‘Two leaves and a bud’
are a vital part of our lives. It is also a fact that no two persons can create the
same taste of tea even with the same basic ingredients. During training camps
as cadets, tea rations were highly prized because sugar and milk powder could
be eaten plain in an emergency and brewed tea was heavenly, even if one had to filter
it through the teeth.
During ‘mountain warfare’
camp, our three-man-trench had an overhead shelter and was designed more for
comfort than for conventional warfare (we got away with the non-conformity somehow). At
02:00 hours we were woken up by a heavy downpour and watched from our cozy
shelter as our less fortunate comrades ran around to save their
belongings. There was no way we could help; but our own comfort was also
short-lived because water that collected uphill burst an embankment and flooded
our trench knee deep. I rushed out to create a diversion and stop the deluge;
returned exhausted, fully wet, cold and miserable; bailed out water from the
trench, wrapped myself in a wet blanket and dozed off in a trance (I know how a
‘wet blanket’ actually feels). There was no option but to wait till sunrise brought
warmth a few hours later
A bonfire or hot drink was impossible without dry firewood. Ordering
something ‘hot and fresh’ was out of question because town was far away and had
no delivery service anyway. I thought I was hallucinating when my buddy
Paramjit Thind shook me up to a steaming hot cup of tea. He had made it by holding
a mess-tin over a small candle-flame for over 45 minutes. This heavenly brew remains
my best and most unforgettable cup of tea ever.
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