Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
I am an exhausted early bird. I wake up at 430am most mornings and groggily get to the kitchen to start the day. My mind is considering various permutations and combinations of the boxes that rest peacefully in the fridge. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks dominate my thoughts as I brew either a cup of chai or a cof of joy. Boxes assembled. Snacks packed. The bottles filled. The combinations of boxes get to the table, I open the doors, and switch on the radio. I top up my bottle of water and head to the table to sit and think about my plans for the day. I’m the WFH-SAHM, which is a fancy way of saying that I work on a few personal art projects or blogs while being the primary pillar for the family at home. Typically I am the puppetmaster, standing behind the curtains and doing my business but sometimes, the curtain drops and then I land in the spotlight. On these chaotic days, my cup of joy or chai depending on how I woke up that morning makes a big difference to how I handle things.
I have had three cooks over the years and for the first two, Mum was around to help train and tutor them on our culinary preferences. Mum was an amazing teacher and the cooks used to make the most astounding dishes the way they were trained. The only thing I have ever trained my cooks to make was the perfect brew of tea the way I liked it. And for the longest time, I used to guzzle anything between a liter and two liters of tea a day. I have never trained a cook to prepare food, so I don’t have a clue about where to start. As far as cooking and cleaning are concerned, I highlight my preferences on the first day and then leave them to the tasks.
I have a cook who comes in and helps with meal prep and cooking the basics of what is required for the kids and this time I did not teach him to make my tea. I book a cleaner to come in and clean once a week. I have a dhobi who comes in and picks the clothes for ironing and handles the Drycleaning as well. So, the general assumption is that I should have a lot of time free to do as I please. And yet, I hardly find time to complete more than a few tasks every day. As the earliest bird in my family, my cup is the first thing I make every morning.
I have spent a lot of my vacation time with the siblings and my culinary skills are thanks to their patience and training. I learned to make my chai from my oldest sibling. The only modification I made was the sugar. [;)] She has it sugarless and I add a tsp. My older sibling is the ‘tea’ drinker in the family and can probably brew a cup in her sleep. My younger sibling was my ‘go-to’ tea brewer for the longest time. When we lived in her city, I used to invite her over for tea and then I would have her brew the tea. The crazy part of this deal was that she never drank tea. I remember her fighting with me and insisting that if she had to do all the work, she would prefer to do it in her house. It took her a few months to teach me to brew a cup of tea the way I liked it – over the phone. And I’ve never looked back. I don’t know when I started to prefer making my first cup, but at some point in time, I requested my siblings to let me brew my first cup. My first cup is my only cup for the day and today it’s that much more important for me to brew it for myself.
A couple of months ago I used to make two cups of hot ginger cinnamon chai and as that was all I drank every day, I was particular about how it was made. Although I am not a religious person or someone who practices meditation, I find the process of making my first cup very satisfying. I pour two cups of water with 2tsps of sugar and an inch of fresh grated ginger into a vessel and put it on the burner. When it comes to a boil, I add a sprinkle of cinnamon and then add a dash of milk. After it boils, I turn it to simmering, add a spoon of chai or tea leaves count to 10 in my head, and turn the heat off. Any individual who brews their tea will tell you that the order of ingredients added to the vessel of water on the burner will change the flavor of the tea that’s served. So I know that my tea is not the best, or the healthiest (too much sugar), but it is what it is and I prefer it that way. And I prefer to make that first cup in the morning. It’s become one of those pet peeves and this simple task can easily ruin my day.
It got to a point where I started to carry my tea bags and creamers and sugar sachets or the 3-in-1 packs of tea even on vacations. I brew my cup with the in-room kettle while everyone gently snores in the background. I was addicted. It was probably the sugar, but I figured I needed to cut it all out and move to a more healthy lifestyle. It took me a couple of weeks of stress and a lot of mental anguish but I moved from my preferred 2 cups of chai – first thing in the morning to a cup of black coffee.
It’s been a chaotic two months, but I’ve made the transition. And while brewing a cup of black coffee is not as time-intensive as a cup of chai it provides the required jolt to kick start my day. I still love the flavor of a cup of chai, but I no longer require it to wake up. Will I move to the gallon-sized cups I used to consume earlier? I have no clue, but for now, my cup of joy is a delightful shot of espresso.
Just a little more 