Moments

So this is about an excursion to get my old old tabla fixed. This tabla has been unused for over 10 years, and thanks to my Mom's chronic tendency to accumulate stuff, has been kept in a shelf for all that time. Inspired by all the fusion and tablatronic and tabla-beats-science stuff I've been listening too, I have decided to bring the thing over to the US.

The place I am looking for is called Ganesh Vadyalaya (vadya = musical instrument, alaya = home, as in Him-alaya = home of snow). It's supposedly located in a public Municipal market close to my place. We park the car and dive into the market looking for it.

Finally! The store is not one you shall see on the internet. In fact, it's likely they've never heard of the internet. Not that they care, they seem to be known by word-of-mouth. It's just a little space on the corner of the market, surrounded by vegetable vendors. Here's the store owner examining my poor neglected tabla, and trying to figure out what does NOT need fixing.

After negotiating the details of the tabla fixing (which shall cost me a whopping $15, to replace practically everything but the body; a brand-new tabla would cost about $40), the store owner is kind enough to show me a few details of tabla manufacture. His three craftsmen gladly oblige to pose for my following videos.

• Preparing the body: The body of the tabla is carved from a hollowed out piece of wood, and the straps at the side are used to stretch the leather surface. These are painstakingly inserted and placed by hand, as the video demonstrates.
  
  

• Preparing the striking leather surface: The leather for the surface is cured and cut into the right shapes for the left and right halves of the tabla. Part of the process involves soaking the leather in water.

• Coating the surface: Once the leather is placed, a black compound (made with charcoal, iron filings and glue) is applied to the surface and ground into shape using a stone implement.

Whew, that was quite an experience! And I need to chill out...what's better than a local chaiwalla, and a hot cup of "special" masala chai? Ok, so now you, my gentle non-mumbaikar reader, you shall be introduced to the glossary of ordering ek cup chai in Mumbai.

• Masala chai: with assorted spices in it. I've never bothered to ask what those spices might be, and I suspect, neither does anyone else. I suspect ginger and cinnamon to be involved, as well as tea leaves a few days old (just kidding!). But to really emphasize that you need your spice, you might add "adrak maarke, boss" i.e. throw that ginger in, buddy!
  
• Quantities: There are exactly two sizes Mumbai chai is available in. The chai cup is a glass vessel (see pic), with a ridge or a cut a bit above the center. Hence the two sizes obviously are: full and cutting.
• Extras: The only legitimate extra is to ask the vendor to make the chai "special", also pronounced "speshal", "ispeshal" or "peshal". This usually entails throwing in a ton of extra sugar and extra spice and extra milk, with a few extra tosses of the chai.

So now, intrepid reader, you are fully aware of how to get your chai fix in Mumbai. So next time you're in here, go for it: "ek cutting peshal chai boss, adrak maarke".

How much is that gonna cost, you ask? 2 rupees, 50 paise for 1 full cup of kickass chai. (For those interested in the math: 1 USD = 45 INR). Starbucks, anyone?