Dancing Tea and the Memories It Stirred

  

I fell in love with Kozhikode city and Premith almost at the same time. He would hold my hand and take me around every nook and corner of the city. Having lived in this city for over 30 years - he had or still has - a story about every part of it. Annie hall road, the railway station, SM Street, Crown Theater, Zeins, Sagar, Paragon, Salkkaara, M Grill, Browntown, Manachira, the stadium, Focus mall, R P mall, Topform, Kochin bakery, the Freemasons’ lodge, oldest IT companies in Kozhikode, Amma Mess, Vyapaara Vyavassayi Bhavan, Palayam, Maharani, Alakapuri, P V Swami, writers and celebrities from Kozhikode, even Doctor Sahadevan, who once drove all the way from London to Kozhikode - he would tell me stories about them or about his experiences with them. 

Until he told me, I didn’t know that “oru theruvinte katha”, The Jnanpith winner by S K Pottakkaad is about S M street. 

Until he told me, I didn’t know that S M street stands for sweet meat street & sweet meat is nothing but the English name for the famous “kozhikkodan halwa/aluva”. 

Until he told me I didn’t know that Mananchira was earlier a playground and once upon a time, it was a district collector who decided to make it the way it is now. 

Until he told me, I didn’t know that our beloved actor KTC Abdulla was from Kozhikode. 

It was during those days, that he introduced me to the dancing tea from Paragon - which, back then, was known as  “special chaaya”. I watched the dancing tea in awe.

I was slowly falling in love with the city & with him.

Yesterday, when unexpectedly a relatively new friend offered to go to Paragon, dancing tea was one of the items I could order without a second thought. 

New friendships are rare these days. This one bloomed through our children. This video - of the dancing tea - also wasn’t planned. I asked my friend if she could record it and she did. :) Premith rarely cooperates when it comes to pictures and videos. So, this is actually my first-ever video of the dancing tea from Paragon.

Watching it now, it makes me feel that the tea is like our new friendship. We are very new & totally different from each other. But, we are beginning to understand and blend with each other. 💜