चायबाज़ ज्योति (Chaibaaz Jyoti)

Jyoti is a fellow FACEBOOKist and is a member of the "Ek cup Garam Chai ho jaye" Group on FB. When I posted a request for interviews, she was one of the firsts to respond and here we are with her lovely responses. In her own words, Jyoti is a "never-say-no-to-chai-addict full-time stay-at-home mom, a once upon a million years ago voracious n addicted blogger, part time poet and a full-time "perpetually on a learning curve" amateur photographer". Her sense of humor coupled with the love of Tea makes this chaitalk very interesting to read!

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Why Tea??

Why not??

Jokes apart... I guess it's all about the initiation. Once a person is introduced to such an energising beverage at an impressionable age... it's hard to resist it. Tea just happens to be the one for me.

"Chai peenein ke liye, bahaanein kise chaahiye yaaron??

Chai toh khud peenein pilaanein ka bahaana hai. "

- What if you had to make a flavor of tea, what would you have in it, other than Tea leaves?

Ginger... any time. I have tried and tasted many flavors... but nothing beats the plain old "adrakwaali chai". And that's my elixir.

- What would you do if you were given two days in a tea estate?

Drink tea and take pictures... :D:D:D:D That sounds silly... but that kind of sums up what I'll do. Although... if I were to give a more politically correct answer... I would say... try to make most of every moment and get to know more about tea... from horse's mouth.

Wait... do horses drink tea?? :D:D:D:D

- Tea in a cup? or Tea in a steel glass? or Tea in a kulhad (earthen cups) or tea in a paper cup? or tea in a glass? and why?

Steel glass -> C cup -> glass glass -> Paper cups ... in that order.

-> Steel glass : Anytime. A part of the experience while having tea is the feeling of the warm steel glass in your hand. I would exchange that for nothing.

-> C cups: They look artistic, alluring... and are easily available everywhere. So I use it cause it's there... not out of choice.

-> Glass gilaas: Kaanch ke gilaas mein chai peenein ka majja hi kuch aur hai... especially on a rainy day at a roadside tapri. But please don't serve me chai in a gilaas if I am at your house. :D:D:D:D:D

-> Kulhad chai... seems exotic... meant to be savored on special occasions.

Your earliest Tea-Memories...

I have two very distinct memories. Both are very dear to me... so I guess I'll share both rather than just one earliest memory.

My ammamma( maternal grandmother) was the one who introduced chai [ no not chai... tea... she had studied in a convent... so it was always tea for her... never chai. :D:D:D] to me. I was in... 1st standard, when I had gone to stay with her for summer. I used to watch her studiously mix Brook bond Red Label(granules) and Lipton Green label ( tea leaves) and fill it up in her tea can. No on ever made tea like her... so said everybody when they'd visit ammamma.

And she took pride in being meticulous and precise about her tea.

I guess... that was when I was all fascinated and got initiated to the world of chai lovers. :D:D:D:D

But reading another Chaibaaz's answeres... I remembered another a very distinct and a dear memory.

When I was around two, our neighbours were a bengali family. Kaaku( uncle and Kaamimaa( aunty) loved me to lore. Every evening, when Kaaku would return from work, kaaki would serve him cha with either plain muri or jhaalmuri. I was the only one in the house who was allowed to pick muris from Kaaku's cha glass. We would both sit at the edge of his four-poster bed, switch on the radio( those huge old fashioned radio sets) and enjoy cha-muri. I loved these chaa-muri session so much, I would get dressed every evening and go wait at our favorite corner on that four-poster bed, for Kaaku to come back from office and share his treasure with me.

So technically... I must have gotton intitiated at the age of 2. Though, I didn't remember this earlier cause after a while... long before I turned 3, we left that house and moved away and my chaa-muri sessions with Kaaku ended. I grew up and forgot all about the memories till now when I was reading the afore-mentioned chaibaaz's post.

- Do you remember when you had tea for the first time? Is it related to why you like tea so much?

Yes... I guess. Read my answers above.

- If Tea was a person, what would that mean to you? What would that person be like?

It would be my confidante... my shoulder to cry on... my companion of good and bad times... my absolute best friend. And what would it be like... warm, strong, comforting and a joy to be with.

- Your favorite T-picture please...

I would have loved to post a chai in a kulhad picture taken near Manmad station or Kharagpur... but alas... I have none as of now. So please feel free to use any of Archana's pics. I love them all. Just make sure the pics are... steamy... :d Literally.

