Subah ki Chai !

Tea or Chai as we call it in India, has a special place and everyone has infinite memories attached to it. You meet your prospective spouse over a cup of chai, you enjoy the 1^st monsoon with adrakwali chai & pakode , you share endless conversations with friends over  chai & sutta. Chai evokes nostalgia and takes you down the memory lane. Each cup of tea is an expression or like they say ‘chai is an emotion’

I will begin by saying that my maa loves her chai and the morning tea to her is sacred. The classic adrak-elaichi combination with an exact measurement of cheeni with perfectly boiled chaipatti and milk and lots of khaulana or boiling it right. In all these years I never tasted doodh wali chai but mumaa made sure that I learn to make it the way she does and for a very long time I used to make her morning chai until I started living in another city. My sister has her way of making it, but she enjoys a good cup of chai as well in the morning.

What made it special for both of us is that we bonded on this cup of chai every morning, more like a catching up session and tradition passed on. The topics ranged from school dynamics to work stress depending on what phase of life I was in. She helped me navigate through tough situations, develop interpersonal skills, resolve conflicts, financial management, anger management, deal with loneliness and most times was overprotective about me doing something stupid. As I grew up even, she shared her thoughts, feelings that she was going through and we started seeing each other for the woman we are and not only our roles of mother or daughter … our conversations evolved. We celebrated each other’s individuality and it helped me heal. Her views on marriage, being single, being educated and financial independence reminded me I always have a choice. She likes her chai strong and that’s what she reminds to be in tough situations…her subah ki chai has the best memories of our relationship  😊