Rainy days may offer welcome relief from the heat, but they also bring on the lightning scares and just a tad bit of sadness (believe me, seasons do affect your vibe). You know, it’s raining today, so of course I had to follow my ritual, brew myself a warm sweet cup of tea, and stand on the balcony. These drops do often remind me of my hometown in the Himalayas, it used to rain quite often there, but more than the rain, this cup of tea reminds me of my hometown, especially my mother. You know, the first thing I learned to make as a 10-year-old acting as a sous chef in my mother’s kitchen was chai. Now that I sit on my balcony and sip on this cup of tea, it reminds me how I had not begun drinking tea until I was 16; my only job in the kitchen was to design the platter (biscuits) that would be served to guests while mother held the fort in the living room.
I remember, even though I hadn’t tasted tea till 16, I still considered it to be my signature dish, and believe me I hard pressed on the steps of self-importance that come with a task handed to a child which is to be done by a grown-up. I remember, even before the guests had had a chance to take a sip, my mom would double-check, “My kid made the tea, is it okay? Do you need more sugar?” It stung a little, but the guests always smiled and reassured her, saying it was perfect. Well, even though, the guests had funny grins on their faces while saying that, their words and the aroma of the tea were enough for me to know that the tea was actually perfect.
The way my mom had taught me was not exquisitely special, but it had worked like a charm. If you don’t know I used to live in the beautiful valleys of the Himalayas, we had a freshwater stream running beside our house, my mother always used to take fresh water to brew the most aromatic cup of sizzling hot tea, she always preferred cold water over hot water. Obviously, then I didn’t know why she used to do this, but now I do. According to our science gurus, the cold water lets the tea fully open up, I guess moms really are above science. This reminds me of the time, when I moved to another city for my masters, among other not-so-important belongings, I carried an electric kettle to boil my own tea in the hostel room. Tea woke me up before a lecture, helped me turn in assignments at the last minute, and soothed me on the days nothing felt right about being 1300 kilometers away from home. My mother really turned me into a MasterChef when it came to brewing tea, so good, that I’m making tea in a kettle in which water always boils out of it.
Next, I remember what my mom always used to say, “Beta, whenever you make tea, make sure you warm the cup with warm water” I asked why? and her reply was “When warm tea is poured into a cold cup, it shrinks or loses its moisture or something” I don’t really remember and I’m sure even she didn’t remember why. On the contrary, what she did remember was that each type of tea brews for different time durations. She didn’t follow the scientific methods you see nowadays, those concrete facts available online everywhere, but she was right. Believe it or not, she knew that chai brews in around 3-5 minutes, green tea brews in 2-3 minutes, and black tea brews in 3-5 minutes as well. Don’t trust me? Of course, why would you trust a person who’s been making tea since the age of 10? Anyway, I guess that’s how she taught me to brew my cup of tea, that I’m still drinking when it rains, when I wake up, when my headaches, or even without any reason. You must have seen panchayat and its famous dialouge, “Ek ek chai aur krlete hai” if it had been released earlier in the day, me and mom would’ve related to it so much. I guess that’s why I keep coming back to tea again and again, not just for the taste, a brief yet wholesome taste of serenity but also for the renewal of the old memories that might get dusted among the other things. Tea is something that I always run back to whenever the dust gets a little too much or whenever my life gets a little too much. I guess, thank you mom, and of course, thank you tea.