Please read Archana's Chaibaaz post here.

- Your favorite T-shop? and why?

Where - Vishal Chai ki tapri at Pune University. Why - Loads of memories. And the best chai I have had as an adult, that was not made by me. :D:D:D:D {Ok so now you also know that I think my chai is the best. :D:D:D:D but I know... every true blue chai-addict thinks so too. }

- Your favorite T-quote

I never really thought of looking at tea quotes... up untill now... Tea has always been my elxir. So I'd say... Chai... sabke gam bhulai... Wait... that sounds cheesy.

Let me see... guess this is a good quote... “A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water” :D:D:D

What do you say??

- Your website/blog

I don't have one as of now.

चायबाज़ श्रीविद्या (Chaibaaz Srividya)

Srividya is a fellow photographer based out of Mumbai, and I know her through the online world of Flickr, and Facebook for a while now! Its great to have Sri pouring her heart out to the Chaitalk questions!

Enjoy!

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Why Tea?

- The aroma of the tea and and that refreshing taste of tea .

- The fact the you can have tea without milk also

- and a lame one : I always do spelling mistakes while spelling Coffee ,Tea is simple ..even if i dont use 'e' and 'a' it still would mean T

- What if you had to make a flavor of tea, what would you have in it, other than Tea leaves?

A tinge of the heavenly smell of cocoa ( i was staying close to the cadbury factory and that smell of cocoa was sheer madness )

- What would you do if you were given two days in a tea estate?

Okay,Now this a tricky question. a confession here :I love photography more than i love .So the first thing i would do is click photos and then i would try picking up Tea leaves the way they do it in the estate!

- Tea in a cup? or Tea in a steel glass? or Tea in a kulhad (earthen cups) or tea in a paper cup? or tea in a glass? and why?

Never a paper cup or plastic cup .The below in the following order of preference

Tea in a Kulhad : the rustic feel of Kulhad..i jusst love it and the taste is different in Kulhad

Tea in a steel glass: reminds me of home

Tea in a cup:Now this would be just for the love of drinking tea in different kind of cups and its comfortable to hold

Tea in a glass: Tapri Chai...with friends

- What is your earliest memory of Tea?

My earliest memory of Tea is Mom Dad drinking Tea in the hall and we getting to drink Bournvita or Complan or plain Milk and being told that "Chai peeyoge to kaale ho jaoge!"

- Do you remember when you had tea for the first time? Is it related to why you like tea so much?

I dont remember exactly but yes i do remember drinking tea was an achievement because only adults used to drink as stated above .He he he.

- What would you tell someone who does not drink tea, about what they are missing?

I will not tell them but i will prepare an garam ginger tea and make them drink and then they will tell ...

- Your favorite brand of tea and why?

Red Label ,because this is what i have been seeing from childhood and have been addicted to this although in a recent home function when the chefs made the tea,it was just awesome and i had 4 cups of it in a steel glass. When i enquired ,it was Kanandevan Tea . I havent tried it yet ..will surely do soon .

- Your favorite website related to Tea and why?

Jab se pata chal hai ki chai ki bhi websites hothi hain tabse Archana Srinivas's Blog and Chai Ki Dukaan and sometime Kshitz's Chai photos with the desciptions he writes.

- If Tea was a person, what would that mean to you? What would that person be like?

I would not be able to drink it . He would be a mixture of water and milk.. water indicating the mildness and milk indicating the correct amount of boldness to take decisions . Sugar would obviously mean sweetness in the nature of the person . A small peice of smashed Ginger would indicate the adventurous nature. Cardamom would indicate the love.

- Your favorite T-picture please...

- Your favorite T-quote

"ek masala chai" "Ek garma garam chai de do bhaiya"

चायबाज़ अर्चना (Chaibaaz Archana)

Archana Srinivas is my favorite Tea-Photographer. Her images of Tea are as refreshing as having Tea on a rainy day itself! Archana is a design consultant and Photographer based out of Banagalore, India. And I was only very very happy to have her participate in the series of ChaiTalks on Chai ki Dukaan!

I have totally enjoyed reading her responses, and I am sure everyone here would love the following offline interview!

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- Why Tea?

