Chai-Rusk Stories ☕: The Origin and a Love-Hate Relationship
Discover the origin of chai-rusk stories: From hate to love for chai and unraveling the love-hate complexities of urban life
Hello! Namaste! Vanakkam!
Dear Chai mate, It’s been a long time since I brought something for you to read but I’ve been so busy talking to myself these days and also to realize this fact! Now that I’m relaxed (for a moment), with the chai my Amma made for me, I thought I could make something more from this. So I created Chai-Rusk Stories. Grab a chai (a.k.a tea) for yourself too and read along!
Growing up in a small village 35 km away, I always ignored chai. My dad kept me far away from it since I was too young. and I started to think of it as an adult-drink 🤷🏻♀️. So as I watched my grandma, dad and mother sipping, it gave me sour grapes and I started to hate it. When I was a teen, I was accustomed to not having it at all. But since chai became my dad’s daily routine of starting the day, I couldn’t resist and decided to give it a go. On the very first sip, it tasted heavenly. In the second, I felt the flavors swirling over my taste buds. And through the further sips, I bonded with chai. Story aside, did you grab a biscuit or, preferably, a rusk (trust me, they go very well🤤) to munch on?
If yes, come along.
Despite the story of my bonding with chai, I have been very grateful for the way I was brought up. I have lived and experienced life through village, town as well as city. The very first time I moved to the city, I was amazed at how high the buildings were. I noticed the systematically built concrete roads, chain of huge companies with shining glass panes, apartments touching the sky, accessible shops, malls, transport, nearby facilities, diverse people, etc. It all looked as if I had entered a new world with hopes as high as those skyscrapers, and I ultimately fell in love with it.
Gradually, as I began navigating the city lifestyle, another part of me began whining about it. Check out the poem which is one of its outcomes:
I live in a loop. I wake up to the school bell ringing near my apartment, start off my day with chai and breakfast, and head off to my workplace. There comes the heavy traffic on what I once called a systematic road, which decides what time I reach the office. The diverse people hustle along to reach their destinations with a similar goal. Amidst all this, if the sky wishes to rain with its heavily polluted clouds, we are just struck on the drained roads unable to move an inch, forget about reaching the workplace. Very unpredictable.
Adding on to this, the sound effect of bustling horns in 3D makes my peace-loving soul annoyed. After that, there are things that are under my control but not really. There are so many accessible things, food I get for the love of the city. But the slums beside the roads, poorly piled-up dump yards, and an unbothered environment never fail to cross my mind.
As I reach back home, dealing with such complex emotions of love and hate, I find solace in sipping in chai, which keeps me grounded and attached to my authentic self, thoughts and emotions. I recall the story from my 7th grade — The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse* — and I can resonate with that yet again!
If it weren’t for the hate-turned-love for chai, would this conversation have ever happened? If it weren’t for the rusk accompanying it, just like my thoughts, would this love-hate conversation about city life have been so enhanced and thoughtful?✨✨
With love,
Moonpie -`♡´-
- Want to read the story The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse ? It’s here
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