Let's meet for a cup of tea!

"Let's meet for coffee then", is the most usual invitation exchanged these days, usually referring to a couple of hours catching up with an old friend or acquaintance at a Starbucks or Cafe Coffee Day or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, or for that matter anywhere. Whatever happened to our favourite cup of tea? From the time the English teacher gave us a paragraph writing task on how to prepare a cup of tea; tea became a mysterious, divine cup of liquid. To stay awake during exams, to catch up with friends on first night of the new term, to enjoy a night of family conversations, to watch TV waiting for someone to come home- a cup of tea fit the bill wonderfully. Not too much caffeine, not too much sugar- just a desi cup of perfect chai! From the college canteens to the tea from a much stained pan of the tea stall owner in the University compound; from Rainbow (condensed milk) wali chai to the ginger or cardamom tea, it has survived the newer forms of coffee being invented every day.

It is not to say that coffee never worked its way through my heart. It did, for a while. Studying literature, I did fall in love with the frothy, hand beaten coffee- it added to the romance that the books exuded. It put in place the perspective of the novels we studied, which were all invariably set in the West. And, whoever has had a cup of coffee at the Indian wedding receptions will agree, they are a different breed altogether!

And yet, a cup of tea says more than it intends to. The tea with pakoras in the rain, the tea after the pakoras in the rain;  the morning tea; breakfast tea; the most desirable mug of tea when your new born baby has just gone to sleep; the tea before bed! There is a cup of tea for every occasion and every moment of life. I miss the fact that no one meets up for tea anymore! Just plain, simple tea.

One of our professors used to say “What is the big deal with an invitation for tea? Just take out 2-3 varieties of biscuits and serve with tea!” That’s how tea used to be, and probably still is, in all the government organisations and the neighbourhood satsang mandalis! With kitty parties and book clubs and other forms of social interactions taking over the social scene of home-makers, the humble tea slowly became the stressful ‘high tea’! Stressful because it now meant that you do not need to prepare dinner but 'as good as dinner’, heavy snacks of ample variety. More formal, less personal.

My simple cup of tea with little milk and a spoonful of sugar has either become extinct or too heavy in the world outside home. I am thinking, "Let's meet for juice" is the next best invitation then!