Drinking tea is for me, an experience where I hold the hot cup in my hands, watch the steam disappear into the atmosphere, the aroma of tea with hints of ginger, cardamom or cinnamon soothe my senses and my mind. I take a sip of the heavenly concoction and float away into a world where words combust to form images and coffee just jolts me back to reality. (No offense to coffee drinkers;-)

- What if you had to make a flavor of tea, what would you have in it, other than Tea leaves?

Regular tea leaves with freshly smashed ginger is an all time favorite. Cardamom, Lemongrass and freshly-plucked Tulsi leaves come a close second.

Lately, while traveling across India, we have learnt that as much as the ingredient enhances the flavor of tea, it is also at what stage you add the ingredient and it just amazes me the hundred-odd ways of making the humble 'chai'...

- Tea in a cup? or Tea in a steel glass? or Tea in a kulhad (earthen cups) or tea in a paper cup? or tea in a glass? and why?

The early morning ritual of tea made by my dear husband is always in a giant ceramic mug, the late-morning tea, when you just need a mouthful is usually in a small steel tumbler, the kulhads come out when there are hot samosas to go with it, I am a sucker for ceramic mugs, so I just wait for opportunities to make chai so I could savor the experience of drinking out of lovely mugs.

Chai in gilaas is so 'desi' just love the feel of dunking Parle-G in chai. Chai in paper cups with delicious, unhygienic vadas in quaint railway stations.

As much as I love looking at tea in dainty porcelain cups and saucers, I just can't have tea the English way;-)

- What is your earliest memory of Tea?

I recall walking into the kitchen as a toddler unable to reach the counter, seeing this huge stainless steel flask being filled with scalding chai every few hours and then being devoured along with homemade savories and bakery butter biscuits.

- Do you remember when you had tea for the first time? Is it related to why you like tea so much?

I don't recall if it was the first time I had tea, but the experience was so much fun.

My mother was having chai and she poured some for me in a shallow steel glass and put a handful of 'Muri' puffed rice in it. I sat watching the gentle crackling sound of the puffed-rice in the chai with utter delight and then slowly scooping out the soggy delicious 'muri' and then glugging down the tea!

- Your favorite brand of tea and why?

At home I always mix two brands of tea, Brooke Bond Red Label & Taj Mahal. One for the strength and the other for the flavor. This concoction works very well for us.

- Your favorite website related to Tea and why?

My blog 'A Cup of Chai…' where I post my daily cups of chai, an interesting personal project where I capture the mood associated with drinking a cup of chai. The simplicity, the mundane-ness appeals to me.

Flickr~ I have some really hard-core chai loving photographer friends. Their photographs of chai are very inspiring.

- If Tea was a person, what would that mean to you? What would that person be like?

Mr.Tea would be strong in character with various surprising flavors to his personality.

- Your favorite T-picture please...

I am pretty partial to all the photographs of tea that I shoot, but here is one in which the 'Tea fairy' seems to be blessing this gilaas of celestial beverage!

- Your favorite T-quote

"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage."~Catherine Douzel

Please do visit Archana Srinivas Photography page here on FACEBOOK and enjoy the beautiful images!

Delhi - Jim Corbett - Nainital - Delhi

Warning : Its a long post with a lot of detail! Have some 15-20 minutes spare to read it please...

They say matches are made in heaven, I say Travel Plans are also made in heaven and executed on earth by the lesser mortals!

There is no other explanation of how I have landed up in Nainital 3 times without the name being a part of my plan when I start from home? That statement kind of gave away a bit of the information that ideally would have made sense when I finish the first 10% of this travelogue! but whatever!

Let's Travel!

The first cup of tea being made for us at BailParao

Back into time first!

Early 2010, I had taken this club membership which entitled me to be a guest for some 15 odd parties in and around delhi throughout the year, not a single of which I attended! AND, it gave me a couple of nights free stay by Country Club Resorts! Honestly what I was interested in the free stay, which was not really so free, as I realised later!

Back to the future now...

So we had to send a Rs. 500 draft along with three preferences with different dates to Country Club Resorts before they could pick one (read the cheapest) and book us there! What we got was the Tiger Den Resort! For some reason I thought it was on the NH121 (banks of River Kosi), however we realised that it was about 13 kms away towards Kaladhungi only when we reached Ramnagar and called the resort for directions.

The drive from NOIDA was very comfortable except the "work in progress" flyovers on NH24! I can't believe that the status seems to be exactly what it was a couple of years ago at 3 places... And the road near Garh Mukteshwar is still a buffet of potholes with pieces of road on top! Don't understand it!

