This is Joy-da and he has a chai stall on the ground floor of our office. Despite the choice of teas we have at Teabox, most of us will stop for at least one cup of piping hot Assam CTC chai from Joy-da everyday.
Joy-da is from Sonarpur near Siliguri where his father ran a sweet stall and did some farming. But Joy-da was not keen on living in a village and came away to Siliguri as a young man. His first job was working in a bar but when that shut, he chose to become a chaiwallah. That was 30 years ago. For most of us in Siliguri, Joy-da and his chai stall are very much a part of the landscape and our town.
Photograph of Joy-da by Mallikarjun Katakol
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4 Comments
So what exactly makes Joy-da’s Chai so good? You never give a clue as to WHAT makes the tea so good?
Or better yet.. how can I (we) learn from him to make better Chai at home?!
Thank you, – John M.
John, it’s the combination of his chai, the familiarity of his constant presence and a reason to stop for a chat and chai no matter how busy we are. For chai recipes, keep coming back, we’ll add some more as we go. For now, there’s one here (be sure to scroll down to the comments) and another for lemongrass chai here.
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