Mysuru, Chamundi Hill ,  KARNATAKA :

Chai, does this 4 letter word make you go into a trance? If yes, then you are a tea lover! There are two types of people in this world — those who love tea and those who don’t. The love for tea can never be understood by the latter category, no matter how much the former group tries to make them understand !

Chai lovers love their cuppa and are very sceptical when it comes to substituting it with something like green tea. Although green tea has various health benefits, masala chai is equally healthy and tastes far better than that bland cuppa.

Though many tea stalls in city prepare and sell masala black chai with their own ingredients in it, one such tapri that sells masala black chai is SDR Cool Point atop Chamundi Hill, which is thronged by locals, to savour the unique masala chai prepared by Mir Farman Ali. Even tourists, who had earlier relished the masala chai, make it a point to visit his shop whenever they came to Mysuru.

Mir Farman Ali, a resident of Turabh Ali Street in Mandi Mohalla, speaking to SOM, said that prior to selling tea he frequented Chamundi Hill to sell the inlay works prepared at his home during the year 1980.

Coming from a family of artisans, Farman, who himself is an expert in inlay works, said things were going good for some days and he used to earn enough to take care of his family. But as the business declined, his meagre earnings were not enough to feed the family.

It was at this juncture he thought of changing his business and embarked on the idea of selling tea to visitors and devotees who thronged the temple as there were just one or two shops atop the hill then.

Instead of the regular tea, he wanted to sell tea prepared out of some unique ingredients that his mother used to give him as a child. So, in the year 1991, Farman opened a small shop and began to sell masala chai.

Disclosing some of the ingredients, Farman said his tea contained Jeera, Ginger, Black and White Pepper, Saffron and Black Salt among others which are powdered in the right proportion. These ingredients are useful to fight inflammation, fatigue, cold and flu, improves digestion, good for heart, boosts metabolism and also helpful in preventing diabetes, he claims.

One of Farman’s customers, P.K. Anil Kumar of Wildwalkers, who organises trekking expeditions to various places in the State, said that though he is not a tea freak, he never forgets to visit Farman and have a glass of that masala chai as it is very refreshing and fights tiredness. Anil has been visiting Farman’s chai shop since 18 years.

Many trekkers, who climb the steps of Chamundi Hill, never forget to visit Farman’s stall located near the parking lot behind Mahishasura’s Statue and savour the cuppa.