The 99 kms stretch between Moradabad bypass and Kashipur (via Thakhurdwara) is still bad! The last I had driven on it was when I was coming back to Ranikhet via Ramnagar, and it did not feel as bad because I was driving a Safari... It did not feel too bad in the Palio either, but it was bad! A lot of strain the arms and eyes! The road quality miraculously changes as soon as you reach Kashipur.. While I could barely touch 60 kmph at times in the last 90 minutes or so, I was driving at around 100kmph as soon as I crossed Kashipur...

The question is WHY? And the answer is that I was now driving in Uttarakhand! Drive to Ramnagar was a breeze and it was just 15 more minutes to drive the 14 odds kms after Ramnagar to BailPadao (Resting place for Bulls - if translated in English)

The wooden stove for making Tea... TASTY TEA

Radha made for a good backdrop for this cycle in the rain!

We reached the resort only around mid-night it was funny to see the guard room boys struggle with opening the gate!! the lock had jammed, and it took them about 5 minutes before I could drive in! We checked into a room towards the back-side of the resort and figured out a few things we could do the next day.. Safari was not on the plan for Saturday, however we wanted to go to Corbett Falls and plan for a Safari on Sunday... The additional information we got from the resort guy did not really lift our spirits as it included mood-dampners like the grasslands were still under water, most paths inside the jungle were still broken, and there were extremely low sightings so far! Except that he could arrange for a jeep for us to drive around the reserve area (outside the main forest) where there were chances of tiger-sighting! Now personally, I am not a fan of animal sighting! I love the jungle, and I hated the fact that I am not going to be able to enjoy the ride like I would have liked it!

We also had to change the room almost immediately after we checked it, as the bed was a spring-bed, and a broken one at that! The shift was prompt, and we called it a day (or night or midnight) after a quick cup of tea!

On our way to Nainital via Kaladhungi

Saturday Morning!

We woke up to an thick overcast sky, and did not realise that it was raining too till we opened our room door! It did not make much of a difference at that time as Pooja and myself both were not too keen on staying in that resort or waste our day driving around for nothing! We did not really know what we wanted to do, but we knew that we were checking out of the resort! We did, and decided our next milestone with a cup of tea outside the resort!

"There is something about tea made on burning wood.. something different... something that energises me differently"

Its very pleasing to click Radha and see that she stills good great... MUAH!

Did not know something like Choti Haldwani existed... nice find!

We decided to drive towards Nainital, which was just about 50 kms (75 minutes) away and started our drive in light rain, with slow speeds enjoying the weather! The rain had stopped, and we drove via Kaladhungi, Choti Haldwani, to reach the foothills, and by the time were reach Tallital, it was raining heavily again! This time it was not rain, but a hailstorm... and both of us were wondering as to why the Rain Gods seem to be too pleased or angry with us.. It had rained like crazy in almost all of our trips together!

1. Indonesia... We did not see the Kintamani Volcano and had a rainy walk to Monkey Forest

2. Ranikhet... It was a trip with falling rocks, landslides, and overflowing rivers

3. Goa... Wasted about half a day waiting for the rain to stop... made us move to hiring a car from a bike too (but that turned out to be good)

4. Singapore... Well, there are just two types of days there as Aseem puts it... with rain, and with heavy rain!

5. Jim Corbett.. Rains again!

But we were commited to having a good time, with rain or without :) So we found a nice cozy room with a lovely view at the Lake Side Inn and spent an hour waiting for the rain to stop! It converted into a light drizzle giving us enough time to walk around without an umbrella! And the waiting time did give us an opportunity to enjoy Maggi while looking out of huge glass windows! Bliss!

What is interesting in this photograph is that OM is opposite in all of them due to air-flow

We just walked around the Mall eating snacks and had a few glasses of tea again while it rained and almost snowed, and we had a lovely view of the hailstorm from under a canopy next to the Naini Lake! The number of people was low in Nainital that evening, and the roads were empty, and it stopped raining too after a bit, giving us a few more hours to walk around on the mall road and the local markets!

Chaat, Shopping, Chai, Talking, Walking, Shooting were what we did that evening!

Finally called it a day after having some delicious Vegetable Biryani

Langurs enjoying the rainy evening

Wire cycle-rickshaws at a roadside shop.. They are made from a single piece of wire(just the frame)

Sunday Morning

Looked like the Rain Gods had finally made peace with the fact that Pooja and me would travel, come whatever may, and we were welcomed with a lovely bright sunny morning! It was a long drive back home, and we dediced to start driving back by 1100 hrs to reach NOIDA by 2000 hrs. With the kind of roads and distance, it would take about 8 hours for sure, specially the Sunday traffic back to Delhi!

