Tea talks
Caution: The following post is an ode to Tea! Non-tea drinkers please be forewarned :P
Before I go on to the single minded devotional rant on what I consider the most intoxicating beverage ever, please be warned that it comes from a totally biased mind and innumerable attempts on the part of various people to convince me otherwise has resulted in nothing but failure.
Tea for me is the backdrop on which all my mornings are set - the earthy smell of the brewing tea coupled with the spicy notes of ginger, in a very strange way is the most comforting smell I can think of. When I look back at my childhood, tea was a luxury. Only parents and adults could have it. My trysts with tea were limited to the few occasions when papa allowed me to dip the glucose biscuits in his cup of tea. I remember the times when out of my greed to soak in the maximum tea, I used to dip the biscuits a few seconds too long and they would flop into the cup. Papa never complained, just laughed it off. Today I get angry at myself when I drop the biscuit in my own cup of tea - papa never did.
I don't remember when it was but somewhere down the years I convinced mummy that tea mixed in a huge glass of milk was as good as Bournvita or Complan. The milk tasted faintly of tea and hardly had any colour at all - but for me and my sister, it was our trophy!
It was during my engineering that I remember having an unrestricted access to tea. It was as if I had came of age. Since then there has been no looking back! I have gutted down I don't know how many cups of tea but the love has not faded.
During my MBA days, I bonded with a lot of people over the shared love for tea. I had the most awesome memories of waking up in the morning and going to this small tea stall with a friend, each with a mug in hand. He charged us 10 bucks each day for a mug full of that tea - gingery and very sweet.
Midnight tea were a big ritual too - sitting on the pavement with our legs stretched out on the roads, sipping tea and having those biscuits they sell at the tea stall. Endless conversations and lots of gossip. I guess, to an onlooker it would look like we students were trying to keep ourselves awake 'coz we are busy studying through the night. That was not the case. I used to come back to my room and go straight to bed, but for the tea I waited.
There were teas between classes too. I had a different set of friends for the in-between classes tea breaks. These also happen to be the people who made me bunk the most classes because they chose to frisk me away to a chai-stall, for tea served with some intellectual discussions, right from the doorstep of the classroom.
During my professional life too I have been fortunate to have discovered a few very amazing people - all because of friendships that developed over the tea breaks and a mutual dislike of all that was wrong with our employers.
In fact, it was with Vishal (that's the gentleman's name whom I am lucky to be married to) that I discovered the pinnacle of tea induced banter. I am not sure what came first, the love or the endless conversations but whatever it was, tea was always in the background.
The gangs of friends are no longer there, but the cup of tea still lingers in my hand every morning. Sometimes in solitude, sometimes in the company of a book, and off-late with my hubby. These moments shared over the cup of tea still are the ones where I find it easiest to bond with people, discuss the fanciest ideas or vent the darkest thoughts. These are still the moments when I make memories - one cup at a time!
Before I go on to the single minded devotional rant on what I consider the most intoxicating beverage ever, please be warned that it comes from a totally biased mind and innumerable attempts on the part of various people to convince me otherwise has resulted in nothing but failure.
Tea for me is the backdrop on which all my mornings are set - the earthy smell of the brewing tea coupled with the spicy notes of ginger, in a very strange way is the most comforting smell I can think of. When I look back at my childhood, tea was a luxury. Only parents and adults could have it. My trysts with tea were limited to the few occasions when papa allowed me to dip the glucose biscuits in his cup of tea. I remember the times when out of my greed to soak in the maximum tea, I used to dip the biscuits a few seconds too long and they would flop into the cup. Papa never complained, just laughed it off. Today I get angry at myself when I drop the biscuit in my own cup of tea - papa never did.
I don't remember when it was but somewhere down the years I convinced mummy that tea mixed in a huge glass of milk was as good as Bournvita or Complan. The milk tasted faintly of tea and hardly had any colour at all - but for me and my sister, it was our trophy!
It was during my engineering that I remember having an unrestricted access to tea. It was as if I had came of age. Since then there has been no looking back! I have gutted down I don't know how many cups of tea but the love has not faded.
During my MBA days, I bonded with a lot of people over the shared love for tea. I had the most awesome memories of waking up in the morning and going to this small tea stall with a friend, each with a mug in hand. He charged us 10 bucks each day for a mug full of that tea - gingery and very sweet.
Midnight tea were a big ritual too - sitting on the pavement with our legs stretched out on the roads, sipping tea and having those biscuits they sell at the tea stall. Endless conversations and lots of gossip. I guess, to an onlooker it would look like we students were trying to keep ourselves awake 'coz we are busy studying through the night. That was not the case. I used to come back to my room and go straight to bed, but for the tea I waited.
There were teas between classes too. I had a different set of friends for the in-between classes tea breaks. These also happen to be the people who made me bunk the most classes because they chose to frisk me away to a chai-stall, for tea served with some intellectual discussions, right from the doorstep of the classroom.
During my professional life too I have been fortunate to have discovered a few very amazing people - all because of friendships that developed over the tea breaks and a mutual dislike of all that was wrong with our employers.
In fact, it was with Vishal (that's the gentleman's name whom I am lucky to be married to) that I discovered the pinnacle of tea induced banter. I am not sure what came first, the love or the endless conversations but whatever it was, tea was always in the background.
The gangs of friends are no longer there, but the cup of tea still lingers in my hand every morning. Sometimes in solitude, sometimes in the company of a book, and off-late with my hubby. These moments shared over the cup of tea still are the ones where I find it easiest to bond with people, discuss the fanciest ideas or vent the darkest thoughts. These are still the moments when I make memories - one cup at a time!
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