Chinese mythology has myriads anecdotes about the discoveries of ’Cha’, or what we call tea. One such story portrays Buddha as the discoverer of this aromatic leaf which he found soothing and mind refreshing. So having Indian roots in its inception, tea has managed to enter the day to day life of our country. And in a way tea is among the very few common things in our varied culture. Therefore the recent consideration to making tea our national beverage is only a token of its importance in our lives today.
If we contemplate tea acts as a fellow accompanying us without any reason. It acts as a medium of uniting hearts (credit to college canteen tea), fixing marriages (our typical Indian to be bride serving tea to her future in laws), stress buster (headache remedy by default), a motivator (”I have to study all night need tea!”) and in many other ways. It is a source of creativity, and also gives thrust to any discussion or talk. A delight for winters and a reason to halt during long road journey at road side Dhabas.
Homemade ginger tea is what we need after long tiring day. And thus we notice that this beverage holds a default status in our lives. We love, we hate, we get inspired, we offload our minds, we welcome and we do many such things with the aid of a cup. Even going through the same process of making, tea manages to hold different color, taste and feel each time. Our college canteen-walla makes tea with the least ratio of milk to water, but we ardently demand cup after another and will recollect it for years after we graduate. The cacophony of train’s movement, high pitch “Chai chai chai” piercing our ears and dull looking tea in paper cups is the delight of any journey.
I don’t understand how it took so long to recognize its presence in our lives. When it’s registering the presence in the sub-continent from centuries and it has amalgamated in our lives like our companion, the recognition will neither add nor degrade its ubiquitous reputation. I am not exaggerating but when we sleep with a belief of better tomorrow, this belief is strengthen by tea as we wake up and start our day with it. Thank you, Chai, for being in our lives.