The legal addiction

Place a pan on oven with 2 cups of water in it. Wait till it boils. Add milk and 2 teaspoon of tea leaf, varying from mild to strong as per preference, add sugar as per taste, let it boil completely, then switch it off and serve. This is the simple recipe of making 2 cups of tea. Though the recipe is same, taste always differs. The chaiwala sitting in the corner of the road has excelled in making such tasty tea that it’s indulgence has become an unforgettable sin for the white collared workforce. Same is the one sitting in the crowded market place. And no less is the one prepared by the Delhi based colony’s favourite Shammi aunty for whom tea is a lifeline.

It is 5 pm and time for Shammi aunty to get ready for her evening walk. It is that moment of the day when she transforms from a housewife to an activist where the sorrows and dilemmas of the entire colony becomes her duty to resolve. Granting them solace becomes her priority for the next 2 hours. Aunty loves her 5 pm tea. Those 20 minutes of extravagance with the drink is her meditation to calm her mind and prepare herself for the halo stuck social worker she transcends into.

With every sip comes a deep sense of responsibility. She has to save Kamini’s daughter’s marriage from falling apart. She has to give her the apt advice to impress her Kaun Banega Karorpati obsessed mother in law. She has to flatter her to the extent that her sofa becomes the hot seat as she is smitten by Amitabh Bachchan every evening at 9. With every sip, her mind is bombarded with more and more ideas. With every sip she cant thank TATA tea enough for launching the new stronger tea leaf that works its magic on stronger minds like hers. Half cup of tea gulped in. Shammi aunty is already charged up.

Radhika’s daughter is planning to elope with her driver’s brother. Aunty’s maid who was dating Radhika’s driver confided in her. Aunty is worried. She had selected Radhika’s daughter for her son since she was 12 years old. How could she let go of such a good looking, well groomed girl staying right next to her? Did she ask her son if he liked Radhika’s daughter? Ofcourse she didn’t! Remember half cup of TATA tea has already transformed her into the activist she always aspired to be. Getting a right match for Radhika’s daughter and stopping her from eloping is her primary objective now.

Three fourth cup over by 5:15pm. Shammi aunty seems to be in a worrisome mood. The new girl in her son’s office keeps calling him all day. She has already visualized her son marrying this Christian girl in a church. Their weddings are so elite and quiet that she cannot imagine herself standing there blessing the couple for a happy life ahead. Now we know why Shammi aunty’s mood has transformed from pensive to bothersome. Her son is getting attracted to a girl who drinks only coffee. What? She has never tasted tea in her life? This was Shammi aunty’s first reaction when her son teasingly told her Jennie doesn’t know how to make tea. Don't you think Shammi aunty is conservative. She is all ready to love her daughter in law like her own and had enthusiastically replied she would teach her. That hardly matters spat came the reply. She only drinks coffee. Radhika’s daughter was surely a better option. Shammi aunty had all throughout her life waited for this opportunity of sharing the evening tea with her daughter-in-law sharp at 5pm. She would narrate her experiences to her during 20 minutes of tea consumption. She would advise her how to ensure her son is always in her control and never even looks at another woman. To be precise, she would prepare her to be the next profound colony activist. But alas! Jennie only drinks coffee. Shammi aunty hurriedly goes to the kitchen. She needs another cup of tea. She needs 20 more minutes to resolve her son’s hypothetical love life. She needs her lifeline badly enough.