HOW ABOUT A CUP OF CHAI? ;)

This wasn't originally my idea.

I just made a new friend,  all the way from India :)

Himanshi.

www.imperfectbutreal.blogspot.in

Who's as in love with chai as I am and I feel connects to it. And upon reading her chai article, it just made me reflect on my relationship with chai.

Trust me, we have come a long way.

So grab a cup of tea and sit back, listen to my chai love life.

I am not one of those people who has grown on chai since forever. Absolutely not. Infact, the opposite. I never liked tea or chai as we call the magic concoction that drives the world around,  specially in our side of the world :)
I never understood why people were so fond of it. After all it was just milk infused with some plant leaves and spices. Just.

I was in grade 2 when in our English Language exam to check our writing skills we needed to write the recipe of making tea aka "chai".

I wrote the recipe confident that I would score full on it. Since I have been seeing tea made in my house for everyday for so many years. When were all those observation skills going to come in handy?

Anyways when the score came I got a 1 out if the total 5. I was heartbroken and I hated tea more than ever.
On coming home I accused mum of not knowing how to make the right chai.

Little did I know that there was a standard chai and then there were "chai" versions hailing from different areas and respective cultures.

I am a punjabi and the way chais were made in our houses was very different from the standard tea procedure that we get in the cookbook. So obviously it didn't match the recipe my teacher was looking for and I was doomed.

Chai never made an impact until I started med school. Or more like I don't know how I survived without it for so long. Soon after coming to school, chai grew up on me. Specially the "elaichi" ( cardamom) one from the bahar wali dukan in the uni. In the early days a friend was very fond of chai and I used to get dragged along despite me claiming that I didn't like chai at all. But I was always ignored. 

Then I was forced to taste it and drink it despite me saying no. 

But the magic started working. Chai because my saviour in the long uni hours, to the late night parhai ( study) sessions, to when I was feeling down and needed something to lift me up. Chai was always there for me.
Welcoming,  warm, soothing and utterly delightful!

To the time it became something I look forward to every morning. I need a cup as soon as I wake up whether it's in the morning or my evening nap once I return from school. Chai is an absolute constant.
And I love it. Do you?
If not. Try it sometime. You might end up falling in love with my chai ;)

And it will keep you going throughout just like it does to me.

And in my country the elders say, there's nothing that a good old cup of tea can't set right and make you feel better.
It works like magic.

Or lets say it is the magical elixir and it's recipe is being passed down mother to daughter through generations.
The guys might know nothing else but they even they learn to make yummy chai. Afterall, you don't know when the chai making skills come in handy.

For girls when families come to look for prospective bahus ( brides) for their sons, the girl who makes good chai is a win win! :)

No exaggeration,  I swear.

It wouldn't be wrong to say the world goes around on chai :)

Keep drinking chai and keep spreading it's warmth around. 

Meanwhile I will go and make kashmiri chai for myself. Since it's winters and a chai break is needed after narrating my chai story.

My chai's waiting. Is your's?