I was in India for the past two weeks and the first sign that I had truly arrived arrived just a few minutes after we left the SVP Airport Ahmedabad - the Chai stall.

Among the great many differences between the American and Indian culture especially among college students , the biggest one is the "cutting" or cafe culture. Coffee or tea is sipped in a more closed or controlled setting in the States while the cart culture still largely caters to the Indian lifestyle. The photo on the left is of a tea stall in Ahmedabad, I clicked in the wee hours of the morning, just after I landed.

Before the days of CCD and Barista, there was(and still is) the roadside tea shop that were present at prime locations outside colleges. These tea stalls doubled up as the nukkad, provision store for tea, paan, cigarette, and quick snacks. This was the place for endless banter or to vent feelings about anything under the sun be it that screwed up test, the crazy professor, the latest babe in college, or some career advice. The ambience was the road and the traffic while the seats were one's own bike. The service was quick and friendly. And all this for a price way below at what one would pay at swanky malls or chic cafes.

Some of the stalls have even gone beyond their usual status and become the favorite hangout places of thousands like the famous Rituraj Maska Bun near the Gujarat University campus. The cafe culture might have swept India but it is time to give the street tea vendors their due respect for their great service to millions of budding engineers, managers and slackers (me..me..me).