Summary:
In Bentinck Street, everyone knows the ‘tanki chai’ shop.
That’s also the only identity of the shop though it has been brewing away in this busy neighbourhood, famous for its Anglo-Indian musical instrument shops and Chinese shoe shops, for almost a century.
Samovars, the large metallic vessels used to boil water to brew tea and coffee were once a common sight across India.
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In Bentinck Street, everyone knows the ‘tanki chai’ shop.
That’s also the only identity of the shop though it has been brewing away in this busy neighbourhood, famous for its Anglo-Indian musical instrument shops and Chinese shoe shops, for almost a century.
There is another unique identity to the shop, the owner’s name is one everyone in India knows.
This ‘Mahendra Singh Dhoni’ — he claims that’s the name he uses — is all of 65 and only a namesake of the Indian cricketing icon.
Samovars, the large metallic vessels used to boil water to brew tea and coffee were once a common sight across India.
With modernisation, these metal-urns that originated from Russia and then spread across the world in different shapes and sizes were relegated to the odd tea stalls in parts of South India and Kashmir.
The second-generation owner, who identifies himself as Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been selling tea for 40 years.
(Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)“People from all over the world come to visit the shop,” he says.