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NRIs are the major drivers of the real estate market especially in the northern India, in particular in Punjab. As of now the real estate market in the state was going through the regular highs and lows. When the local buyers and sellers are waiting in the annexes of the market to make attractive gains, so are the NRIs.

According to the experts the transactions in buying and selling in real estate which involves the NRI community have increased in the past two years. This rich community has helped scale up the market prices by investing heavily in the real estate sector. The NRI community and IT professionals were on the top of the list when the local and national players were busy launching their residential projects. With a positive response from the NRI clientele, most builders focused on the luxury apartments and put the comparatively cheaper segment on the backburner.

The turndown in the market disappointed the NRI investors also. In the boom years, during the festival season, NRIs invested heavily especially Diwali. The national real estate developers, a company that had reserved a huge portion of its new luxury project for the NRI population. It had also focused heavily on marketing in foreign countries for attracting the NRI community. However the company failed to get the expected response.

The strategy of the builders and developers has changed due to the withdrawal of NRI money from the market. There has been a gradual movement to budget housing from the luxury apartments. The expected growth in the IT industry in the region did not materialize beyond the initial euphoria, and the investment push expected from the NRI investors also did not come about in the last two years. So the prices of the residential projects, where were kept high keeping this clientele in mind, have become untenable with the ground reality. The result is that builders are stuck with their projects as the NRI investors have withdrawn and the prices are too high for the locals to afford.

The uncertainty of the government policy regarding real estate licensing, especially the environment policy regarding the real estate projects has also scared away the NRI investors.

It is learnt that when Amrita Pritam and Imroz moved to their Delhi residence they also agreed to the pact that the lady would cook the meals while the groom would make the tea for both. Well the pact was fine till Imroz found himself most of the time during the day in the kitchen with the tea pot on the gas stove making tea for the visitors, that too who had come to see Amrita.

People now have to do with Green Label and Tata Gold for daily cups and Duncan’s Runglee Rungliot, named after the priced tea garden in Darjeeling for formal occasions. And heres how they like to put their cup of tea. Tea leaves put in the pot and pouring hot water over it. Adding milk latter to retain the original aroma of the leaves. Another tip, use fresh water and not the filtered one.

For me tea with nostalgia was way back and now I am used to having the cup of tea that comes prepared from the kitchen.  However we do organize high tea when we use all that fine chine, teacosy and tea caps. A few die- hard tea fans are trying their best to keep the trading alive.

The young businessmen spend half an hour every morning indulging in an elaborate  tea affair. His collection includes Lapsang Souchong, Oolong Tea, Hojicha Matcha in Japanese variety, Tra Sen and Rose Hip from Vietnam, Rooibos a South African Red Bush tea, chamomlia from Germany and Hydrangea tea from Korea. He has an elaborate tea paraphernalia to enjoy each variety, the cups for his Korean tea comes with an inbuilt sieve, besides banboo whisks to make a frothy drink from the Japanese fine powdered tea. One of his Japanese tea varieties comes with puffed brown rice, a source of oxygen and energy.