The most enjoyable hour of my day!
Throughout my schooling, the subject which I despised the most is “Hindi Language”. It was the day I had my Class-10 Hindi language main exam. My dad woke me up at 4:00 AM to make me revise the most depressing subject of my life. That day had turned out to be an unforgettable day though it is supposed to be one of the worst days(waking up at four and revising Hindi subject).
It’s 4 in the morning with pin drop silence on the streets. I brushed my teeth and sat at my desk with books in front of me. I could hear the sounds of the crickets which was giving me “time to sleep” ambience. I wanted to sleep right there on my desk but I couldn’t because of the exam and my dad. My dad sat right beside me and kept checking on me if I was not asleep. He asked me if I was feeling sleepy. I said ‘yes’ with a sympathetic face which wasn’t convincing enough for him to say, “ok, sleep for a while!”. Instead, he suddenly got up and headed towards the kitchen. After a couple of minutes he was back with two cups of tea. This was for the first time I had tea. I refused at first as I told him what if mom knew, to which he said he would manage.
I took in the first sip. It was love at first taste 😍. I had nice tea chatting time with my dad forgetting all the tension I had before the exam. And was how it into an unforgettable day. Since then I had started having chai with my parents in the morning, just sitting there with the cup in my hand, with them, listening to them talk(at times discussing, arguing, just laughing).
Even after going to college, if not on the weekdays, but on the weekends, I used to have the whole room to myself(as my roommate left for her home on the weekends). Before anybody else woke up and disturb my precious time of the day, I used to make a hot beverage or tea(mostly tea) and drink it with peace while reading a book(as a companion).
After few years, I would share the tea time with my mom. Well, of all the companions, she is undoubtedly the best. Tea time would usually be 30 minutes, but with her it exceeds by 2 hours sometimes(when nobody is at home) eventually forgetting to cook and eat breakfast. What do we talk about? We start decently with how our previous day had been or the present day would be, then slowly divert to neighbours, famliy and friends’ gossip and then end up with us bitching about people in our lives(this is the amazing part 😂).
After a couple years of again, I have been sharing tea time with my husband. Since ours had been an arranged marriage, initial talks were all about knowing about each other, likes and dislikes, deciding menu and recipes for the day. Later talks would be all about how we are going to decorate our new home. A couple of days later, talks would be about our kid(his innocent talk) his milestones, his future and how we should be good parents.
This 30 minutes of tea session is the time where I enjoy to my heart’s content in my entire day. No matter what tension, rush or critical situation I am in, I would never miss this time in the morning. I would rather give up the chai time, than drinking it just to drink as a habit. It’s not a habit, it’s an addiction. My world gets paused here and then resumes after the chai and the friendly chit chat.
I am not entirely sure if its the chit-chat, gossip, small talk or the silence that happens during this invaluable time or the unbeatable taste of the tea. Certainly this is the only constant thing that has been happening in my life wherever I go or whomever I am with(luckily, my husband is also a tea lover). I wouldn’t miss it for the world 😇.