The Evening Tea - Down the Memory Lane

The aroma of the evening tea has often lured me since my childhood. The necessity of it has developed off late, but the love for the evening tea has been there inside the depth of my heart since childhood. It’s quite a misfortune that I did not get the privilege to enjoy it often. I was not a tea aficionado till my hostel life. Tea is supposed to be an insignia for grownups in suburban families of India and hence those not having it are often considered as kids.

During summer vacations we used to visit our native place. Apart from our Mango orchards, farms and love from my Grand Parents, the afternoon or rather evening tea was one of the most lucrative offerings that my village had for me those days. We (Bro, our cousins and I) lovingly call our grandfather BABA. Baba was very particular about his morning and evening tea and for that matter with his all daily routines. But the point of focus here is the Tea. To me the evening tea was more interesting, the reason was the visitors from every corner of the village used to come during evening and we get a chance to meet some of the interesting, knowledgeable, conversant and divine spirits of our homeland.

My father is very particular and kind of strict for kids not to have this obnoxious drink called tea, I and my brother used the power of our grandfather to shield ourselves, as we knew that Papa will not oppose to Baba, he had never argued with him entire life, thou we do with him sometimes as we are not as disciplined as Papa. Coming back to tea, during summers the quantity of tea consumption of Baba would suddenly increase thou the number of dosage remained same. This all ends with the end of summer vacations till the next one.

Then came the post graduation era, during which we have the classes normally on second half. The evening tea was not as exciting as it used to be with Baba, but still it was an opportunity to get together with the hostel mates. Towards the end of the hostel days, the famous “Sharma Dhaba” of BIT was the venue for evening tea, more often if not daily. The tea sips in open air under the trees at “Sharma Dhaba” were more fun than having them in grand but closed dining halls of the Great Hostels of BIT. Post BIT the thing I missed the most apart from friends was the serene and joyous atmosphere of “Sharma Dhaba” and yes the evening tea under the trees sitting over wooden benches.

These days too, I go out with my colleagues to have evening tea. But the smooth and delicate chairs of corporate cafeterias are not as soothing as the lap of Baba was, neither they are as comfortable as wooden benches of “Sharma Dhaba” were. The taste of the branded tea is not as good as my village or  “Sharma Dhaba” offered. There is more heat when we go outside for the same, but the warmth is missing. The aroma of it is not even near to what it was in the summers of yester years.

Deep inside my memory, the taste, the aroma of the evening tea of those days are still fresh. The reason may be the sand or the ambiance of my homeland or the diverse cultures or the love of Baba, I don’t know, but the evening tea is not as tasty these days.

“Akhil”