Shikaras in the Naini Lake

Empty Tea Glasses at a road-side Tea-Shop

The drive back via Kathgodam - Haldwani - Udham Singh Nagar (Rudrapur) - Rampur - Moradabad Bypass - Hapur was mostly uneventful except a deroute forced because of Behenji as she likes to be called, or for others, Ms. Mayawati, Chief Minister of UP. Rampur was sealed because of her visit, and we were forced to look around for options which involved driving through the town, trusting our direction instincts, and drive through a village with mud roads, and lanes just wide enough for the Palio to move through!

Rest is mostly history! with Future looking very bright with a few good trips on the cards! Enjoy some more photographs below....

Steamy Tea...

People at the T-Shop

Like I said... it was a hail-storm

One of the two Tea-Shops we had Tea at... this guy was selling everything from Tea t0 Bread-Omlette, Bun-Omlette, Boiled Eggs, Pakodas, Cream Rolls...

Corn-cobs (Bhutte)... They taste different on a rainy evening...

Nothing warms cold fingers better than a wood fire...

Eggs were plenty around the Mall Road...

Another view from the same Chai ki Dukaan...

This guy was really happy to have his photograph clicked...I think this is one of the biggest satisfactions of being a photographer... an opportunity to make people smile!

Loved the steam coming out of the pressure cooker... the 10 min wait was worth it...

Nainital Post Office

Ripe Red tomatoes for the Omlettes

Now for some objective information

1a. Distance from NOIDA to RamNagar : Approximately 250 kms

1b. Driving time : about 6 hours in the night with low traffic... Add another hour if driving in the day because of local traffic

2a. Distance from Ramnagar to Nainital : Approx. 65 kms

2b. Driving time : About 2 hours (Do take a break to enjoy the view somewhere)

3a. Distance from Nainital to NOIDA : Approx. 310 kms

3b. Driving time in the day : Approx. 8 hours with local traffic and bad roads and work in progress flyovers

Recommended eating joints on the way :

1. McDonalds just after Gajraula on the road towards Moradabad

2. Meriton just before Gajraula towards Delhi... Its almost opposite McDonalds and serves decent food

3. There are many dhabas near the Garhmukteshwar and Gajraula, however I am not sure if I would stop there to have food... snacks and tea would be my choice there

I drove a total of about 660 kilometers over that weekend, and loved every second of it! Pooja is an amazing addition to my co-traveler list, and there is not much other than that a man can ask for! isn't it?

Oogle List

1. TATA Xenon

2. Apple Ipad 2

3. A 60 Inch TV

4. Yamaha or Onkyo Amp, Speakers and Woofer (Sounds like home theatre in a box, but is totally different)

5. A couple of Canon L Series Prime Lenses

चायबाज़ संगीता (Chaibaaz Sangeeta)

This is second in the ChaiTalk Serieson Chai ki Dukaan!

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Sangeeta Monga runs an Institute for Personality Development and Grooming in Delhi and caters to a large group of audience. Their testimonials on the institute website clearly substantiate the amount of value that Sangeeta's effort brings to their lives. Please read through the rest of the post to enjoy some tea-time talks with Chaibaaz Sangeeta!

Why Tea?

Tea is the best energy booster, tonic, antioxidant and time pass for me..you name it, it has it

- What if you had to make a flavor of tea, what would you have in it, other than Tea leaves?

I am particularly fond of, other than its green tea flavor and if I have a choice, in that order, saunf/ choti ilaichi/ moti ilaichi/ tulsi/ cinnamon

- What would you do if you were given two days in a tea estate?

I would learn the tea picking to tea leaf sorting to tea making..everything it has to offer..infact I would live in tea garden Lol!

- Tea in a cup? or Tea in a steel glass? or Tea in a kulhad (earthen cups) or tea in a paper cup? or tea in a glass? and why?

In order of preference…

Tea in a kulhar: especially for its earthen flavour

Tea in fine bone china cup : the exquisiteness of flavor and tea sipping is highly enhanced

Tea in stainless glass: I don’t mind this contrast as well because it retains tea flavor and the heat

Tea in paper cup/ disposable plastic is an insult ..an absolute no no!!!!

