What's tea, without a किटली?
Staying away from home can give you a strange perspective on what you think is important. Before heading out, you may have felt you'd really truly miss your friends or your family. Funnily enough, three weeks on the road have showed me the one thing I'm truly missing, so far, is the kitli. not any one in particular, but the symbolic kitli — somewhere you can sit watching the world go by... Somewhere you're never alone for long, where friendships are often born, and where many others grow.. most of all, where you can hang out for as long as you want without paying more than you absolutely need to, for चाय-सुट्टा...
I've stopped in at Mumbai, Goa and Bangalore before hitting Chennai, but the kitli seems to be a geography-specific creature.
A little thought offers a possible explanation... No one has the time to leave their seats/offices to hang out at Mumbai... For Goa, how many people want to sit at a kitli when they are surrounded by a dozen beaches? and Bangalore... apart from being at the heart of the காபி culture, the city also has institutions such as Pecos, ensuring its beer culture as well... aah... need i say more?
So far, Chennai has the closest thing to a kitli culture. Except that for whatever reason — cultural, I'm presuming — people don't seem to like to sit on the roadside to enjoy that cuppa... of course, coffee is probably more common here, but I'm sure I'm not the only one calling for a "chaya" in the middle of the afternoon...
Just thought of another reason for the absence of a kitli culture in Chennai.. Space.. or the lack thereof, rather.
While back home, kitlis seem to spring up at any ol' corner, the truly popular ones stand by themselves... whether Rambhai at IIM, Pandeyji at the SAL kitli or Rajubhai and kaka-kaki around Iskcon circle, they have a ton of sitting-around space... (apart from having very distinct addresses) Chennai's tea stalls, or 'Nair-கடை', as many are called, seem to be set among a tight cluster of equally tiny shops... and funnily enough, quite often near a TASMAC shop...
Which brings me back to my Bangalore observation.. None of the places I've been to recently prohibits alcohol. Which is possibly one of the biggest reasons for the lack of a 'किटली culture'. Or maybe people there just have more interesting things to do with their lives...