She is my favorite, my closest companion. A darling to many, she is not sexy enough to be served in a delicate wine glass. She is not colorful like the mock-tails served in five stars but blonde. She isn't pricey and so you won't find her true-self in CCD's but somewhere in the corner of a busy
nukkad or in your very own kitchen, getting brewed with
ginger love. She is nothing but sweet. She is My Cup of Tea. Both literally and metaphorically.
She is the one who 'makes-my-day' daily. In the morning, she unwraps me from the blankets of laziness. And then at night puts me to a peaceful sleep. During hectic hours in office or while worldly gossip with mom or when reading Nicholas Sparks in solitude, she is always there to help me ease out, to grasp every detail, to get me more involved in a thing. Be it a tiring hot Saturday afternoon or a chilly winter Sunday evening, she is an accompaniment. Be it a college reunion and reminiscing of good old memories or a family get together she gets invited first (given a great conversation starter she is)and then there is no stopping to the stories unfurling and
"Ek Cup Chai Aur?".
She is my kick, my partner-in-crime. She knows my playlist from Jagjit Singh to Arijit Singh. She knows my every friend from school to college to corporate-the ones who left and the ones who stood by. She knows the books that made me laugh and the fiction that made me cry. She knows all my secrets more than anybody else. She knows...Everything!
She knows what I'm thinking or who is in my thoughts by the way I stare at her -and then out of the window and then at the ceiling and then again at her or the reverse. She knows if I'm triumphant or crestfallen by the way I hold her- with both hands or with the right or with the left. She is aware when I'm alone in the coterie, when I'm content with nothingness or when the company is blissful. She knows with whom I am by the span and frequency of every sip . The spans are generally longer and frequency lesser when I am with my favorite people. Of course, she tastes better then. She herself appreciates that 'other-cup-of-tea'.
She calms me down when I'm excited, she makes me cheer when I'm sad. My deepest scars and biggest fears lie buried inside her interstitial spaces. She has been a witness to all my fulfilled, unfulfilled and broken dreams. She has tasted all my tears and has measured my every smile. She doesn't say much but is a silent listener who understands why I did something I shouldn't have, why I am awake at 3:37 in the morning or why I'm reading Gulzar when I'm supposed to study or why that thing I yearned for is no more appealing. She tells me that it is okay to fail in something you worked hard for , that there is no right-doing or wrong doing-it's all relative, that it's okay to not have a goal at times, that it's normal to get angry, that reciprocal function for real life is "not defined". She is a bridge that connects my inner self with the mundane. Her warmth , like the first ray of the sun,reaches to the treacherous rivers meandering in my palm, to the saline ocean that resides in my eyes. She is a healer, she is a lover.
She beams on the table when she sees me laugh and hugs me silently when I need it the most. No matter how big a cup is or how many times I have it, I just can't get enough of her.For me, anytime is tea time- before lunch, post dinner, 3PM, 5 AM, after another cup whatever. At times she comes with a little extra sugar and another times without ginger, sometimes just-not-perfect, sometimes a little less hot . But, she is always there to caress, unconditionally!
Cheers, To my cup of tea!!!
PS: At times, the only good thing in an entire day could be ki 'Chai Acchi bani hai'. And that suffices.
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