- What is your earliest memory of Tea?

I desperately wanted to have some and the request was conceded by adding some more milk to tea..I hated this concoction and felt it was injustice for a milk-hater.

Do you remember when you had tea for the first time? Is it related to why you like tea so much?

I cannot recall that, but tea was forbidden to us as children and I guess that is why I have taken to it with vengeance :)

- What would you tell someone who does not drink tea, about what they are missing?

I invariably come out with “ how boring! What do you do the whole day? No time pass???? “ :P

- Your favorite T-shop? and why?

It was long back in my univ days a place called “ Dhaba”…it was actually a dhaba and gave us special ilaichi chai in those workshop glasses..total nostalgia!!!

- Your favorite brand of tea and why?

It is Yellow label and twinings classic (instant tea dip) these days..but I have a collection of green tea at any given period of time. I have a penchant for green tea leaves…so any brand that gives me a strong tea flavor is well taken to!!!

and I was not talking green herbal..that is the latest fad :)

- If Tea was a person, what would that mean to you? What would that person be like?

That person would be my companion.. no tags but a die hard loyalist :) inseparable, cherished and cared for….

- Your favorite T-picture please...

- Your favorite T-quote

Tea is a cup of life.

Please do visit her website by clicking here.

Thank you Sangeeta for your time and responses to the questions about your Chaibaazi!

चायबाज़ आरोही (Chaibaaz Aarohi)

This is the first of Chaibaaz ChaiTalk Series that I plan to do on Chai ki Dukaan! The idea is to find a T-lover and ask some questions about Tea and more!

Aarohi Singh, a self taught artist, is based out of Bangalore, India and paints in Oil, Acrylics, Watercolor, Pastels and works on Paper, Canvas, Metal, Cardboard, Wood, Fabric. A visit to her website is going to make you stick to it for a few hours atleast!

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- Why Tea?

I think it's as much as for the taste as well as for the memories associated with it.

- What if you had to make a flavor of tea, what would you have in it, other than Tea leaves?

I love masala chai. So I use a flavored tea and add freshly crushed peper corns. I also love chai with fresh Pudina or Tulsi leaves or ginger. And very little sugar and milk.

- What would you do if you were given two days in a tea estate?

Find out everything about tea...actually I did. As a child I saw tea leaves being rolled etc. But, I don't remember much. Need to go back as an adult :-)

- Tea in a cup? or Tea in a steel glass? or Tea in a kulhad (earthen cups) or tea in a paper cup? or tea in a glass? and why?

It's in a big fat ceramic mug. Chota mugs are just that- too small.

- What is your earliest memory of Tea?

Seeing my parents and grand parents have bed tea in my grandparents bedroom. Full on service of separate chai in a silver tea set!!

- Do you remember when you had tea for the first time? Is it related to why you like tea so much?

I am asthmatic. Tea contains theophylin. And my mum who is a doctor, gave me a hot soothing cup of chai to help my breathing.I always associate it with comfort.

- What would you tell someone who does not drink tea, about what they are missing?

Ek cup chai say dil khush ho jaata ha...

- Your favorite T-shop? and why?

I am a little biased to the tea I make myself at home.

- Your favorite brand of tea and why?

Red Label- Natural Care. It has the basics and then I add on flavours to it.

- Your favorite website related to Tea and why?

I like your blog and Archana Srinivas's blog- A cup of chai. I feel comforted looking at the images of chai.

- If Tea was a person, what would that mean to you? What would that person be like?

Comforting, multi faceted but with an underlying flavour of richness. But never too strong in their influence.

- Your favorite T-picture please...

This reminds me of Tea, and painting both together! Was taken after a successful day of painting...

- Your favorite T-quote-

Come lets catch up over a cup of chai.

Please do visit Aarohi Singh's website : Art By Aarohi. I was bowled over by the amazing kettles that she has painted!

Appraisal Gyan!

For everyone who did not get a good (read : as expected) rating in their annual appraisals :

निंदक निरये राखिये, आँगन कुटी छाबाये |

बिन पानी साबुन बिना, निर्मल करे सुभाए ||

The annual appraisal system somehow tends to bring in the worst of a lot of appraisers, however it also is a good time for everyone who is being appraised to hear out what could have been done better... I say a lot of the 90 minute gyan is something that we know (and I can say this with confidence having being an appraisee and an appraiser myself), however a good critical evaluation of an year's performance can make a world of difference.