Masala Chai

by Alyees Qureshi

Masala Chai is the journey of a flower from blossoming to indulgence. Its essence brews the most flavorful and aromatic chai, for it has not only flourished freely but has also suffered sorrow. Follow this recipe closely and savor the flavors of life

Genres: Poetry

193 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2018

About the author

torn between a traditional pakistani-muslim household while living in an american society, alyees qureshi wrote his own story to bridge the gap between his two worlds. rediscovering the very cultural roots he buried, alyees found peace in embracing the man that his journey helped him become today. although at times, staying silent is tempting, alyees believes that expression paves the path for growth, and thus masala chai was born. as a collection of poems, alyees hopes that his voice will resonate with those facing similar struggles and inspire them to express their own too.

Reviews

[Asad Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book! I would 100% recommend to read it! Waiting for book number two!

[Henna Rasheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written! Can’t wait for the second book!!

[Shehryar Zaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing example of what many young Pakistani/south-asian diaspora go through. Great read!

[Aman Khan]

Beautiful book of culture and poetry. Very well written by the author and looking forward to more!

[Dominic Anton · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book is more of free verse pieces than actual poetic forms. Some pieces are repetitive and although he tried to make them sound poetic, some of them weren't really making a general point.

overall, he did bring up interesting topics here and there, like "respect your elders" that i could relate to and the categorization and concept of the sections was creative and different.

[Ishwarjeet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this in 2019 when I was uncritical of diaspora poetry. I have since grown up, and now writing this in January 2026, I can confirm there is much better poetry out there than this 21st century-extreme short form-uncapitalised-non-punctuated-mango tree-diaspora-type poetry. We have Ghazal and Nazm form for a reason. Use it!

[Anil]

Hdjjd ejdkks keek

[Jacqueline Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and flowing collection, this book explores themes such as love and holding two cultures in tandem. I loved the artwork in the book and I personally enjoyed the "brew" section the best.