I bet we all remember our first times— first cycle ride, first prize, first drink, first salary, first kiss, first lie… first this & that…
But I also remember my first cuppa tea! 🙂 🙂
Because it occured to me after a long wait and lots of anticipation!!! And it happened in too special a way to forget!!!

Okay now, lets begin from the beginning.
For me, tea meant……
…a fancy drink
…a childhood tabooo
…an elders delight
…an enigma
Yes, I was not allowed to have tea. This rule courtesy my grandma; she did not like her children to have tea- and I a kid to her ever. So I never ever had a sip of tea for 27 odd years of my life! (Wonder if that’s some sort of a record)

Anyways, I know I was always drawn to this mysterious drink, its woody color and the-then indefinable aroma. Tea was like an enigma for me, something I’d always associate with adulthood (!), choice (!!) andmaturity (!!!) Weird? But that’s what it was for me. Those delicate tea sets were equally fascinating, uhhhh, forbidden too! I had watched my elders and cousins sipping their tea and wondered how it tasted. Imagined if it tasted anything like horlicks and decided that it certainly tasted better. Assumed if tea tasted like hot-chocolate and conclued that being the elder’s drink it was, it was bound to have a better (read: less sweetened) flavor. The days passed by and I simply belived that I wasn’t cut out fora cuppa tea (ironic, haa)… But I’m proven wrong. 🙂

Animesh (my husband), an avid tea lover himself, never liked the idea of us having different beverages.(Him: Tea; Me: All except tea) So early one morning, he handed me a tea mug and asked me to taste it. (“your introduction to tea”, he quipped) He was kind enough to say that I could leave drinking if I did not like it!
So I sipped.
Relished.
Loved it.
And thanked Animesh for my first cuppa ever!! I love him so for this special cuppa and for this perfect moment. 🙂

Three weeks down, I have travelled across six states, eleven cities and stopped at a number of tea stalls. Needless to say, I enjoyed every single cupppa tea I had.
Proud to be the new kid on the tea block, though still experimenting with tea types and snacks to go with chaii. I liked samosa n plain marie biscuits so far…
Here, may I ask the readers of this post: would you tell me whats your favourite cup of tea & snacks? I’d love to try it out 🙂

I want to thank Om for letting me tell my tea-story @ chai-ki-dukaan. For letting me be a fellow chai-wali on your blogspace. This whole experience is awesome. Thanks buddy! 🙂

P.S. Two days back, I asked amma (my grandma) as why she kept me away from this wonderful cuppa. She chuckled and said “Some things are worth the wait”
I agree, amma!!

Some tea-pics now:

My first tea-mug @ Home, Hyderabad 🙂
Chai at a dhaba on way to Patni-Top (Jammu)

Bollywood Masala Mix & Truck-Driver Especial Chaii @ Cha Bar, New Delhi.
Chai ke Glass @ Cha Bar

* Posted by Mayuri