"Ek Garam Chai ki Pyali Ho" - Saga of a cup of tea!!!

While amma wants a cup of hot tea in the morning, appa needs the piping hot south Indian filter coffee(I don't remember anybody at home calling it Kaapi though) twice a day. But I always stayed away from caffeines, even during exams. Might be it was amma's thought of not putting me into addiction or me who didn't like it, but I never ended into that vicious circle of the thought, waking up fresh only with caffeine. 

When I got married and moved to a Mumbai settled family, I realized how Bollywood had influenced its people and parents too believed in "Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyali Ho, Aur Usko Pilane Wali Ho" when they were getting their boys married, or was it Salman Khan who was trying to portrait Mumbaikars? that's secondary. So, there she was my MIL, who not only expected me to cook perfect phulke and boil perfect tea like Mumbai ki Maushi, but also perfect akki rotti like kannada girl and perfect chole bhature like new Punjabi bride. Guess what she had the perfect recipe for tea, 1 cup of water, 1 spoon tea powder, 1 spoon sugar, boiled for 3mins(yes she has a clock in her kitchen just for this) and add perfect amount of milk to adjust that perfect brown look of the tea and that she believes the perfect tea. My tea always ended up in a mess even when I went perfectly with all her steps(too many perfect words, that was deliberate enough, to portrait so called by perfect MIL). Forget it, I had better things to do, I thought. But I was never let to be so, that ended me hate tea, cooking and kitchen so much that, most of my days for the next 2 years in Dubai, ended up at Bhavana Restaurant (this food joint in Bur Dubai is vegetarian's delight, especially for their monthly tiffin service). Only to start back cooking regularly after my daughter was born, when I knew there was no one around to judge  how imperfect my dishes were. Must say today, my daughter's tiffins throughout the week are home cooked by me. Maggi, pasta, burger, pizza don't enter my kitchen on weekdays, so do processed food, still both hubby and daughter cherish my food. But my hate for that chai patthi wala chai continues even today. While I prepare tea for guests, hubby has now learnt to boil that maa ke haath ka types tea in last 13 years of marriage(guess what, its our 13th wedding anniversary today), and I haven't sipped milk tea in these years. 

Today, I write this post sipping this cup of herbal tea(lemongrass and tulsi grown in my kitchen garden). As Bawa says in one of the chapters of this book "Ready Study Go", its your choice to be happy/miserable doing something.
Why hate Maths, when you can easily hate the Math teacher.😜😎😜

PS: For all those Mom-in-Laws, remember you were a new bride few decades back when you entered your husband's life. Give the new girl enough time to settle, before you tear off the relation so badly that, you don't get to tie it back.