I realise that it's going to be hard for me to draw complete live-sketches during my stay in my city. I literally have just one month to go before I pack up and return to Columbus. But I REALLY want to show you my city, her people, culture, lifestyle, and my growing-up times, aspects that have influenced me...this side of me that some of you may have never seen. That's why I'm going to do a super-small series during my time left here. Welcome to the #MadrasInMini series. True to its name, I'm going to give you only a peek in to Madras and myself, in miniature cut-out drawings through quick live-sketches. Anyway, here's #1 of the MadrasInMini series. This is a local tea stall you'll find on almost every street here. They're small, mostly-cramped stalls that primarily sell hot beverages (chai/coffee/milk/and others), biscuits and indian snacks. India doesn't quite have a 'to-go' culture or 'I'll-make-food-for-the-rest-of-the-week' culture. Food and drinks are mostly produced fresh, for consumption, mostly for a single sitting or a day at most (meals). These shops are open really late (sometimes 1 am) and open as early as 3:30 AM. This makes for an accessible, comfortable culture of easy dining to keep you going through the day. Tea is usually served in 'chai-glasses' I keep drawing. the main person who make the tea is called Tea-Master, or colloquially just 'Master'. Given the nature of these shops to be familiar, local spaces away from one's home, they are predominantly male-dominated spaces. Locals call it 'meeting-point' where groups of men gather for snacks and tea, cigarettes and paan(chewing tobacco). Women don't frequent these spaces as often because women smoking in public is still too uncommon for the culture, and also because of the oddness that comes with being in such a testosterone-pumped space (it's still true that we get stared at in these spaces, and uncomfortable). I hate that something so nice becomes an awkward and sometimes unsafe experience for us. I, for one, love tea shops and keep frequenting them because...why should men always have the fun, and...CHAI! #teakadai #chai #madras (at Annanagar)
