A cup of Tea

“I like life, it's wonderous and chaotic and somewhere in the middle I've created a safe place to do my thing in the world ~ I can't ask for much more & I am already so thankful when everything I got” ― Nikki Rowe

A day without food is understandable, but a day devoid of a cup of tea seems hard to begin. Winters have a propensity to be special with a cup of hot ginger tea. We have often seen  tea  carts on wheels in the homes of the rich, and  the poor man’s tea made on the wheels. A hawker selling tea, rolls his cart wheel early in the morning to brew tea for the early risers. He  usually has biscuits, rusk and a few other eatables in glass bottles to attract on goers. Some  of these people have become rich overnight owing to the art of concocting a rich and enjoyable tea. One of them who has been highly successful is ‘KaKa’, an old man who owns a  stall of ‘Vada Paav’ and tea. The ‘Vada’ is a ball of boiled, mashed, spiced potatoes smeared with a paste of gram flour and deep fried to be served with  green chillies(peppers). The fried Vada is placed between the halves of an Indian bun called pav which is flat and squarish in shape. It is often called the Indian Burger. Kaka then serves tea that is piping hot, and a mere half cup is enough to satiate the craving for a good tea.

A few days ago, I happened to see a Tea house, a place that sold only tea. The tea house is located in a wide lane next to  a  Nationalized Bank and a small shopping market close to the locality I live in. The shop has an array of marvellously shaped tiny bottles, and large bottles thrust in grooves.  It has a rich milieu of tea with a fiery  blazing stove on the outer extension of the shop, it has been revamped with a long  painted table for brewing the tea one likes. The visitor  can view, feel, smell the array of tea, and savour a cup of hot tea. The varieties  of tea range from Green Tea to Black Tea that seem to have been transported from the north east Darjeeling, Siliguri  to the varieties of tea found in Munnar and south India. A young, robust lad in his early twenties runs this place. He is tall, good looking, but dresses aptly to attract  youngsters. He stands quietly behind the counter, but listens and associates himself with the crowd enjoying the momentous phase. The young man showed us each variety, he named  and  described the tea, its goodness and its strengths. There are many varieties of tea, but the most common ones are Oolong Tea and Black Tea and Green Tea.  We understood that the Oolong Tea is a variety which has the qualities of both the Green Tea and the Black Tea.  Like Green Tea it has the ability to prevent diabetes, heart ailments and helps in overcoming obesity, however, the content of caffeine is greater in it. Black Tea and Oolong Tea have a greater content of caffeine. It is tastier when brewed with milk and sugar. It also has medicinal properties that help in controlling the weight  of an individual and overcoming cardiovascular disease.

We kept looking at the youngsters who had gathered there. There were tiny stools for everyone. They occupied their places ubiquitously, but were willing to  make a place for us. We felt the happiest standing with the owner in the inner counters. The tea was brewed and served in paper cups. They sipped and enjoyed the tea. We selected two different varieties, the young lad gave us a sample of the tea as a brewed cup.  As we relished the tea, I asked the young man how did he come up with such a unique concept. The boy flushed with pride as he said, “ This has been a family business, I have smelt tea, seen it and sipped it throughout my life. I have seen the varieties reach in large quantities and get dispatched. I said,” did you have an outlet like this”. He said that the outlet was his idea. He felt that a tiny joint like this does wonders in spreading happiness. I felt it did spread happiness to the youngsters who had vada pav at a nearby stall and then tea. The young man listened to their chatter and enjoyed as they broke the monotony of the silence in the shop. He did have people dropping in continuing to buy tea.

I felt the small place was definitely a hangout for youngsters. A little away from the Tea stall was a temple which was spaciously built. A small board had been mounted which said that the spot was meant for the senior citizens, perhaps it was meant to carry out their meetings.  The elderly have been given a few rights as fundamental rights. The temple premises had many of these elderly men and women sitting on the chairs, while a few of the men and women sat down on the ground. A few had the cymbals, a dholak (an oval drum) and a few the rosary beads which they counted as they sang the Vedic mantras. They sang loud and the air, mysteriously sounded vibrant with joy. As the clock was about to strike seven, I heard the young man instruct the lad to begin brewing tea. The young man began making space for people with a few more chairs. The crowd of senior citizens, then moved to the shop where the boy served them hot tea. The tea was laid out on a tray, the sugared tea was served to a few robust elderly and a few cups without sugar to others. It looked as if this had been a regular affair as the lad knew them and their tastes. The youngsters seemed to be at home with them. One of the youngsters took the cymbals and began singing, within minutes the place was pulsating with songs, laughter and joy. The young owner looked at us meaningfully, perhaps to convey that some simple things in life evoke greater joy when lived with others.

 “Squatted beside the fire, with the warmth of it upon his face and hands, he felt a smug contentment that seemed strangely out of place--the contentment of a man who had reduced his needs to the strictly basic--and with the contentment came a full-bodied confidence that was just as out of place.” ― Clifford D. Simak