Lucky Tea Stall, Old City Ahmedabad

Diagonally opposite the House of MG in Ahmedabad, across the busy road is Lucky Tea Stall.

Gujaratis take their cup of tea quite seriously and their saucers too.

We observed that even the hole-in-the-wall tea stalls served their tea in a cup & saucer. Piping hot tea would be poured into saucer, blown, made into a drinkable temperature and then sipped.

Lucky Tea Stall too served their tea in floral-print cup and saucer.

This popular tea stall was apparently the favourite haunt of eminent painter M.F. Hussain.

The speciality here is the masala tea & maska (butter) bun jam.

We opted for marie biscuits to dunk in our tea...

We sat on a table next to two beautifully decorated Muslim tombs inside the stall enjoying the camaraderie of past and present lovers of chai:-)

Mallika Sarabhai's Country Retreat.

When I saw this on the cover of Inside Outside Magazine few years back I just wanted to be there on the swing...

This country retreat is designed by Nimesh Patel & Parul Zaveri of Abhikram, for their friend Mallika Sarabhai a famous Indian dancer, activist & environmentalist.

This is a traditional Gujrati Hitchkar (swing) which can be moved either way to face inwards or outwards.

A place in a natural setting where one can rejuvenate and escape from the stressful city life.
A series of wood sculptures of birds & serpents are scattered around the place.
The walls of the house are plastered with mud to provide natural insulation against heat. The wall has mud patterns with small mirrors fixed on them. ( Lovely!)
Her living space reflects her beliefs of conserving natural resources & importance of indigenous traditions. The sofas are made of natural materials like cane, jute & handloom.

Mallika's love for traditional crafts of Kutch can be seen in the hand embroidered covers and quilted bedcovers in her rooms.

( images from Inside Outside Magazine, June 2003 issue)