I love…

I am a proud, self-declared, diehard fan of tea ever since I was a child of even less than 10 years old. One memory sharply etched out in my mind is that of me, a child of hardly 8 years, rushing out of the room to enjoy a little coolness outside, only to return and enjoy my cup of hot tea in the sultry afternoon as there was no electricity that day. That memory never fails to amuse me even today. How I loved tea even in the unbearable sultry weather and at such a young age. My love for tea has only grown stronger and deeper with age.

Not a single day in my life has passed without savoring multiple cups of tea.

Ever since I remember, my day has to start with a cup of hot tea, even before breakfast, and another cup to complete my breakfast. Late afternoon or pre-evening hot tea helps to prolong the taste of the sumptuous lunch on some days while complementing the sparse one on others. And then how can I let tea-time pass without having tea, right? On some days, dinner is accompanied with tea while on others it is replaced with tea only. On some days, without any rhyme or reason, pre-bed rituals don’t seem complete without tea.

But that is not all. The above-mentioned list is about general reasons to have tea. Some of the special reasons that may or may not overlap with the above-listed ones are –

• There is a lot of time at hand with nothing much to do, like waiting for a train, plane or a person.
• You are alone, feeling, bored and can’t think of doing something better.
• You have tried making a new recipe, success or not, it has to be accompanied with tea only.
• Preparing to work seriously on a job, are tired and want a break, or want to relax after having successfully completed the task.
• You are feeling depressed about something and want to tackle it yourself.
• On the diametrically opposite end, you want to compliment yourself about something you are happy about, then also tea.
• Friends, the biggest and best reason, to share tea with.
• Lastly, as Lewis Carol’s Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland said, “Yes, that’s it! It’s always tea time.”

Some more reasons for having tea, if I go by others reasoning that I found in a forwarded WhatsApp message are –

• Feeling sleepy
• Want to enjoy the weather
• Have ginger tea to cure headache, cold, sore throat, etc.
• Go for a zero figure with green tea.
• Want pocket money? Make tea for your father.
• TV watching is better with tea.
• Last but not the least – want to become PM….. make TEA.
We are talking about love, right? Yes, I know it is love for tea, still, why search for a reason? Isn’t it true that love has no reason, even if it is for tea? So, would you like to join me for a cup of steaming hot tea?

By the way, this is one more reason people love to have tea – to connect with strangers, to strike a conversation, to initiate a relationship.

Just like tea I love books as well; and that too from my childhood. And I would like to explore the connection between the two.

To start with, very early I had read the story, A Cup of Tea by Katherine Mansfield. It was a pretty serious commentary on the social evils of the class divide, rich vs poor.

Google tells me that Sanskrit scholars believe that in Ramayana the Sanjeevani booti that Hanumanji bought from the Himalayas for Lakshman was actually tea. How wonderful!

Some of the best quotes on tea that I found on Google –
“If you want success then have tea”.

“Tea is liquid wisdom.”
“A cup of tea makes everything better.”
“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy tea and that’s kind of the same thing.”

“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.” – Lin Yutang
“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.” – William Ewart Gladstone
I choose to end with this self-written note about tea –
On the stove of experience,
Place a pan of thoughts with the water of disturbance in it.
Add some tea leaves of awareness, a little milk of feelings, and the sweetness of love.
Let it boil till the color and aroma make it magical.
Filter it and relish it in the cup of your five senses with some sweet and some savory snacks stored in your memory.

Tell me, what was it like, tea or life?

Written by: Poonam Malik
Edited By: Rajinder Soni

#tea #coffee #life #poonammalik

Poonam Mam, your article is full of feelings as there was one advertisement for tea to boil it till it changes the colour same as our country is changing. Thank you for writing this wonderful piece.