A good book should leave you… slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron

With a deep love for travel, and an equally matched passion for writing, it is only natural that I take to travelogues like a moth takes to a flame. A friend recommended Rishad Saam Mehta’s Hot Tea Across India, and I ordered it almost instantly. What had me looking forward to the book, was the promise that I’d immediately want to take a road trip after reading it. Having dreamt of more road trips than I’ve been a part of, I welcomed this book with the same excitement I would usually reserve for a free air ticket to my dream destination. I had high expectations from the book, to say the least. It didn’t disappoint. Hot Tea Across India is a book all travellers would long to be a part of. After all, who wouldn’t want to just pack their bags, hop on to their Bullet and take off for the mountains? Just mentioning this envelopes me in misty reveries of  snow-capped mountains and breezy long winding roads.

What’s unique about the book is that Mehta gives us small insights into his several journeys, stopping on the way to sip steaming hot chai as he explores the mountains, runs away from an irate mob and ducks under barriers to get to Zoji La. While reading it, you can’t help but think how a small glass of tea  can spark a whole book! Mehta’s journeys, apart from revealing his love for the drink, also  vividly show how comforting (and sometimes, discomforting) a glass of tea could actually be.

What I especially loved about the book, was the vivid images Mehta painted for his readers. You can actually visualise him running away from the bearded man in Kargil, or standing behind the jawan outside the Chashme Shahi. Not only do the readers glide through the picturesque routes Mehta traverses,  they also endure the rough and tumble just like he does. He has the readers rooting for him to catch up with Jolly Jhunjhunwalla’s bus, gaping and then laughing with him when Jack falls face first onto the ice  and being terrified with him as an irate mob carries torches to burn his car in Kerala.

Though I knew that each chapter was a short story of its own, I could barely keep the book down. It kept me company on  crowded train journeys and long bus rides too, much to the amusement of the passengers who threw me an annoyed glance every time I would laugh out loud while reading.

Rishad Saam Mehta’s Hot Tea Across India is one book I am truly proud to own – after all, I know for sure, that I will return to it  and read a couple of chapters whenever I need a strong motivation to travel, or  just  a heartfelt laugh .