Chai Kasam!

CHAI—“Not a word, but a feeling”, read this line somewhere on the Internet, instantly shared it on my Facebook account.  Got a couple of “Heart” shaped likes , honestly if you ask me , I think they are just a way of pleasing your friends and telling them,”hey ,look I liked it. Was a little lazy to comment so a “heart-like”, just to be extra sure you noticed!”

Well coming back, so I instantly got some 30, 40 likes telling me how they feel the same. But I believe mostly everyone out there feels the same, apart from my best friend she hates tea. (Surprised enough? yes people like her exist). But as for me, tea is “love”.

It is like a cup of peace. I clearly can’t imagine my day starting without tea.   Well no I do not  enjoy the luxury of having tea served to me at bed , but my day literally starts when I  take my first cup of tea after reaching office,otherwise I just look like  a moving talking zombie. To get back to feeling Human,  tea is must for me .Chai is just a “Savior” for me.

Any issue in life, CHAI seems to guard and the best part this savior comes in different packages: ginger, lemon, elaichi, plain, kulhad etc. the fancier the chai places you go, the more different variations they have.

My favorite is from the tea seller at the street corner, (NUKKAD WALI CHAI)! No I did not meet any hot chaiwala like Arshad khan from Pakistan or the next probable PM of our nation. I just like the way it is made.

Like a smitten lover I am pulled towards it, under the open sky, beneath the shade of a tree, in a simple vessel, the air around filled with the aroma of Ginger, Cloves and Cardamoms mixed with a tinge of Kerosene oil from the burner.

Apart from this aroma, what I love the most is the crowd around it. No one shy’s away from drinking tea from these places.  Dressed in all their Gucci and Armani, coming out of their shiny expensive cars, most of them love drinking Tea from here. Now is it the chai or the Sutta Chai combination, that can be debated on but all in all this Nukkad wali chai helps breaks all Society barriers in a way.

Even the people that surround the tea counter are varied enough.  There are people discussing about Bitcoin, GST, tax saving, mutual funds, children’s fees, next salon appointment, their friends to be “bhabhi”, or just a cute intern in their team.

 Somewhere in a distant corner away from the crowd you can spot a couple or two, silently looking into each other’s eyes and drinking their tea. And in a more distant corner a person with a Marlboro, tie hanging loose on his collar, sipping onto  the last sip from his glass and looking on the ground , lost in his own thoughts,contemplating . And while you wonder what is he thinking , your thoughts are broken by a perky group talking about their presentation in the meeting. Your inquisitiveness takes a standstill; you pick your cup and start relishing it. Because even doing nothing at all is respectable at tea time.

The warm cup of tea does seem a little hard to get in the peak summer times, because its takes a while spotting the chai-walas when the sun is right above your head and it is some 35 degree outside. But you can’t call yourself a tea lover if you abandon your tea in difficult times. After all “ye ishq nahīñ āsāñ itnā hī samajh liije ,ik aag kā dariyā hai aur Duub ke jaanā hai"

But the contentment after spotting the tea corner after this struggle is ethereal. And seeing similar humans like you drenched in sweat, enjoying their tea is priceless. You instantly develop a “tea-mately” connection with them.

I have also  established some real platonic friendships over tea; this cup of tea has been witness to many stories exchanged and a varied of emotions gulped with it. Few people have been  lost over the tea meetings as well, but what stayed constant was this beautiful  cup of tea!  (My tea stories might continue in more upcoming posts). All in all this emotion: "Chai"  that we all feel  is the best one.

There are millions of quotes I have heard about the love for tea , but recently the most intriguing to me was “Who  needs  a guy, when there is Chai!! ". I cannot recollect the source, but it really stayed on with me for a while.And these days my prime source of motivation too.  

That reminds me what is your favorite time and place for tea? And do you have any interesting story from your tea time, do comment and share it with me. After all tea breaks are the prime highlights of our day. Aren’t they?

 (**Image Courtesy :Google)