Chai, Coffee, and a Bit of Both
You know your favourite coffee shop taken on the name of your home and the shape of your heart when you realise that the wonderful, friendly owner of the cozy cafe gives you a little smiling nod that tells you he already knows what you’d like. On some days, the smiling nod would be accompanied by a quiet question — “The usual?”
“Yes please!”
And exactly 6-and-a-half minutes later, Saurabh would bring me my ‘usual’ — an iced mocha with less ice, and powdered jaggery served with an extra helping of a heart-warming smile.
Some days would be languid. I would have the time to look around the little cafe and marvel at how aesthetically done up it was. I would exchange a little small talk with him before he left me to enjoy my drink, or perhaps to let me be lost in my little bubble of thoughts.
But some days were rushed. On those days, my mind would whir past all the brief interaction and before I knew it, Saurabh would be at my table with my ‘usual’.
Coffee and I, from the very beginning, have had an immensely romantic relationship. From helping me cram up for my finals in school to calmly inching towards deadlines at university — stress-free, coffee has seen it all and with grace might I add.
Coffee has been my one true friend on sleepless nights while questioning exactly why I may be consuming more of it when I was struggling to sleep in the first place.
It has seen me excited about dates, discussing with friends whether I’d have to bathe and look pretty or whether I should just wing it with my ‘crowd-pleaser’ outfit.
Those rare gems who seem to stick with you through thick and thin? I think coffee’s been that someone for me.
Yet, along with coffee itself, I always seem to get attached to the coffee creators, the coffee speakers, and even the coffee servers. Conversations seem easier; a sense of homeliness wraps a blanket over each of these chit chats with such ease that it’s quite difficult not to fully lose myself.
I mean, aren’t we all looking for a lifelong companion that can sit across from us at a café and just understand what we’ve been feeling, thinking and ‘almost’ saying? Without words, let alone explanations. When will it become acceptable to look for ‘Coffee like qualities’ in relationships? Friendships, Boyfriends, Relationships that we nurture alongside our entire lives. will it ever?
For now, I will continue to make homes out of these quaint little cafes I often visit, leaving parts of me that can only become home by remaining right here, next to the window seat with a money plant hanging in the corner and an empty chair staring at me, in wait of humans with coffee like qualities.
The lockdown has changed all of this over the last month. A day before the lockdown was announced, I drove past one of my quaint homes and was met with a closed shutter on which a little message was pasted — “We’re staying indoors to keep you safe, hopefully so will you (:”
And since then, I’ve stayed indoors, trying to brew coffee for myself in between work, throwing in some extra helpings of patience every now and then. I didn’t imagine I’d miss my iced mocha as much as I did.
One afternoon, I ventured to attempt it on my own. It wasn’t bad, but Saurabh made it better, I had to admit. Perhaps he poured more of his heart and soul into it than I did?
Later that evening, as some unseasonal April rain threatened to pour outside, I let out a sigh as I thought about all the pending work that I was supposed to have finished. The lockdown was doing me no good. I haven’t been the solitary worker type who could hammer away at a keyboard in a corner. I drew my energy and I recharged my batteries from having people around me. Friends, strangers, strangers-turned-friends, even fellow work-from-cafe-ers — I loved having people around me. Wistfully, I hugged an old photograph from when I was a toddler and my worldly problems were only limited to not wanting to drink Horlicks instead of Bournvita.
However, that was the day I understood the true meaning of, “Chai piyoge?”
Perhaps, it really was as comforting as us Indians had made it to be! Which made me realise, that there is so much about Chai a Coffee lover must know. So much that I must learn to be acknowledged as part of the clan. And ever since, my life has never been the same…
Chai takes us in with fragrant open arms, lets us unwind, teaches us the value of every condiment we’re ever-so-lucky to house in our kitchen. It never discriminates! ‘Elaichi’ for the ones with a sweet tooth, ‘Adrak’ for the hearty ones, ‘Masala’ for the tired pick-me-ups and well, all of the above for the pros.
Chai is that validation deprived aunty that will constantly keep trying to make you like it. Because regardless of how we feel internally, one day that same aunty will send across a tiffin full of Gulab Jamun and suddenly you won’t be able to remember why you kept running away from her all this while, in the first place.
Or maybe! Chai is that experimental friend who pairs strange-looking clothes together every morning and yet manages to look breathtakingly gorgeous. With heavenly whiffs of Hibiscus, Mint, Lemon, Tulsi and/or Tea leaves. Almost like — the world is her oyster and she was birthed to steal the show every single time.
But, mind you, if you’re a beginner like me, you might have to start with a disproportionate concoction — slightly messy with the wrong amount of milk and the right amount of water. Chai is all about the patience game; however versatile this queen may seem, she’s got her airs and how.
She’ll test all your sensories the first few times, to identify whether you’re able enough to be a part of her clan: the eyes to keep a lookout on her colour, the nose for you to understand her through whiffs and the touch for you to introduce and reintroduce perfect temperatures for her to rise.
But most of all, she always feels like a warm hug; a hug for the lonely, a hug for the connected, and on some days a refreshing hug for the frustrated.
Except only 4 paragraphs ago, I had claimed to Love coffee with all my heart?
All those years of true dedication, romance, loyalty — blurring out within seconds? All those one night stands that turned into morning afters; whilst wanting to spend all day sitting on a couch and sipping on warm cups of peace and clarity all gone, and over what? Elaichi?! Will it be disheartened with this sudden new Love interest? I mean initially, we are all overwhelmed. But what if the Love starts to fade away? Day by day, zoom call by zoom call? What if Coffee and I start becoming distant from each other?
But hey, let’s be clear — I am only really experimenting. My Love for coffee will never ever waver or fade away. Don’t you nod in disbelief, you secret Chai lover, you!!
I just think it’s time to evolve. With a pandemic on our hands, I’ve come to believe that we must constantly keep evolving; as life is uncertain to say the very least. We cannot keep missing out and regretting on chances we never took just because comfort is sheltering, don’t you think? Change brings about unexpected perspectives, you see. And as far as love is concerned, I think, there’s so much more to it than dependence. Coffee has been such a true companion that I’m sure it’ll understand my need to expand and grow.
Aur baat rahi Chai ki, toh, I bring a lifetime worth affection and intimacy to cultivate it’s truest of essence.
