"Making Chai?"

Chaar baj gaye, chai banana abhi baaki hai!

I have formed a habit wherein my body automatically needs chai at 4 p.m. And I don’t even have to check the clock to know the time, because I’m almost always right. So, I walk towards the kitchen to prepare my evening cup of tea, which is now a rather mechanical routine.

1.       Take the saucepan, fill it with water – just enough. Too much and it could either overflow or you would just end up making extra.

2.       I let the water boil, and add in the chai patti. I observe how, the once colorless water turns into a light brown shade and then a dark shade; the sediments often sticking to the side of the pan.

3.       I like a strong cup of chai so I let it boil for a while and then simmer, basking in the aroma before my senses automatically adjust to it.

4.       It’s time to add the milk – carefully and just the right amount. You always have a preference, right?

5.       Now, I transfer the tea into my cup – which reads – “Don’t Know, Don’t Care”, using a strainer that doesn’t let the chai patti come through. Funny, the very thing we made tea with is no more needed after juicing out all its essence, so you toss it out.

6.       Lastly, I add a bit of jaggery powder to make it sweet and stir everything with a spoon. After all, mithaas ke lie, milavat toh zaruri hai.

Lo, garam chai taiyyar!

That was a quick lesson on how to prepare tea (if you weren’t already aware of the procedure).
Why am I giving you a lesson in this? I’m NOT. You read it and you learnt. Who took the lesson? Don’t blame me.

My mind is all over the place – as always. Chai tastes just as usual – but with this serving, I’m going to share my two cents on how a simple chai got me thinking about bonds and relationships.
Say whaaaaat?!! You are probably thinking (or forget thinking, you are certain) that I’m smoking something. But nada. Hear me out, if you will. Or skip, whatever you prefer.

Chai making is an art. Not everyone can conjure a good cup of tea.
It requires instinct – when incorporating ingredients, patience – depending on how light/strong you’d want it and practice – to finally achieve the right taste. Also, a dose of love. Because anything mechanical, will taste bland.

Similarly, forging relationships and making them last is also an art. Not everyone can stay afloat.
It requires instinct – to know if the other person is right for you or compatible with you; patience – because your personalities differ, and as such there are bound to be issues. Practice – of communicating effectively (I don’t know what your perverted minds thought). And love. Isn’t that always the foundation?

Well, thankfully, making chai can be simpler than love, as the latter involves too many complications.
However, there are so many similarities, as enlisted hereon:

 

1.       Take his/her hand, and fill their lives with love – just enough. Too much and someone could fall out of love quickly or the other person would feel you’re being extra. Isn’t that what millennials say?

2.       Let the dating phase bloom, and then add in the ‘Offical’ tag. You’ll see how two strangers come together and form something so beautiful – who’d believe they were strangers in the first place? Always hanging around the corner for each other or sticking by each other’s sides.

3.       You don’t fancy casual relationships, so you drop the ‘L’ word and then you’re committed. We drop around hints, and then full on bombs to let the other person know how involved we are, until they automatically get accustomed to the feeling.

4.       It’s time to add the drama – tell me one relationship without it? You tread carefully, because you don’t want to get melodramatic and step on the wrong foot. You treat the other person based on your mood swings. But you always have a preference, right?

5.       Now, transfer the status of your relationship to selfies/full blown love posts/ #couplegoals on social media. Be it Instagram/Facebook/Snapchat/Whatsapp Status’ – you get the drift, right? While the outside world now immune to your relationship pretends like they - “Don’t Know, Don’t Care”.

6.       As time passes and you realize that things aren’t as rosy as they were in the beginning, your every effort to ‘make this work’ is becoming just that – an effort. You strain to let the words out of your mouth – to have an open channel of communication – but you’re left with a superficial layer. Funny, the very thing which kickstarted the relationship (communication) isn’t worthy, and all you’re left with is their nonchalance.

7.       Lastly, you try to be nice about things and mix around emotions, words, the likes – just to renew what was. But in some cases, you don’t add the extra sugar, because neither of you like the sweetness anymore. It happens. When you get so used to having a bitter aftertaste, you don’t trust anything that’s sweet.

After giving it that quick mix, you gulp it all down. Sip by sip.
Careful there – it could burn your tongue. Making words find it difficult to pass through.
Or hey, maybe you left it out in the open for too long – it got so cold, it now feels tasteless.
Maybe it’s time to toss it out? Who knows?

So be sure you know how to make your tea and maybe once you master that – you’ll master the art of making a relationship.