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Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Now the rainy season is here, see how the heavens are laden with clouds as large as hills. After nine months, the sky, by the action of the sun’s rays, has sucked up the waters of the ocean and is now giving birth to the showers – The Ramayana, Valmiki

Jaunty clouds are gathering fast over the dark-green fringe of the forest, bathing the City of Lakes. The trees in a row by the Upper Lake are smiting their heads against the grey horizon.

Koels coo from faraway places. Bulbuls chirp from behind the thick bushes and from the branches of mango trees. The markets are filled with the fragrance of ripe mangoes.

This is the canvas that holds the picturesque Bhopal. In the monsoon, the city makes you a poet even if you are not one. Muddy rainwater sometimes runs through the alleys and the thoroughfares, like a restless child.

The cloudy firmament dims the day. The weather is fine, but the sky sometimes seems to ride the rushing rain, and the roaring wind struggles among the branches of trees.

But the monsoon jaunt in the city is incomplete without Bhopal’s Namakwali Chai or Sulemani Chai. Salty tea may ring weird to an outsider, but locals are fond of it.

Only a few know Namakwali Chai came from Turkey to Bhopal nearly 150 years ago, says a teetotaller. The Namakwali Chai is part of the city’s life. The discussions over a cup of tea may vary from the market to the Iran-Israel war and from cricket to Kashmir.

A traveller from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow may not initially like Namakwali Chai. But after a sip or two, the same person gets addicted to it, especially in the monsoon and in winter, for it has curative effects.

A cup of Namakwali Chai on a rainy day adds an exotic tang to one’s feel. It heals up a sore throat and provides relief from body ache. This is the reason why it is different from other beverages. A sip of Namawali Chai in the rainy season is a lifetime experience.

So, if you are on a trip to Bhopal, you may hire a three-wheeler and go to the old city to have a cup of Namakwali Chai.

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When you have a sip of tea, you may get a chance to interact with Bhopali braggers who will try to tell you everything they know about the city. 

One will try to show you that he knows more about the City of Lakes than his counterparts. Namakwali Chai is easy to prepare. The ingredients of a cup of tea are tea leaves, sugar, milk and salt. Salt adds an exotic tang to the tea.

A cup of Namakwali Chai has to pass through five stages. In the first stage, a cup of water is boiled. Then a spoonful of salt, sugar and tea leaves are added to it. It is boiled again. In the third stage, the milk is separately boiled. Once the milk is ready, the tea is filtered. In the last stage, the milk is poured in the tea.

A cup of tea is available for Rs 10 or Rs 15, depending on the standard of the shop. In some old shops, the lucky one may get it at Rs 6, too.

At some shops, the tea maker adds a pinch of black salt, black pepper powder, and a bit of ginger to the tea to ginger up the shot. But it is available only on demand.

Once Bhopali poets used to gather at old tea shops to have a tang of the Namakwali Chai and recite Shayaris. Those were the good old days when digital communication was beyond anybody’s thought.

In the rainy season, when your throat is sore, you may try a cup of Namakwali Chai. It instantly gives you relief. Nevertheless, not many youngsters love to take a cup of Namakwali Chai daily.

Yet, it is a preferred drink in the monsoon and in winter, when one is down with a bad throat. As the daughter of the earth and the sun, called rain, irritates your throat, a cup of Bhopal’s Sulemani tea is here to

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