By Prawash Gautam

Bhairab Risal, a veteran journalist with a sharp memory at 94, speaks with ease and zeal of his memories of the early days of Kathmandu’s tea culture. In 1948, at the age of 20, he recalled his first cup of tea at Tilauri Mailako Pasal, one of Kathmandu’s earliest and best-known tea shops. From their mundane, cramped spaces, Kathmandu's first tea shops appealed to the broader imaginations of citizens by introducing them to a novel drink from faraway lands. In this article, Kathmandu journalist Prawash Gautam shares tales of two historic tea houses. "Their stories, weaved from scarce snippets of information drawn from the elderly like Risal and secondary sources, are inadequate to paint a complete picture. Yet, they provide us with a valuable peek into Kathmandu’s early tea shops and tea culture." Read more...

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