Recently I met a gentleman in office who said he avoids drinking tea as much as possible. My first thought was probably he's one of those who have mastered in their prejudice against tea. You mention tea and they mention 'caffeine', 'acidity' etc etc. But then he added gently. "Jo Chai mujhe pasand hai, vo koi banata hi nahi hai yaar! His face was a reflection of sad disappointment. Being a tea lover myself, I knew what he meant.
Let's take a look around. Do I know 'X' who is really serious about putting a big chunk of ginger in tea? How about 'Y' whose secret of good tea is adding a special 'tea masala' to it? Or 'Z' who knows just the right proportion of Water:Milk:Tea leaves:Sugar ratio that produces the same golden cup of tea every time? Tea making is a serious business for the passionate tea lovers. People customize tea recipes to suit their taste. And when the absolute perfect tea hits you, it is indeed an 'Aha' moment.
My cousin told me a tea story. He went to a friend's place for evening tea. His friend's wife added a special 'masala' to the tea. My cousin liked the taste and praised it a lot. Few days later when he had tea at that friend's place again, it was quite hard and almost impossible to drink it. Sensing his liking, his friend's wife had added extra 'tea masala' this time. The spices were just too much for him. He somehow drank it but tried to shy away from tea in his future visits. That didn't help much. He had to finally mention in a subtle way that he prefers moderate amount of tea masala. He just hopes he has not offended his friend's wife...
I've had my share of tea tantrums. My better half has conveniently established that he makes the worst tea in this world and I make the best. There are a lot of side effects. One of them is that I always have to get up first in the morning and make tea for us. This also means I never get to snuggle lazy and open my eyes to these magic words - "Honey, here is your bed tea". Duh!
Another tea incident took place this winter at my in-laws place. It is always tea time in Northern India in winter season. My father-in-law asked me one such day - "Beta, eik cup badia chai pilao". I made the type of tea that he likes or so I thought. I hung around in the shadows waiting for any compliments. He is always very generous. But he didn't say anything. This happened a couple of times. I would make tea, he would drink it but no comments. I was down with cold one day and my husband offered to make tea for me. He served a cup to his dad as well. Dad took a sip. "Badia chai hai!", he said with pleasure. His face was happy and satisfied. A zillion universe exploded in my head and that was it. My moment of truth. I'm not going to be the 'bahu' whose tea is liked by her father-in-law.
Well that's how it is. Some like it hot and some not. We think we make good tea and then we meet tea-enthusiastics who inspire us to make it even better. We think tea-making is a jiffy and then in most hurried of situations we end up adding salt instead of sugar to our teas. Remember that best tea stall in college? That gossip time with girlfriends? Consoling a friend over tea? A Proposal? If your mind wants to wander to its favorite tea story, then let it be. After all, it's not just a cup of tea. As some would say, 'It's a part of me'.
Let's take a look around. Do I know 'X' who is really serious about putting a big chunk of ginger in tea? How about 'Y' whose secret of good tea is adding a special 'tea masala' to it? Or 'Z' who knows just the right proportion of Water:Milk:Tea leaves:Sugar ratio that produces the same golden cup of tea every time? Tea making is a serious business for the passionate tea lovers. People customize tea recipes to suit their taste. And when the absolute perfect tea hits you, it is indeed an 'Aha' moment.
My cousin told me a tea story. He went to a friend's place for evening tea. His friend's wife added a special 'masala' to the tea. My cousin liked the taste and praised it a lot. Few days later when he had tea at that friend's place again, it was quite hard and almost impossible to drink it. Sensing his liking, his friend's wife had added extra 'tea masala' this time. The spices were just too much for him. He somehow drank it but tried to shy away from tea in his future visits. That didn't help much. He had to finally mention in a subtle way that he prefers moderate amount of tea masala. He just hopes he has not offended his friend's wife...
I've had my share of tea tantrums. My better half has conveniently established that he makes the worst tea in this world and I make the best. There are a lot of side effects. One of them is that I always have to get up first in the morning and make tea for us. This also means I never get to snuggle lazy and open my eyes to these magic words - "Honey, here is your bed tea". Duh!
Another tea incident took place this winter at my in-laws place. It is always tea time in Northern India in winter season. My father-in-law asked me one such day - "Beta, eik cup badia chai pilao". I made the type of tea that he likes or so I thought. I hung around in the shadows waiting for any compliments. He is always very generous. But he didn't say anything. This happened a couple of times. I would make tea, he would drink it but no comments. I was down with cold one day and my husband offered to make tea for me. He served a cup to his dad as well. Dad took a sip. "Badia chai hai!", he said with pleasure. His face was happy and satisfied. A zillion universe exploded in my head and that was it. My moment of truth. I'm not going to be the 'bahu' whose tea is liked by her father-in-law.
Well that's how it is. Some like it hot and some not. We think we make good tea and then we meet tea-enthusiastics who inspire us to make it even better. We think tea-making is a jiffy and then in most hurried of situations we end up adding salt instead of sugar to our teas. Remember that best tea stall in college? That gossip time with girlfriends? Consoling a friend over tea? A Proposal? If your mind wants to wander to its favorite tea story, then let it be. After all, it's not just a cup of tea. As some would say, 'It's a part of me'.
