Leaf for Life...

The subject of this blog is very discrete but it's very essential part of my life and may be for many of you reading this. My day starts with this and I need this at least 3 times a day and becomes 4-5 times on a weekend. I am tagged by friends in most of the posts in Facebook and Instagram regarding this topic. It’s easy for me to connect with and mingle well with those who share the love for this. My love for this annoys my husband to the core, but I can’t help it nor can he. He has to bear with it for the rest of his life. So what is this thing which I am describing in so many ways? Any guesses…YES, It’s TEA 😄

Some of you must be thinking what can be written about Tea, Can there be enough content for this subject? But if you ask me, I will always say YES. If ever there had to an essay competition and the subject be Tea, I am sure I would have secured full marks in school days but NO, the teachers always have more important topics such as National Politics, Science, Freedom, Festivals, Technology etc. even when the word TEACHER itself has the first three letter as TEA. I am not complaining though but I never got the chance to express my love for tea in words that’s why I am writing here where my thoughts my way can reach to all the Tea lovers out there and for non-tea lovers you can relate to anything you love to drink. 😁

I guess there is more tea running through my body than blood given the amount of tea I have been consuming from a very small age. This incredible love for tea also runs in my family. I have probably got it from my parents. When I was a kid and tasted tea for the first time, liked it and asked for more, my parents must have felt immensely proud and told each other ‘she is definitely our daughter’. There are so many stories of me around tea, I will share a few here.

one of the stories would be about last year when we were in France, my husband’s colleague invited us for lunch on a weekend. We were served the French food but with a twist that Indians can like. We were humbled by the effort they had made. It was post lunch we were all chitchatting and discussing the cultures of different countries and they were showing us the photo albums of their family and the colleague’s husband asks if we want to have some tea. The word itself excited me and I immediately said 'YES'. But my husband politely tried to tell me ‘You won’t like the tea they make, they drink just the decoction without milk and sugar’. Listening to our conversation, he asked ‘Is there a specific way we make our tea?’. Without any hesitation  I told ‘YES, would you like to try tea in Indian way today?’ (My husband was embarrassed but it was me and my love for tea and also my time for tea). The colleague’s husband ushered me their kitchen and assisted me in preparing the Indian tea. When I served the tea and they liked it and said they are going to drink the Indian way of tea once a week. ! It made my day, I felt so proud (my husband was now grinning). This is one of the memories I take back from France and cherish it 💭

The second story is about almost 7 years ago during the early period of our courtship, my going to be husband wanted me to meet some of his friends. We went to Orion mall, Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore. It was a nice afternoon with lots of chatting and loads of junk food pizza, burgers, fries etc. etc. It was 4 PM, all the friends left. And there I was saying to him ‘I want to have some tea!’. The last thing he wanted to do that evening was hunt for tea. If I ask him the same now, he will either say ‘I will be here, you go drink your tea and comeback’ that is if he is in good mood else he will say ‘Get lost, I am going home. Do whatever you want’. But it was a different era, he had to impress me so he said 'I can get you the Moon and Stars, Tea is such a small thing after all'. We went back to food court and searched for Tea everywhere in mall only to find out that there is no tea anywhere in the entire huge great mall. With great despair, we came out of the mall and started walking on the streets of Rajaji Nagar to find tea. We were asking random people of road where we get tea. It was 5 PM by now, we continued to walk for almost 2 Km then found a small stall where cigarettes and tea were sold. It was finally 6 PM by the time we got tea, I drank 2 cups to fulfill my desire. Both of us learnt something about each other that day. He got to know how badly I need my tea and I learnt from him that he will accompany me for tea always whether he drinks it or no.

I am sure many of us have our own stories of tea, coffee or any other food items we love in particular and crave for it. For me its tea, the aroma of it itself brings immense joy in me, the taste of it triggers positive emotions in my mind and amplify energy in my body. I am always first one in a group to say ‘Let’s go for tea’ may it be work place or a friend’s get together or a family trip. People close to me will vouch for this bond as they all have been part of the great mid night gossip with tea. My guilty pleasure is sipping a hot cup of tea anytime anywhere anyplace. 💓 what's yours???