Bollywood scriptwriter and Lucknow boy Himanshu Sharma tells us why Sharma Chai is to Lucknow what tearooms are to London!

A modest, run-down tea shop in crowded Lalbagh, Sharma Chai is one of those places where even celebs visiting Lucknow stop over for a cuppa tea, bun andsamosa.Going by the faithful clientele of the tea stall, some even say the chai is addictive.

A regular visitor to Sharma Chai is writer and Lucknowite Himanshu Sharma. "I have been going there since I was a kid.I've grown up in Lucknow, and it used to be my hangout back then.And as I talk about it, I'm missing it even more," says Himanshu, who's written scripts forTanu Weds Manu, its sequel, and Raanjhanaa. "No visit of mine to Lucknow is complete without a cup of Sharmachai," says the Bollywood writer, who's also got his filmy friends addicted to the famous chai. Not surprisingly, because Himanshu swears by Sharma chai. "The place hasn't changed in donkey's years - no change in the menu and no change in the taste of the tea either. For me, the tea shop is a connect between the old and the new. I have travelled to so many places but nowhere have I had the kind of tea that is served at Sharma's. Woh taste kahin aur aata hi nahi hai," says Himanshu.