Almost everybody in the city loves these short night-out trips. It’s quite a stress buster and it completely relaxes me before I go back to books.”
The police although is against such an activity because they claim that things could go out of hand at such gatherings. Says Dhruv, “Just a few days back my girlfriend and I had gone for a long drive around the city. Delhi is so much fun at night. We stopped at Comesum, Nizamuddin Railway Station to have tea and meet other friends. But a friend’s friend had an argument with a stranger, who was drunk and we were packed home by the police.”