Chai garam !!!

It was a very hectic day,I was busy on my system to meet the otherwise impractical deadline.Meanwhile I had forgotten that it was about 3 hrs ago when I had left my seat.My head was spinning and my back was not allowing me to sit further.

With a pleasant surprise came a ping on office communicator
Alok – “Hey Ravindra,I am feeling tired 🙁 coming for tea ?”

“Oh man , this message could not have come at a better time than this 🙂 ” I sighed.

Off I went to our favourite place in office i.e. cafeteria.
I opted for my favourite cup of Green tea whereas Alok had Black tea.

The conversation of 5 minutes was not as refreshing as my cuppa.

As we conversed I kept thinking about the most underrated & underestimated drink of India i.e. TEA or “chai garam ” as I love to call it.

Tea has been integral part of my life and many others like me.Though I was allowed limited intake by mom but it always helped me in refreshing my mood while I studied in school days.I had a perfect start of my day after having a cup of “adrak wali chai” prepared by mom.

When I came in college , had it not been tea it would have been nearly impossible to clear semester exams;Since my nocturnal nature was an attribute to chemical composition of the tea.Here it was that I enjoyed the taste of milkless and sugar less tea too.Thanks to the hostel life.

But tea indeed was a mechanism to gel with friends.
The tea stall beside the hostel was the actual hot spot for the full day conversation about hot chicks,cricket,movies and boyish talks.
The bread omlette served with tea and “sutta ” was the lifeline for all the hostellers.These breaks and places were breeding hotspots of ideas and creativity.Looking the turnover of the teawala we had even planned to start chain of tea stalls once we were out of college ..lol 😛

The contribution of this holy drink didnot end here itself.So many dates were successful only because the conversation started with invitation of a cup of tea at college canteen, which led to landing finally to Baristas,Cafe Coffee day and the like.Though coffee was preffered over tea due to showoff but somehow the charm and sootheness tea provides is unmatched.

Nothing much changed when I came in corporate life.Infact I actually realized its importance of it.With the kind of pressure cooker like situation which builds up in a team or infact in our head,Tea breaks come as rescue.After a heated debate in a meeting with a fellow mate or after an exhaustive session an offer of a cup of tea or coffee acts as an icing on the cake.Team building and friendship building would have been such an ardous task had this beverage not discovered.

Our group had an amazing time in chennai when all of us would ping each other to reach in canteen to have tea break.This was the only means to meet and chit chat for few minutes amidst our busy office schedules.

A lot must have been written about tea,its varities,recipies etc. but nothing can compare the sheer taste and aroma of the tea served in mud pot , popularly called as “Kullad” .The sweet smell of clay when hot tea is served in it is out of the world experience.I get rare occassions now to have it since paper/plastic cups have replaced it but while I am travelling in train I do get opportunities to have my most coveted drink once a while in kullad.

Nothing can beat the experience of the lovely monsoons ,the smell of mud and the rain when tea is served with pakoras.Especially after one reaches home whole drenched in rain, isn’t it ?

Tea is indeed an integral and important aspect of Hindi heartland and its high time this beverage should be getting its due.